No Malaysian firms involved in Indonesia’s open burning

New Straits Times 25 Sep 15;

JAKARTA: The Association of Plantation Investors of Malaysia in Indonesia (APIMI) today confirmed that none of the Malaysian plantation companies operating in Indonesia were involved in open burning activities.

APIMI’s chief representative Nor Hazlan Abdul Mutalib said, to the contrary, all Malaysian plantation companies practiced zero burning in field clearing work.

He said the practice of burning forests and cultivated areas for any purpose was an offence in Indonesia and all members of APIMI complied with the laws on operating plantations at all times.

“Most of the Malaysian plantation companies are also members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organisation which issues certification on the export of palm oil to Europe, and one of the conditions for obtaining RSPO certification is no open burning practices,” he told Bernama here today.

He said the RSPO was very firm on environmental issues and would revoke a certificate of recognition from any member who was found guilty of burning activities at oil palm estates.
Nor Hazlan said if there were cases of open burning in plantations owned by Malaysians, they were actually carried out by the local people who lived in the area.

Nor Hazlan said, perhaps many people were not aware that one of the conditions of investing in oil palm plantations in Indonesia was that the investment company was obliged to set aside as 20 per cent of the platation area for the locals.

He said those living as squatters there could not be transferred by the government, and they in turn conducted their own farming activities as well as open burning.

"If seen from satellite data, it certainly looks like the fires are in plantation areas owned by Malaysian investors, but it is not the oil palm plantations, it is the area of plantations managed by the local people," he said.

He said the matter had to be explained to the authorities every year, since the fires occurred yearly, especially during the dry season. -BERNAMA

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Malaysia: 21 domestic and international flights cancelled in Johor

KATHLEEN ANN KILI The Star 25 Sep 15;

KULAI: Twenty-one domestic and international flights from the Senai International Airport here were cancelled due to the haze on Friday.

The airport's chief operations officer Noor Safura Suib said that the flights were cancelled because of poor visibility.

"The visibility distance recorded between 50m and 300m from 6.30am to 8.30am resulted in some flights being cancelled," she told The Star when met here.

She added that only five flights were given the green light to depart later in the afternoon when the visibility showed improvement.

"It is still uncertain as to how long the situation will continue but passengers have been provided assistance including coaches to send them to nearby hotels," she added.


Air quality in Johor at unhealthy levels
VICTORIA BROWN AND KATHLEEN ANN KILI The Star 25 Sep 15;

JOHOR BARU: The haze in Johor hit "very unhealthy" levels with air pollution index (API) readings of 201 in Pasir Gudang, with other areas in the state still showing "unhealthy" levels Friday

The Department of Environment (DOE) recorded API readings that shot up to very unhealthy levels in Pasir Gudang from 196 as of 8am to 201 as of 9am on Friday (Sept 25).

The Kota Tinggi and Larkin Lama areas remained at unhealthy levels of 135 and 187 as of 9am.

The haze in Muar, however, has drastically reduced in the past week with an average API reading of 71 as of 9am.

Kuantan also had "unhealthy" readings, Balok Baru had an API reading of 156 and Indera Mahkota at 134.

Kemaman and Paka in Terengganu also recorded "unhealthy" readings of 143 and 106 respectively.

The API readings in the Klang Valley was "moderate" at 8am.

Putrajaya read 72, Cheras was at 53, Petaling Jaya was at 64, Kuala Selangor at 52, Shah Alam at 68.

Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and parts Perak also had "moderate" readings.

Penang and Kedah had the best API readings, staying below 50 at the "good" level.

Most of Sarawak had "moderate" readings, while most of Sabah had "good" readings except for Tawau that had a "moderate" API reading of 51.

The API reading from 201 to 300 is considered "very unhealthy", 101 to 200 is considered "unhealthy", 51 to 100 is considered "moderate", while 0 to 50 is considered "good".

The API is calculated based on five major air pollutants, namely Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ground Level Ozone (O3), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and particulate matter with a diameter below 10 micrometers (PM10).

In Singapore, all primary and secondary schools were forced to close on Friday, with conditions reaching hazardous levels.

Haze no deterrent to plans
KATHLEEN ANN KILI The Star 25 Sep 15;

JOHOR BARU: The haze is back but this is not stopping the people from enjoying the one-week school holiday to the fullest with many families thronging the various tourist spots here.

A check by The Star showed that destinations like Legoland Resort and the state zoo were crowded with people, some of whom were spotted donning face masks.

Dr Ameerah Adeelah Mohamad Arip, 30, who visited Legoland with her husband and three young sons, said she decided to stick with the plan because she did not want to disappoint her children.

“We promised to bring them here during the school holidays and since the tickets were booked over a month ago, we decided to go ahead on the condition that they kept their face masks and caps on at all times.

“We have also brought extra bottles of water to ensure that they stay hydrated,” said Dr Ameerah yesterday.

Housewife Rosmaria Shaari, 51, who was wearing a face mask, said her family had come to Johor from other parts of the country to celebrate Hari Raya Haji that had been planned several months in advance.

“It is hard to gather the family together so we want to take the opportunity to enjoy the holidays despite the hazy weather,” she said at the park entrance.

A Canadian architect, who wanted to be known only as Patel, 33, said he had not expected the haze when he planned the trip in June with his wife and two children.

“It was only when we arrived that we realised that the haze had worsened,” he said, adding that he bought some face masks at a pharmacy here.

Patel said he also had to constantly check online for updates on the weather.

Singaporean Tan Sue Ling, 18, and her friends also made a day trip to Johor to escape from the haze affecting the island republic.

“We decided to spend some time here as being outdoors in Singapore is even more hazardous to our health,” she added.


Ministry to decide on school closure in Johor
The Star 26 Sep 15;

KUALA NERANG: The Education Ministry will decide by today if schools in Johor should remain closed due to the haze, which has already caused the cancellation of 21 flights from the Senai Inter­national Airport.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said it was monitoring the situation in Johor as well as Malacca and Negri Sembilan.

“If the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading does not drop, we will ask the state education department in Johor to close the schools,” he told reporters here yesterday.

Schools here are scheduled to reopen tomorrow after the one-week school holiday while classes will resume on Monday for Malacca and Negri Sembilan.

At the airport, some 1,000 travellers were affected when the flights were cancelled after visibility fell below 1km.

“Visibility was recorded between 50m and 300m at around 6.30am to 8.30am in the morning,” said the airport’s chief operations officer Noor Safura Suib, adding that only five domestic flights were given the greenlight to depart when the situation improved in the afternoon.

Some airlines, however, were considering departing later in the night, she said, adding that as at 5pm yesterday, visibility had climbed back to 6km.

Pasir Gudang in Johor recorded an API of 201 at 9am, which is in the very unhealthy category, before improving to 182 at 2pm.

As at 11am, the readings for Larkin and Kota Tinggi were 190 and 129.

