PEKANBARU, INDONESIA - With fierce blazes raging in jungles from the Amazon to Indonesia, concerns are mounting about the impact as rainforests play a vital role in protecting the planet against global warming.
Forests are natural buffers against climate change, as they suck greenhouse gas carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. They have often been destroyed to make way for plantations for the lucrative palm oil and pulpwood industries, particularly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with fires often started illegally to clear land.
The situation this year has been worsened by drier weather in Indonesia. Authorities have deployed thousands of security forces to battle the blazes, but most believe only the start of the rainy season - usually in October - will douse them. Mr Arief Wijaya, from the Indonesia branch of WRI, told AFP that improving the lot of poor communities who have long turned to burning land for agriculture is also important.
Wildfires in Bolivia have torched two million hectares of forest and grassland since August, while in Brazil, 88,816 fires were recorded from January to the end of August, over half of them in the rainforest.
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