Forest hotspots rise to 63 in Indonesia

The number of forest hotspots has increased to 63 in Indonesia, most of them in Sumatra Island, official of meteorology and geophysics agency said on Thursday.

The Terra and Aqua satellite from NASA found 46 forest hotspots in Sumatra Island, the centre of Indonesia's palm oil industry, seven in Borneo Island and 10 others in eastern parts of the country, Sugeng Winarto, an official of the agency told Xinhua.

Forest fires due to the practice of slash-and-burn to clear land of oil palm plantations in Indonesia had resulted in transboundary haze, triggering serious health problems and a huge financial loss last year.

Last year, Indonesia launched the biggest ever battle against massive forest fires across the nation which left 17 people dead.

--IANS

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