Other areas showing unhealthy API levels were Balok Baru (159) and Indera Mahkota (136) in Pahang and Kemaman (153) and Paka (113) in Terengganu.

MetMalaysia spokesman Dr Hisham Mohd Anip said the haze was expected to make a comeback in Sarawak today as the winds shifted from southern Kalimantan to the eastern part of the state.

API levels, he said, were expected to gradually worsen in Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman.

Air quality in the worst hit regions of Johor, southern Pahang and Terengganu, said Dr Hisham, was predicted to remain the same until the end of the month.

“A slight haze is expected over all other states.

“MetMalaysia predicts API readings to improve in early October when inter-monsoon winds bring rains,” he said.

A wind change due to a cyclone, which would make landfall over eastern China either on Monday or Tuesday, was also expected to improve overall conditions.

In a statement, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre had detected 93 hotspots in Kalimantan and 41 in Sumatera.

A single hotspot was also detected in Kelantan.

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Malaysia: Sabah moves to protect orchids

STEPHANIE LEE The Star 26 Sep 15;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is on a mission to protect its precious blooms, especially its rare and valuable orchids, from being smuggled out of the state.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said he had heard rumours of researchers leaving the state with “tokens” from its rich forests and mountains.

“But we have not really seen a concrete case and I’d like to believe that we have none,” he said at the opening of the Borneo International Orchid Show 2015 here yesterday.

Stricter measures, said Masidi, would be put in place to ensure such a practice did not take place.

“And, that includes getting ­thorough details of everyone who has gone into Sabah Parks and other research areas,” he said.

“The government, too, has had to strictly enforce rules and regulations to conserve many species that have become endangered due to over-collecting and loss of forests.

“We had to ban the export of certain orchids.”

Native orchid species, said Masidi, were not easy to grow.

They need special conditions for shade and cooler temperatures, he said.

“And, many wild species collected from the hill areas would just die in the lowlands and cities.

“All wild orchids are now protected under the Wildlife Act and permits are needed to enter forest reserves and protected areas with the hope of cutting down further loss of our beautiful and rare species and encourage artificial propagation,” he said.

Sabah, Masidi pointed out, hosted an estimated 1,300 out of the entire 1,600 to 1,700 species of orchids in Borneo island despite only forming 10% of its land mass.

“The Mount Kinabalu area with 870 species within a 120sq km area has 54% of all the named species in Borneo.

“We do not want anyone to come in and leave with our flowers,” he said, adding that Customs officers at checkpoints were also doing their part in curbing the smuggling.

“But with all the different technologies and methods nowadays, people can still smuggle things out if they really want to.”

A wide range of hybrid orchids are on display during the three-day show.

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Indonesia: President cancels visits to Riau, Jambi due to thick haze

Antara 26 Sep 15;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo cancelled his visits to Sumatras provinces of Riau and Jambi on Friday morning due to thick haze, according to the commander of the Bukit Barisan military region.

"The presidential aircraft could not land in Jambi just now, and so, it then left for Jakarta," Major General Lodewyk Pusung stated.

He said the president and his entourage were initially scheduled to visit several locations in the two provinces that were affected by the fires.

On Friday morning, thick haze engulfed most of Sumatra, where a total of 1,465 forest and land fires were detected.

"According to the monitoring conducted by the Terra and Aqua satellite this morning, there were 440 more fires. Today, 1,286 out of the 1,465 hotspots were concentrated in South Sumatra," Sugarin, the head of the Pekanbaru office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, stated.

He stated that there were 63 hotspots in Bangka-Belitung and 41 each in Bengkulu and Lampung.

In the past two days, Riau province had been free of fires, but on Friday, 16 hotspots had been detected there.

Eight of the hotspots were found in Pelalawan district, five in Indragiri Hulu, two in Indragiri Hilir, and one in Siak.

Sugarin stated that the fires had reduced the visibility in Riau, with Rengat in Indragiri Hulu recording a visibility of only 100 meters; Pelalawan 200 meters; Dumai city 1.5 thousand meters; and Pekanbaru four thousand meters.(*)

Canal blocking to be constructed in South Kalimantan soon
thejakartapost.com 25 Sep 15;

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Willem Rampangilei and Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo have said that their institutions plan to jointly develop canals to prevent forest fires in South Kalimantan.

They revealed their plan after attending a coordination meeting with local military chiefs, officials of the Environment and Forestry Ministry and representatives of the local governments.

During the visit to the province, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had instructed BNPB and the local governments to construct the canals to prevent forest fires.

“TNI will deploy soldiers and excavators to support the canal blocking construction. Other parties like Public Works and Public Housing Ministry as well as private companies will support the canal blocking construction,” said BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho on Friday as quoted by tempo.co.

The construction of the canals will be implemented in two areas: Jabiren Raya and Sebangau Kuala in South Kalimantan. The funding for projects will come from BNPB's treasury fund.

By Thursday, there were around 1,508 hot spots observed all across South Kalimantan, mostly in the Pulang Pisau area with 616 hot spots and Kapuas with 366 hot spots.

In trying to stop the forest fires, the Environment and Forestry Ministry will supply the BNPB with more personnel and equipment to extinguish forests.

“The BNPB head has already instructed us to add more personnel, to deploy more water bombing helicopters and aircraft to stop the forest fires,” said Sutopo as quoted on tempo.co. (nov/bbn)(++++)


Idul Adha celebrated amid haze
Rizal Harahap, thejakartapost.com 24 Sep 15;

After receding in the last two days, thick smoke from land and forest fires has once more blanketed Pekanbaru, Riau, forcing thousands of Muslims to perform Idul Adha prayers in dense haze.

Based on monitoring data from the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on Thursday, fog mixed with smoke had reduced visibility in the city to just 50 meters.

“Other cities in Riau have also been blanketed with haze, but their conditions are not as bad as in Pekanbaru. In Rengat and Pelalawan, for example, the visibility is around 200 meters while in Dumai, conditions are much better, reaching 4 kilometers,” BMKG Pekanbaru head Sugarin said on Thursday.

Sugarin added that the smoke currently blanketing Riau was probably from other provinces in southern Sumatra. “According to date from the Terra and Aqua satellites on Thursday morning, Riau has no hot spots. Meanwhile, South Sumatra has 200 hot spots, followed by Lampung [12], Jambi [4] and Bangka Belitung [2].”

On Wednesday, the number of hot spots in Sumatra reached 1,025. “South Sumatra detected 791 hot spots, followed by Bangka Belitung [123], Jambi [60], Lampung [36], Riau [nine] and one hot spot in Riau Islands,” Sugarin said.

“Currently, winds are tending to blow from south to north. That’s why Riau has continued to be blanketed with haze despite having very few hot spots,” he added.

Despite the thick haze, Idul Adha prayers ran smoothly in hundreds of locations in Pekanbaru. At the Pekanbaru mayoral office, thousands of civil servants and local residents prayed to commemorate the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael. In the garden of the Sang Nila Utama Museum building, at least 3,000 residents performed their Idul Adha prayers. The Air Defense Artillery Battalion (Arhanud) Baterai P’s exercise field was also provided as a space for Panam residents to pray.

