Mekong Delta localities are tightening measures to prevent forest fires in the ongoing dry season which started in December.

Forest fires and deforestation in Indonesia declined drastically in the last 10 years, Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar said on September 29.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on April 4 issued a dispatch ordering localities, ministries, and agencies to strengthen forest fire prevention and control measures.

Among the over 33,000ha of drought-hit forest in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, more than 13,530ha has fire potential rated as “dangerous” (Level 4) and nearly 4,000ha “extremely dangerous” (Level 5), local authorities said.

Many southern provinces have arranged all-day patrols to prevent forest fires during the dry season.

Vietnam’s forest coverage reached 42.01 percent in 2021, up 0.11 percent from a year earlier, according to the Forest Protection Department.

More than 44,500 ha of forest in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau is at high risk of catching fire due to a prolonged hot spell and drought, according to the forest ranger division under the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang is taking measures to retain its forest coverage rate at 11 percent, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Several forest areas in the central province of Khanh Hoa are facing high risk of fire due to prolonged droughts and extremely hot weather.

More than 43,500 ha of forest in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau is at high risk of fire during the existing dry season, which began in November and will last until the end of May, according to the province’s Forest Protection Sub-department.

The Royal Thai Army has deployed an MI-17 helicopter to transport tractors, trucks, and heavy machinery up to Phu Kradueng to support firefighting operations.

Thailand’s Air Force Chief ACM Manat Wongwat has deployed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to join in an operation to put out a forest fire in the central province of Nakhon Nayok.

A satellite image showed thick haze from a forest fire in Indonesia spreading into Malacca Strait, Singapore and Malaysia on September 14, according to the Indonesian meteorology and geophysics agency.

The forest fire task force of Indonesia’s Riau province has deployed four helicopters to douse the forest fires raging across the southern part of the province on Sumatra Island.

Thailand and Laos have launched an annual campaign to prevent and address forest fire between both countries.

President Tran Dai Quang on July 25 cabled condolences to Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos over the forest fire which ripped through the Mati coastal town near Athens, causing critical human and asset losses.

The Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu is facing a level-4 risk of fires, which is likely to be raised to level 5, the level of extreme danger, said the sanctuary management board on March 13.

Over 150,000 hectares of forests in the south central coastal province of Binh Thuan are now on high alert for fires as it is in the peak of the dry season, according to the provincial Forestry Management Department on February 27.

Indonesia has declared emergency in anticipation of worsening forest fires in Riau and South Sumatra provinces on Sumatra Island and West and Central Kalimantan on Borneo Island.

Indonesia’s Terra and Aqua satellites have detected 27 hotspots with risk of forest fire in seven provinces of Sumatra archipelago, according to the Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).