Indonesia, S Korea strengthen cooperation on forest, land fire control

 The Indonesian and South Korean governments have strengthened collaboration in controlling forest and land fires by developing a Forest and Land Fire Management Center in Ogan Komering Ilir District, South Sumatra.

Director of Forest Fire Control at the Ministry of Forestry, Thomas Nifinluri, in a statement confirmed here on Friday, said the center would also be supported by accommodation facilities in the form of a Manggala Agni (firefighting brigade) dormitory.

“Efforts to control forest and land fires cannot be carried out independently, but require strong and sustained collaboration not only domestically but also between countries,” he said.

According to him, the bilateral cooperation is important to encourage the exchange of knowledge, experience, and the utilization of technology in order to strengthen forest and land fire control capacity in a more effective and integrated manner.

He explained that the dormitory construction is part of the implementation of cooperation agreed upon by both parties, which includes the development of a forest fire command and training center, capacity building for firefighting brigade, supporting infrastructure, and wildfire detection system.

Coinciding with the Earth Day on Wednesday (April 22), the groundbreaking ceremony for the dormitory construction was carried out.

The move, he said, was important given that the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned that the country could experience the El Niño phenomenon earlier in the second half of this year.

Along with the climate phenomenon, rising global temperatures are expected to increase the potential for forest and land fires, making them more widespread, more frequent, and more difficult to control.

Nifinluri said that with support from the Korea Forest Service, the development of the Forest and Land Fire Management Center is expected to provide tangible benefits for Indonesia, ASEAN, and the international community.