Panam resident Ridwan Fauzi said he was very sad to see people forced to pray in dense smoke. “They have to be very careful on the road on the way to pray. It’s really bad. The smoke was very thick this morning,” Ridwan said. (ebf)

Jokowi orders canal network to be built immediately
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, The Straits Times/ANN Jakarta Post 26 Sep 15;

President Joko Widodo wants large canals with dams built in fire-prone areas to ensure peatlands are not drained during the dry season, becoming tinder for forest fires.

He made the decision after visiting Central Kalimantan on Thursday to inspect the damage from raging fires that eventually led to the current haze crisis. The province was the worst hit by illegal forest fires this week, which sent the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the area to "hazardous" levels.

Peatlands, which are usually waterlogged and formed over thousands of years, consist mainly of decomposed vegetation, making them carbon-rich and highly flammable during dry seasons.

During his visit to Pulang Pisau regency in Central Kalimantan this week, Mr Joko had personally witnessed how fast fires developed and spread over peatlands starved of moisture.

He then directed the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to take action "immediately and build the canals on a large scale", adding that financing for the project would come from Jakarta since the local government did not have the funds to pay for it.

Mr Joko had planned to travel to North Sumatra to visit evacuees affected by the recent eruptions of Mount Sinabung, and to inspect firefighting efforts in other parts of Sumatra.

But the worsening conditions in Central Kalimantan prompted the President to cancel the trip and extend his stay in the province.

Green activists yesterday hailed Mr Joko's decision to create a more robust irrigation system, adding that canals when properly laid out - linking them to an upstream river - could keep peatlands humid and prevent hot spots from spreading.

Building a network of canals, however, could be a counter-productive endeavor if no sluice gates are installed to prevent water from running off, warned Mr Mukri Priatna of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

"This will prevent fire from spreading," he said. "The area with a high supply of water should be linked to the lower supply areas using canals."

Mr Mukri pointed out an area called Sei Tohor in Riau province's Meranti islands, where Walhi had helped to plan a canal network on the lands of local farmers. "The fact is that Sei Tohor isn't burning this year," he added, referring to the canals built in September last year. "The success in Sei Tohor can hence be emulated elsewhere."

As with previous years, the haze crisis has affected millions living in Indonesia, as well as neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.

The blanketing smoke is set to remain until November, due in part to the dry spell caused by the El Nino effect, said to be among the strongest since records were kept in 1950.

The BNPB had said that it will need not only more boots on the ground to fight the fires, but also more money to deal with the crisis. Some 4,800 troops have been deployed to fight fires in both Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Singapore has offered its assistance to resolve the crisis but Indonesia has yet to accept the help.

The Star reported yesterday that a meeting between Malaysia and Indonesia over the haze crisis has been put off for the third time.

Malaysia's Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar were scheduled to meet in Jakarta on Thursday to discuss the contents and terms of a memorandum of understanding to combat the transboundary haze.

A new date for the meeting had yet to be set, said the Malaysian authority. "The haze is getting worse and a state of emergency has been declared in a number of places in Indonesia." (k)


Situation turns grim in Kalimantan and Sumatra
Francis Chan, Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja THE STRAITS TIMES AsiaOne 25 Sep 15;

The haze crisis continued to intensify yesterday with conditions in Kalimantan and Sumatra reaching alarming levels, and no respite for the two Indonesian regions on the Muslim holiday of Hari Raya Haji.

Kalimantan, which shares a border with Malaysia, appears to be the worst hit. All but the north of Borneo island was shrouded in smoke from forest fires, according to Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

Its spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told The Straits Times yesterday that 2,081 hot spots were recorded in Kalimantan in the morning, of which 1,508 fires were concentrated in the central region.

Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings for the Central Kalimantan capital of Palangkaraya were not available for most of yesterday.

Air pollution levels for the city, however, soared to almost 2,000 PSI the previous day, before hovering at 1,096 later that afternoon. A PSI reading over 350 is hazardous; while 151 to 250 is considered unhealthy.

Prevailing winds from South Sumatra have also brought the haze to Jambi and Riau provinces, with Pelalawan, Kampar and Bengkalis most affected, said Mr Sutopo.

He added that the smoke from illegal forest fires has also significantly reduced visibility in many of the towns and called on provincial authorities to take immediate action.

"As with previous years, there are fires burning again in Pulang Pisau and Kapuas in Central Kalimantan, and we hope the local authorities will help watch out for and prevent such actions," he said.

"We have thousands of soldiers and police on the ground fighting fires but it is never enough, Residents must watch their own respective areas."

Some 4,800 soldiers and policemen have been deployed to support firefighting efforts in Sumatra and Kalimantan, and the BNPB plans to send 600 more troops to help.

Indonesia has struggled to stop the forest fires - the primary source of the haze which has become an annual crisis affecting millions across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The haze is set to remain until November, in part as a result of the dry spell caused by the El Nino effect.

President Joko Widodo, who was visiting emergency workers in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan on Wednesday, had planned to inspect ground conditions and firefighting efforts in Sumatra yesterday but the worsening conditions in Kalimantan prompted him to postpone the trip.

He chose instead to make a 130km journey by road to Pulang Pisau and nearby Kapuas.

"The President thinks he needs to see for himself the raging forest and land fires in Central Kalimantan considering the level of emergency," said Mr Ari Dwipayana, who heads the presidential communications team. "He wants to make sure that all elements are working hand in hand (to solve the crisis)."

Mr Atmaji Sumarkidjo, a close aide of Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Panjaitan, said yesterday that Indonesia is taking the crisis seriously in terms of combating the raging blazes and taking those responsible for the illegal fires to task.

When asked why states of emergency have not been declared by the authorities in affected provinces, Mr Atmaji said some governors are worried that would make them seem weak or incapable.

"This, however, would not make them look good ahead of pilkada," he added, referring to the upcoming regional elections in Indonesia.

Haze crisis intensifies, disrupts health, Idul Adha celebrations
Rizal Harahap and Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post 25 Sep 15;

Smoke produced by land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan has continued to intensify over the past few days, severely threatening the health of local residents and disrupting celebrations of the Islamic Idul Adha holiday.

In Central Kalimantan, the Palangkaraya municipal administration declared on Wednesday an emergency status after smoke that has blanketed the provincial capital over the past several weeks brought air pollution to a hazardous level.

The level of particulate matter (PM10) in the city was measured at above 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) on Wednesday, more than twice the minimum level of the “dangerous” category of air pollution.

According to the government’s existing guidelines, air quality is considered “healthy” if its PM10 level stands below 50 µg/m³ and “dangerous” when it surpasses 420 µg/m³.

