الأربعاء، 11 نوفمبر 2015

Indonesia Uses Trained Elephants to Control Forest Fires - Rawan For Media Artistic and Production

Indonesia Uses Trained Elephants to Control Forest Fires - Rawan For Media Artistic and Production



SIAK, Indonesia — Forest fires difficult to control? Call in the pachyderm patrol.

Officials
in Indonesia are using trained elephants outfitted with water pumps and
hoses to help control fires that have claimed vast amounts of forest
while sending thick haze into neighboring countries.

For
nearly three months, Riau province in East Sumatra has been blanketed
by smoke from forest fires and land clearing, especially in peat-rich
areas where flames are difficult to contain.

At the elephant conservation center in Siak district, 23 trained elephants are being used as "forest watchdogs."

Carrying
water pumps and other equipment, elephants and their crews patrol
burned areas in the national forest to ensure that fires don't reappear
after smoldering beneath the peat lands.

Supartono,
the head of the Riau Forestry Division, who uses one name, said the
elephants had earlier been trained to help patrol forests to find people
encroaching illegally, as well as to resolve frequent conflicts between
wild elephants and people by driving the wild elephants that enter
human settlements back to their habitats.

So far, Indonesia has been unable to put out the raging fires this year because of intentional burning and a rain shortage.

Much
of the forest land that was burned in the past 17 years was converted
into oil palm and pulp plantations. Data from the Riau Forest Fire
Prevention Taskforce show more than 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of
forests and land have been burned in the province.

Environment
and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya says about 1.7 million hectares (4.2
million acres) of forests and plantation land have been razed by fires
throughout Sumatra and Borneo.


By AP, 15 hours 35 minutes ago

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