Indonesian Officials Visit Australia Seeking Fire Fighting, Conservation Support

A wind change opens up a 10km firefront which has ripped through nearly 6,000 hectares of the pristine Wilson's Promontory national park southeast of Melbourne, 14 Feb 2009A senior Indonesian delegation is visiting Australiato learn more about fire prevention and conservation strategies. Theircountry often suffers from massive forest fires that spread smoke andash around Southeast Asia.
 
Indonesia's Director General ofBiodiversity and Conservation, Darori, is in Australia with colleaguesto assess progress on the nations' joint Fire Watch program. Theprogram aims to help Indonesia manage and control forest fires.
 
Daroriwill also visit Perth Zoo in Western Australia and see an orangutancolony that is helping to repopulate the Bukit Tigapuluh National Parkin Indonesia.
 
Didy Wurjanto, a senior Indonesian Ministry of Forestry official, is part of the delegation.
 
He says that Australian expertise is helping provincial authorities combat the threat of wildfires.
 
"Quiteoften the owners of the lands, the community, were not able to controlthe fire and then they spread out and then started to engulf the nearbyhuts, houses and then wind their way to the conservation area. So, thecooperation between Australia and Indonesia give us a moresophisticated approach to fire warning systems," he explained.
 
Australianfire monitoring experts have been helping the Indonesian governmentreduce smoke haze and the incidence of fires, which have caused muchdamage to farmland as well as native flora and fauna in recent years.
 
Image provided by NASA shows smoke spreading from fire (outlined in red) that appears to be burning in small area of forest in Victoria's Gippsland region, Australia (file)Much of the managing of fires is done with the use of satellite technology, which allows officials to see where blazes start.

Nearlyevery year, Indonesia experiences dozens of forest fires acrosshundreds of thousands of hectares. The fires destroy homes and farms,and kill untold numbers of animals. They also spread a choking hazethat reaches to Malaysia, Singapore and other Southeast Asia nations.The haze can be deadly to those with respiratory diseases or otherhealth problems.

Weather patterns this year have somemeteorologists and fire experts in Asia warning that Indonesia mayexperience a particularly bad fire season.

Australia also ishelping its northern neighbor expand the Bukit Tigapuluh National Parkto protect the region's iconic wildlife. There have been recentconflicts between villagers and Sumatran elephants and tigers as humanshave encroached on the animals' habitat.
 
There are growingconcerns in Indonesia over land clearing in sensitive ecosystems andits likely impact on the critically endangered orangutan.