“The emergency status for haze [in the city] is effective from Sept. 22 to Oct. 3,” Palangkaraya Disaster Mitigation and Fire Agency’s disaster unit head Satriadi said on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

The Central Kalimantan Health Agency earlier reported that at least 27,000 local residents had suffered acute respiratory infections (ISPA) from July to September and has declared the situation an extraordinary occurrence.

The haze crisis also disrupted the celebration of the Islamic Day of Sacrifice on Thursday morning, with thousands of Muslim residents forced to perform the Idul Adha mass prayers in outdoor or semi-outdoor locations shrouded by smoke.

“We need to pray to God to end the disaster that has hit our land,” acting Central Kalimantan Governor Hadi Prabowo said after attending mass prayers at Darussalam Mosque in Palangkaraya.

Central Kalimantan, along with West Kalimantan, Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra, are among the provinces hardest hit by the air pollution originating from fires in peatland and plantations.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, thick smoke also blanketed hundreds of Idul Adha prayer locations across the city, forcing most worshippers to don masks. “We get used to it. What else can we do?” Ridwan Fauzi, a local Muslim resident, told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile in Batam, Riau Islands, two commercial aircraft heading to Hang Nadim International Airport had to be diverted on Thursday to Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, because of poor visibility.

The ongoing haze crisis has been exacerbated by this year’s prolonged dry season triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

North Sulawesi Forestry Agency head Herry Rotinsulu said that fires, triggered by both human error and natural factors, had razed 2,140 hectares of forest in the province.

During his visit to the location of peatland fires in Pulang Pisau regency, Central Kalimantan, on Thursday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered the digging of canals around the peatland to prevent fires from reoccurring.

“I stood still for five minutes there and the fires got bigger. Canals are key. We need immediate and massive canalization,” the President said.

In response to the worsening fires, Jokowi decided to cancel his trip to North Sumatra on Thursday; he had been scheduled to oversee the relocation of Mount Sinabung eruption victims.

Eva Aruperes in Manado and Apriadi Gunawan in Medan contributed to this article


Number of hotspots in Sumatra increases
thejakartapost.com 25 Sep 15;
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG) Pekanbaru chapter recorded the increasing number of hot spots in Sumatra at 1,465 on Friday from 1,025 on Thursday.

“The image from Terra and Aqua satellites this morning showed 440 more hot spots. There were 1,465 hot spots, mostly in South Sumatra, whose number reached 1,296,” BMKG Pekanbaru head Sugarin said on Friday as quoted by Antara.

There were 63 hot spots in Bangka Belitung, 48 hot spots in Jambi, 41 hot spots in Bengkulu and 41 hot spots in Lampung.

There were no hot spots in Riau for the past two days, but there were 16 hot spots on Friday. In the province, eight hot spots were seen in Pelalawan, five hot spots in Indragiri Hulu, two hot spots in Indragiri Hilir and one in Siak.

According to Sugarin, the bush and forest fires in Riau caused visibility to decrease in a number of places.

“The visibility in Rengat and Indragiri Hulu was 100 meters, 200 meters in Pelalawan, 1,500 meters in Dumai and 4,000 meters in Pekanbaru,” Sugarin said.

The weather in Riau was generally fine with clouds and haze covering several areas. “There are chances for light to medium rain with strong winds in the evening until night in the central, northern and western parts of Riau,” he added. (edn/bbn)(++++)

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Indonesia: Fire Engulfs Orangutan Conservation Site in East Kalimantan

Jakarta Globe 25 Sep 15;

Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. Fire has engulfed at least 200 hectares of an area in a conservation center for orangutans in East Kalimantan – the second such blaze there in the past few months – but the endangered apes there remain safe for now.

Nico Hermanto, a communications officer with Borneo Orangutan Survival, which runs the Samboja Lestari Orangutan Reintroduction Center, said the fire began on Thursday afternoon and was extinguished by 1 a.m. on Friday, before flaring up again later in the day.

He said this was the second fire incident at the site in the past few months, attributing both incidents to the unseasonably harsh dry season this year as a result of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

“This is the second fire incident in Samboja Lestari. Previously only 30 hectares were burned, but now it has affected a larger swath of land – 200 hectares,” Nico said on Friday.

“Fire is still burning in several spots – we’re having difficulties putting it out. There is potential that the fire will expand. We will keep working on extinguishing the fire.”

He added the foundation was receiving help from the military and the local unit of oil and gas company Total E&P Indonesie – which has fire trucks – to put out the fire at the site outside Balikpapan.

Nico expressed disappointment over the lack of response from the local administration, saying that neither the fire department nor the wildlife conservation agency had responded to his foundation’s request for help.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry in Jakarta, though, was swifter in responding, having immediately sent a team of seven people from its forest fire response unit after the foundation contacted it, Nico said.

He added that none of the orangutans at the site were harmed in the incident because they were concentrated in another part of the 1,852-hectare center, away from the fire.

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Indonesia to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions; details thin

ALISTER DOYLE Reuters 24 Sep 15;

Indonesia promised on Thursday to curb its rising greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, but a lack of detail made it hard to judge the magnitude of Jakarta's plan or how much it would help a U.N. push to combat climate change.

Indonesia, among the world's top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, called the plan a "fair share" for a developing nation.

"Indonesia is committed to reducing emissions by 29 percent compared to a business as usual scenario by 2030," the government said in a plan submitted to the United Nations on Thursday that builds on a Sept. 2 draft.

It gave few details of the current rate of growth of emissions in Southeast Asia's largest economy but said business as usual would lead to emissions of about 2.88 billion tonnes by 2030, sharply up from the last official estimate of 1.80 billion tonnes for 2005.

"It is disappointing that the Indonesian government did not provide enough detail to allow for a more full and accurate estimate of emissions its targets will avoid," said Nirarta Samadhi, head of the Indonesia office of the World Resources Institute (WRI) think-tank.

Still, he called the plan an encouraging step by Indonesia to address a complex global problem.

Many other developing nations, which do not regularly measure emissions, have also submitted plans similar to Indonesia's to slow emissions relative to economic growth.

Rich nations, which have been measuring their annual emissions since the 1990s and understand trends better, are setting absolute cuts. The European Union has urged all to spell out more details to make it easier to judge who is doing most, and least.

Indonesia called the curbs a fair share for the country as part of global action to be agreed at a Paris summit from Nov. 30-Dec. 11, meant to avert more heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels linked to rising emissions.

It said the reduction from business as usual could be increased to 41 percent by 2030 if Indonesia got sufficient new technologies and finance from other nations.

WRI estimates that Indonesia is the fifth biggest greenhouse gas emitter if forest losses are taken into account, behind China, the United States, India and Russia. Trees soak up carbon dioxide as they grow and releases it when they burn or rot.

Excluding land-use changes, Indonesia ranks eighth, it says.

(Reporting By Alister Doyle)

Indonesia pledges 29 per cent emissions cut by 2030
Indonesia, the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has said that it will take measures to reduce deforestation, restore degraded forests and lift its share of renewable energy.
Channel NewsAsia 25 Sep 15;

JAKARTA: Indonesia has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 29 per cent by 2030 through stepping up protection of forests and boosting the renewable energy sector, but observers criticised the plan as lacking in detail.

Indonesia, one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, said it would reduce deforestation, restore degraded forests, and lift the share of renewable energy to almost a quarter of the national energy mix in a decade, according to the country's official UN filing.

The sprawling archipelago is home to vast tracts of tropical rain forest but much has been felled in recent years, to be sold as timber and to make way for palm oil and pulp plantations, greatly increasing the country's emissions.

The 29 per cent reduction by 2030 is relative to a business-as-usual scenario without climate action, according to the pledge filed on Thursday, the latest to be submitted ahead of UN talks on a climate rescue pact in December in Paris.

With international assistance, such as financing, the pledge raises the target to a 41 per cent cut by 2030. Previously in 2009, Indonesia had vowed to cut emissions by 26 per cent by 2020.

"Beyond 2020, Indonesia envisions an even bolder commitment to emission reductions," said the country's UN submission, known as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).

However, think-tank the World Resources Institute (WRI) said the document lacked key information, such as an estimate of financial assistance needed to reach the 41 per cent target, and did not go into detail about how to tackle recurring forest fires that contribute greatly to Indonesia's emissions.

The pledge was released as Indonesian slash-and-burn agricultural fires send smog floating over Southeast Asia, with neighbouring Singapore on Friday closing all schools as air quality deteriorated to hazardous levels. The illegal fires, mostly set to clear land for plantations, are an annual occurrence and Jakarta has come under pressure to do more to stop them.

"The government has taken positive steps in the process of developing the INDC, but it can be further improved with more details to ensure the plan's effectiveness," said Nirarta Samadhi, head of the Indonesia office of WRI.

Indonesia is the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter if forest loss is taken into account, according to the WRI. More than 70 governments have so far submitted their INDCs, which will form the backbone of a universal climate pact to be forged at a November 30-December 11 United Nations conference in the French capital.

The deal will seek to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

- AFP/yt


Indonesia lacks detailed emissions target
The Jakarta Post 26 Sep 15;

JAKARTA: Indonesia promised on Thursday to curb its rising greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, but a lack of detail made it hard to judge the magnitude of Jakarta’s plan or how much it would help a UN push to combat climate change.

Indonesia, among the world’s top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, called the plan a “fair share” for a developing nation.

“Indonesia is committed to reducing emissions by 29 percent compared to a business-as-usual scenario by 2030,” the government said in a plan submitted to the UN on Thursday that builds on a Sept. 2 draft as quoted by Reuters.

It gave few details of the current rate of growth of emissions in Southeast Asia’s largest economy but said business-as-usual would lead to emissions of about 2.88 billion tons by 2030, sharply up from the last official estimate of 1.80 billion tons for 2005.

“It is disappointing that the Indonesian government did not provide enough detail to allow for a more full and accurate estimate of emissions its targets will avoid,” said Nirarta Samadhi, head of the Indonesia office of the World Resources Institute (WRI) think-tank.

Still, he called the plan an encouraging step by Indonesia to address a complex global problem.

Many other developing nations, which do not regularly measure emissions, have also submitted plans similar to Indonesia’s to slow emissions relative to economic growth.

Rich nations, which have been measuring their annual emissions since the 1990s and understand trends better, are setting absolute cuts. The European Union has urged all to spell out more details to make it easier to judge who is doing most, and least.

Indonesia called the curbs a fair share for the country as part of global action to be agreed at a Paris summit from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, meant to avert more heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels linked to rising emissions.

It said the reduction from business-as-usual could be increased to 41 percent by 2030 if Indonesia got sufficient new technologies and finance from other nations.

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WWF: World's richest reef system could soon succumb to climate change

Scientists are predicting the demise of most of the world’s coral reefs by as early as 2050. The Coral Triangle is the richest of them all and could be the first to go.
Johnny Langenheim The Guardian 25 Sep 15;

The publication last week of the Worldwide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) Living Blue Planet report painted a bleak picture of the state of the world’s oceans: marine populations, including reef ecosystems, have halved in size since 1970 and some species are teetering on the brink of extinction. Coral reef cover has declined by 50% in the last 30 years and reefs could disappear by as early as 2050, the report says, if current rates of ocean warming and acidification continue. WWF estimates that 850 million people depend directly on coral reefs for their food security - a mass die-off could trigger conflict and human migration on a massive scale.

100 million of these reef-reliant peoples live in the Coral Triangle – singled out in the report as “richer in marine natural capital” than anywhere else on earth. Currently, fisheries exports from the Coral Triangle – which encompasses the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste – amount to around $5bn (£3.3bn), including 30% of the global tuna catch, and a lucrative trade in live reef fish for food markets, which is worth nearly $1bn (£655m). But there are serious questions about the sustainability of these fisheries.

A report by Greenpeace published on Monday called out 13 Indonesian and eight Philippines tuna canneries, which it says are failing in three key areas – supply chain traceability, sustainability and employee equity. All but one of the businesses surveyed were graded ‘poor’ and none were classified as ‘good.’ Most of these canneries supply brands in the EU, America, Japan and the Middle East.

The live reef fish for food trade – which has a huge market in Hong Kong and mainland China as well as other southeast Asian cities – has sent stocks of key reef predators such as grouper plummeting in many parts of the Coral Triangle. As with tuna, the industry is poorly regulated and destructive fishing methods like cyanide capture – where a milky solution of potassium cyanide is squirted into reefs to stun fish – remain popular across Indonesia and the Philippines.

But the severest threat is to the reef ecosystems themselves. 85% of reefs in the Coral Triangle are classified as threatened, significantly higher than the global average of 60%. The bioregion’s vulnerability to climate change was further underscored in a report on biodiversity redistribution caused by warming seas that was published in Nature Climate Change on 31 August. It is thought that some marine ecosystems will be able to balance themselves out as temperature changes cause species to migrate from one area to another. But the report authors singled out the Coral Triangle as being especially vulnerable to ‘high rates of extirpation’ (ie complete species eradication) based on a key climate model produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In the face of these threats, The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries & Food Security (CTI-CFF), a multilateral partnership between Coral Triangle countries, NGOs and the Asian Development Bank, is developing collaborative action plans to try and sustainably manage the bioregion’s natural capital. Nature based tourism – thought to be worth $12bn – has become a key priority, since it dovetails with the urgent need to protect key seascapes in the Coral Triangle.

Raja Ampat off the coast of West Papua, thought to be the global epicentre of biodiversity, is one example of a successful collaborative strategy, bringing together local government, communities, tourism operators and non-profits to manage its ecosystems sustainably. In Malaysia, WWF has been working with government agencies to gazette a 1m-square hectare marine reserve off the north coast of Borneo. The Tun Mustapha marine park aims to balance the needs of various stakeholders from industrial fishers to local communities to tourism businesses within a sustainable framework, rather than strictly controlling a very small zone, which was the prevailing model for marine reserves in the past.

But in the face of the slow-moving juggernaut of global warming, it’s difficult not to regard these measures, worthy as they are, as akin to putting a plaster on a gunshot wound. Only around 4% of the world’s ocean is ‘designated for protection’, compared to between 10-15% of its land surface; many marine reserves are poorly managed and enforcement can be non-existent. There is an urgent need to establish more and to shore up existing ones across the Coral Triangle to maximise the benefits of coral reef ecosystems in the short to medium term.

The UN Sustainable Development Summit is taking place in New York this weekend and oceans are on the agenda for the first time. Hot topics include over fishing, food security for island states and pollution. Action in these areas is needed at the very least so as not to exacerbate the impact of the elephant in the room – climate change. Should warming hit the 2C threshold – a target that’s come to be seen somewhat arbitrarily as an upper limit, but that many scientists now regard as unachievable – most reefs will likely be devastated by coral bleaching, according to the IPCC.

The big decisions will be made of course in Paris at COP 21 at the end of November. On Tuesday, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) stated that existing pledges by the international community would only be enough to cap global temperature increases at 3C by the end of the century.

“3C is much better than 4-5C, but it is still unacceptable,” she said. A cap of 3C may represent progress, but for the Coral Triangle and for reefs around the world, it could be catastrophic.

Read more!

Australia may dodge an El Nino bullet with the moderating effect of Indian Ocean

BRIAN WILLIAMS THE COURIER-MAIL The Australian 26 Sep 15;

IT’S hard to imagine a more pervasive weather event than an El Nino.

This global phenomenon is a climate wildcard, fluctuating from relatively benign to a thumping drought-bearing occurrence that rattles government budgets and has emergency services stretched.

In fact, you can follow cyclic El Ninos by watching the size of Australia’s $2.3 billion wheat crop rise and fall.

El Ninos also can cause coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef – part of the reason for the current decline in coral quality – and can have deadly impacts when bushfires rage across a hot and dried-out landscape.

An El Nino is a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures in the central and equatorial Pacific Ocean. La Nina, its opposite, is the cooling of those temperatures.

These changes affect weather patterns on a global scale.

Peruvian fishermen first noticed the phenomenon – El Nino is Spanish for boy-child – hundreds of years ago, with warmer water and low fish catches.

The CSIRO says that in “normal’’ years water near South America is blown west, warming as it goes. When this water reaches Australia it warms the air, making it rise and creating clouds that bring summer rain.

In an El Nino year circulation weakens and the warm water stops before it gets to Australia and we mostly end up with drought.

Large areas of Indonesia, India and Africa also have dry conditions but Peru gets floods and parts of North America warm up.

This year, with a bit of luck, Australia may dodge an El Nino bullet because its impacts here are being ameliorated by record warm temperatures in the Indian Ocean, which have been pushing moisture across the continent.

Some scientists think that El Nino conditions might be intensifying due to global warming but there is insufficient evidence for this to be conclusive.

If El Ninos are growing stronger, for whatever reason, there is plenty to be concerned about.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funded Benjamin Giese of the Texas A & M University to look at El Nino issues and their impacts.

One of his findings was that the 1918-19 El Nino was one of the strongest of the 20th century and that there was a possible link between it and the then flu pandemic.

That El Nino led to drought in India, which led to famine that likely contributed to about 17 million flu deaths.

A further indication of just how pervasive El Ninos are is under way in Hawaii, where University of Queensland marine biologists are studying potentially damaging effects of rapidly rising temperatures on coral reefs.

Coral bleaching and premature death is the most common effect of rising sea temperatures.

The phenomenon was observed last year when Hawaii recorded its first-ever mass bleaching event due to an unusually warm body of water in the eastern Pacific.

University of Queensland Global Change Institute director Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg says the combination of a strengthening El Nino and the hottest July on record means the outlook for the region’s coral is bleak.

“The coral bleaching we are uncovering in Hawaii is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we expect to unfold,” says Hoegh-Guldberg.

“Ocean heat has not fully dissipated since last year’s bleaching event, adding stress to corals that haven’t fully recovered and which may not be strong enough to survive another bleaching.’’

Hoegh-Guldberg also has fears for Australia’s Great Barrier Reef this summer.

The Reef is under the pump, having already lost half its coral. Because of this and extensive development, UNESCO has threatened to list the World Heritage area in danger.

Hoegh-Guldberg’s concerns are shared by Terry Hughes, a coral expert who sits on federal and state government scientific panels overseeing World Heritage area repair work.

He has warned that El Nino conditions could cause a big bleaching event like those that occurred in 1998 and 2002, subsequently setting back Reef repair work.

Weather bureau climatologist Dr Andrew Watkins says there is only one bigger weather phenomenon kicking around than the El Nino-La Nina cycle and that is climate change.

“El Nino is the main driver of variability in many parts of the world,’’ he says. “It’s the biggest driver in global temperatures.’’

The events rotate roughly on a four-yearly cycle.

Given the current El Nino is the strongest in 17 years and 17 of the 26 El Ninos since 1900 have resulted in widespread drought, that would suggest Australia faces severe drought.

But because of the extremely unusual Indian Ocean conditions, climatologists are trying to nut out a big problem: will the Indian or Pacific Ocean win out in determining weather conditions this summer?

Watkins says because the events under way are so unusual, international computer models do not have enough statistical inputs for a firm decision.

“None are really going strongly for drought,’’ Watkins says. “We hope the Indian Ocean will have a moderating influence.’’

Anyway, he points out that there has never been a year in which a cyclone did not cross the coast so, El Nino or not, someone will be flooded or suffer some sort of damage in Queensland this summer.

Although El Ninos generally reduce the number of cyclones, Watkins says a quirk is that for some reason they do not reduce the number that brew in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

This is good news for graziers in the drought-hit lower Gulf and areas stretching south into central western Queensland such as Longreach and Barcaldine in that often it takes only one good cyclone heading south from the Gulf to bring desperately needed drought-breaking rain to these areas.

Read more!

Extreme Pacific sea level events to double in future

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA EurekAlert 25 Sep 15;

Many tropical Pacific island nations are struggling to adapt to gradual sea level rise stemming from warming oceans and melting ice caps. Now they may also see much more frequent extreme interannual sea level swings. The culprit is a projected behavioral change of the El Niño phenomenon and its characteristic Pacific wind response, according to recent computer modeling experiments and tide-gauge analysis by scientists Matthew Widlansky and Axel Timmermann at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, and their colleague Wenju Cai at CSIRO in Australia.

During El Niño, warm water and high sea levels shift eastward, leaving in their wake low sea levels in the western Pacific. Scientists have already shown that this east-west seesaw is often followed six months to a year later by a similar north-south sea level seesaw with water levels dropping by up to one foot (30 cm) in the Southern Hemisphere. Such sea level drops expose shallow marine ecosystems in South Pacific Islands, causing massive coral die-offs with a foul smelling tide called taimasa (pronounced [kai' ma'sa]) by Samoans.

The team of scientists recently asked, how will future greenhouse warming affect the El Niño sea level seesaws? The scientist used state-of-the-art climate models, which accounted for increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, together with simulations of the observed climate and tide-gauge records to verify the model results. They determined that projected climate change will enhance El Niño-related sea level extremes. By the end of this century the experiments show that the intensified wind impacts of strong El Niño and La Niña events are likely to double the frequency of extreme sea level occurrences, especially in the tropical southwestern Pacific.

"From our previous work, we know that toward the end of a very strong El Niño event, the tide-gauge measurements around Guam quickly return to normal reflecting the east-west seesaw, but those near Samoa continue to drop as a result of the lagging north-south seesaw," explains Widlansky. "During these strong events, the summer rainband over Samoa, called the South Pacific Convergence Zone, shifts toward the equator and alters the trade winds and ocean currents which in turn change the sea level."

"The next logical step in our work was to understand how future changes in winds, projected by most climate models, will impact the interannual swings in sea level," recalls Timmermann. "We noted a trend in greater variability and were surprised at first to find not only more frequent and prolonged drops in sea level, but also more frequent high sea level events. This will further increase the risk of coastal inundations."

"Our results are consistent with previous findings that showed the atmospheric effects of both El Niño and La Niña are likely to become stronger and more common in a future warmer climate," explains Cai.

"The possibility of more frequent flooding in some areas and sea level drops in others would have severe consequences for the vulnerable coastlines of Pacific islands," says Widlansky.

The authors hope that better predictability of not only rising sea levels, but also the sea level fluctuations examined in this study, will aid Pacific Island communities in adapting to the impacts of climate change as well as shorter-term climate events such as the ongoing 2015 El Niño.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 25 Sep 15

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wild shores of singapore

UN study warns agricultural subsidies are threatening forests and conservation programs
Mongabay Environmental News

Read more!

Singapore's anti-haze law needs more bite, say experts

Audrey Tan, Samantha Boh Straits Times 25 Sep 15; and AsiaOne

The seriousness of out-of-control burning activities in Indonesia continues to be felt in the region despite efforts to put out fires.

Experts say more must be done to punish offenders, or the haze problem will not go away.

Among their suggestions are harsher fines, rewards for informants, more policing and closer cooperation among the authorities.

Some also suggest a procurement policy that ensures goods and services are obtained from sustainable and responsible sources.

Singapore Management University (SMU) law don Eugene Tan said: "The law should require the Government to take the lead and adopt (such a procurement policy).

"This can help (ensure) its investments and business partners are not engaging in conduct that is detrimental to the health of Singaporeans and our economy."

He was referring to Singapore's Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, which was passed in Parliament last year to punish those responsible for causing or condoning fires if burning results in unhealthy levels of haze in Singapore.

"It would be the height of irony if the haze was caused, directly and indirectly, by companies with a strong Singaporean connection, whether in terms of ownership or investments by Singapore entities," said Associate Professor Tan.

A Singapore-listed firm is under investigation for causing forest fires in Indonesia, an Indonesian official said on Tuesday.

Singapore's Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources is also investigating two recent breaches of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.

Those found guilty under the Act can be fined up to $100,000 a day, capped at a total of $2 million, for causing unhealthy haze, defined as a 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index value of 101 or greater for 24 hours or more.

But Professor Ng Yew-Kwang, an economist from Nanyang Technological University, said the fines were too low and suggested that they be increased by at least a hundred times. "Some may think that $100,000 a day is a big penalty. However, since the haze affects all people in Singapore, that sum is less than two cents a day per person," he pointed out. "This is certainly far less than 1 per cent of any reasonable estimate of the costs of haze at any unhealthy level."

National University of Singapore economist Ivan Png said the law could include a whistle-blower provision to reward those with information leading to convictions. "Whistle-blowers have been instrumental in exposing white-collar and environmental crime in the United States and Europe. We can apply the same concept to combat the haze.

"We might then even get the help of local government officials and plantation workers in Sumatra. The prospect of a whistle-blower reward worth perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars would certainly focus their minds," said Professor Png, who suggested a reward 12 times the informant's annual income.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for non-governmental environmental organisation World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore said the biggest difficulty with the new law was verifying who started the fires, which depends on Jakarta's capacity to monitor the ground. She added: "It will also depend on the Act's ability to target smaller companies suspected of causing fires, (and) to follow the supply chain to the giant corporations they supply."

Dr Nigel Sizer, global director of the forests programme at US-based think-tank World Resources Institute, and SMU law professor Mahdev Mohan called for greater dialogue between governments, firms and environmental groups which "may have an accurate lay of the land", as a way of solving the haze issue made complicated by Indonesia's complex, often overlapping land ownership and usage rights.

The experts agree that while the law may be a step in the right direction, it does not yet have any bite. As SMU's Prof Tan put it: "It's small comfort to most Singaporeans... plagued by the scourge of the haze and for which the law strikes them as being a paper tiger."

Authorities identify companies likely responsible for forest fires
Today Online 25 Sep 15;

SINGAPORE — The Government has already identified some companies which could be responsible for some of the fires that have resulted in the haze, and the National Environment Agency has written to the Indonesian authorities asking for a list of companies that Indonesian investigations have shown may be implicated.

Revealing this at a media briefing yesterday, Minister for Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said the Government could be issuing notices to these companies in the days to come, pursuant to the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act. More details will be revealed today, he said, adding that investigations are in progress.

Last year, Singapore passed the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, which states that haze pollution has occurred if the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) — for the same or any part of Singapore — remains above 100 for at least 24 hours. It further stipulates that it is an offence for any entity to cause or contribute to haze pollution here. This has happened at least twice in recent weeks. Asked whether the Government was investigating further breaches, Dr Balakrishnan said the Government was still collecting evidence.

The haze has worsened dramatically since Wednesday, due to a tropical storm in the West Pacific Ocean near the Philippines, resulting in the winds shifting to blow from the south and south-west, bringing with it dense haze from Sumatra. Hourly PM2.5 concentrations have fluctuated widely, but have been on an upward trend overall.

Dr Balakrishnan said what was of concern was a dense “haze cloud” south of Singapore that is creeping closer to the island. “That’s why you are getting this volatile but progressively worsening haze (yesterday).”

With the region experiencing El Nino year, the dry conditions will last till November. But wind directions are very changeable and can be affected by incidents like typhoons, and it is difficult to give a forecast of what to expect over the next few weeks, said Dr Balakrishnan.

“Obviously we also hope the Indonesian authorities’ efforts on the ground, and I am very encouraged that the President of Indonesia is on the ground himself ... (we hope) that his efforts, his determination, will be translated into actual action on the ground to put out those fires. Our offer of assistance is still on the table and we still stand ready to work with ASEAN partners to resolve this problem,” he said.

‘Errant companies to face the music’
KOI KYE LEE New Straits Times 24 Sep 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: INDONESIA, having bore the brunt of criticism over the haze enveloping its neighbours Malaysia and Singapore, is set to lay down the law on those responsible for the annual phenomenon.

The republic is expected to haul up more than 200 plantation and forestry companies to court next month over the roles they played in causing the smog via illegal land clearing methods, which included slashing and burning.

Speaking to the New Straits Times yesterday, Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Herman Prayitno said Indonesia’s ongoing investigation into errant companies linked to the haze would most likely be completed in October.

The likelihood of these companies being charged in court and paying a heavy penalty, he said, was high.

“We are taking this seriously. Those who have broken the law will face stern action as time and again, we have reminded them to refrain from slashing and burning. Even the number (of companies investigated) may increase.”

Prayitno said more companies may face suspension and criminal proceedings. However, he said, Indonesia was not at liberty to disclose their identities.

On how many more companies out of the 200 investigated would face a similar fate as the four firms that were suspended on Tuesday over illegal land-clearing practices, he said “investigations are still ongoing”.

On Tuesday, it was reported that four companies had their operations suspended for allegedly contributing to the haze.

Three oil palm plantation companies had their permits frozen while one forestry company had its licence revoked.
All the companies were Indonesian-owned while a Singapore-owned company was also under probe.

Prayitno said one Malaysian company was among more than 200 companies being probed. However, he could not divulge further information.

Among the penalties include suspension of operations, revocation of land permits and jail time.

On whether Indonesia would seek cooperation from Malaysia and Singapore to develop long-term solutions, Prayitno said Asean was a good platform to discuss the issue.

“Indonesia is able to handle this, but if we do need the help of our Malaysian and Singaporean counterparts, we will ask, and perhaps, work together. However, we are working via the Asean platform and I believe we can do it. Hopefully, this will not happen again in the years to come,” Prayitno said.

He said, in the future, Indonesia would have an obligation of due diligence to prevent private parties within its territory, jurisdiction or control from causing transboundary environmental harm to other states or areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

“Our government will also have an obligation to punish the perpetrators of wrongful conduct if harm is occasioned,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said the ministry has yet to receive word on the Malaysian companies linked to the haze situation.

“Our companies operating in Indonesia are subject to local laws and regulations. If legal action is taken against them, our embassy and consulate in Indonesia will provide necessary assistance,” he said.

Reezal said no protest note was sent to Indonesia on the situation as Malaysia wants to resolve such issues through consultation and cooperation in the Asean spirit.

Previously, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had proposed a bilateral meeting to discuss among others, the haze situation.

However, the meeting, initially scheduled for Sept 25 in Jakarta, was postponed to a later date at Indonesia’s request.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, during his recent working visit to Jakarta, had also raised the haze issue with Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla.

Read more!

How you can trade Southeast Asia's haze

Nyshka Chandran CNBC 23 Sep 15;

The price of palm oil has rallied 7 percent in the past fortnight as a cloak of smog, combined with unusually dry weather, disrupts supply in key Southeast Asian producing countries, and analysts say the gains are set to continue.

Futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange shot up to a one-week high of about $508 a metric ton on Wednesday, a sharp turnaround from a six-year low of $426 plumbed in late August. Bursa Malaysia is the world's biggest palm oil futures trading hub.

Many experts now expect the edible oil to close out the year higher: Religare Institutional Research's year-end target is around $750 a ton, while others like CIMB and Nomura expect more gradual gains to $513 and $529, respectively.

Palm oil, derived from the palm fruit, is used as a raw material in everything from food products to detergents, cosmetics and biofuel. Global palm oil exports last year was valued at $34 billion, according to reports.

Indonesia and Malaysia are two of the world's biggest producers but the region's seasonal haze is lowering production.

Read MoreSingapore's clouds have a pretty hazy lining
Every year, farmers in Indonesia engage in the 'slash-and-burn' technique of cutting down vegetation on a patch of land, then burning off the undergrowth to make space for new plantations. While it is the easiest, fastest and most cost-effective way to clear land, the use of fire is deemed illegal by the Indonesian government since it produces a dense layer of smog across the country as well as over Malaysia and neighboring Singapore, sending air quality readings to alarmingly low levels.

Increased public complaints about the pollution this year have whipped Indonesian President Joko Widodo's administration into action. A supplier of Golden Agri Resources, the world's second largest oil palm company, was sanctioned this week for allegedly causing forest fires. More than 200 plantation and forestry companies are currently being investigated, according to local media reports, including one Singapore-listed firm.

As for the impact on the palm fruit, "heavy haze reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the trees and disrupts harvesting during the peak production season," explained Nomura analyst June Ng.

As a result of the smog, companies are finding it difficult to bring their workers to plantations, which is reducing productivity and further weighing on production, added Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, research director at Religare Capital Markets.


Don’t forget about El Nino

Religare is especially bullish on the commodity's outlook in the face of tightening supply as a result of El Nino, the weather phenomenon that brings severe drought to Asia. This year's event may be one of the most severe on record, according to a September forecast by the World Meteorological Organization.

"A strong 2015-16 El Nino event could disrupt palm oil supply growth in Indonesia and Malaysia. Global palm oil supply could increase by only 1.4 million tons in 2015, before declining by 1.1 million in 2016," warned Ivy Lee, CIMB analyst.

A severe drought at palm oil estates will negatively impact palm oil yields, as the lower rainfall and soil moisture cause trees to experience bunch failure four-to-six months later, she explained.

Read MoreWhy El Niño could mean more pain for energy sector
Indeed, historical evidence points to higher prices. Two out of the three El Nino events since 2002 resulted in higher prices, with palm oil surging 26 percent from 2006-2007 sequentially, said Nomura's Ng.

But Lee and Ng are slightly less bullish on prices compared to Religare's Tiruchelvam, warning that price gains will be slow due to the high level of existing palm oil stocks. August's stockpile rose 10 percent on month to 2.49 million metric tons, noted Nomura.

Stocks to watch

Palm oil producers with high production growth potential like Singapore-listed First Resources are set to benefit from rising prices.

About a third of First Resources' hectarage is expected to enter maturity over 2015-17, which should increase its output growth, Tiruchelvam said, while Lee likes Malaysia's Genting Plantations because of its young estates.

First Resources looks particularly attractive given the added benefit of currency movements, Tiruchelvam notes. Its revenues are denoted in dollars, while its costs are in rupiah, so the latter's 18 depreciation against the U.S. dollar year-to-date supports the company.

"In the event of a prolonged El Nino weather event and oil price volatility, we believe liquid big cap stocks with high correlation to the palm oil price are likely to benefit given their higher leverage to price upside," said Nomura's Ng.

Read more!