DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES ENVIRONMENT

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA COUNTRY REPORTS FIRE AND HAZE SITUATION AND ACTIONS TAKEN JANUARY TO 19 TH SEPTEMBER 2012

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA PRESENTATION OUTLINE § HAZE AND FIRE OCCURENCES § ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL § LESSONS AND BEST PRACTICES TO BE SHARED § PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES AND ASSISTANCE REQUIRED

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA ACTIONS TAKEN AT NATIONAL LEVEL § HOTSPOT DETECTION § FIRE OCCURRENCES § AIR QUALITY OR VISIBILITY § HAZE SITUATION

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA HOTSPOT DETECTION § January until 19 th September 2012 - hotspots were detected in several areas in Peninsular Malaysia, States of Sabah and Sarawak § However, the local burnings detected as hotspots by satellite imageries were smaller in acreage and very much localized

0 26 августа 2012 12 августа 2012 29 июля 2012 15 июля 2012 01 июля 2012 17 июня 2012 09 сентября 2012 DATE 03 июня 2012 20 мая 2012 06 мая 2012 22 апреля 2012 08 апреля 2012 25 марта 2012 11 марта 2012 26 февраля 2012 12 февраля 2012 29 января 2012 15 января 2012 01 января 2012 HOTSPOT DETECTED (NOAA-18) DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA CUMULATIVE HOTSPOT COUNTS FOR PENINSULAR MALAYSIA, SARAWAK, SABAH, KALIMANTAN AND SUMATERA, JANUARY - 19 SEPTEMBER 2012 1800 1600 1400 1200 Peninsular Malaysia 1000 1088 800 Sarawak 1628 600 Sabah 400 258 200

0 Peninsular Malaysia Sarawak Sabah 29 июля 2012 22 июля 2012 15 июля 2012 08 июля 2012 16 сентября 2012 09 сентября 2012 02 сентября 2012 26 августа 2012 19 августа 2012 12 августа 2012 05 августа 2012 Date 01 июля 2012 24 июня 2012 17 июня 2012 10 июня 2012 03 июня 2012 27 мая 2012 20 мая 2012 13 мая 2012 06 мая 2012 29 апреля 2012 22 апреля 2012 15 апреля 2012 08 апреля 2012 100 01 апреля 2012 25 марта 2012 18 марта 2012 11 марта 2012 04 марта 2012 26 февраля 2012 19 февраля 2012 12 февраля 2012 05 февраля 2012 29 января 2012 22 января 2012 15 января 2012 08 января 2012 01 января 2012 No. of Hotspots DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA DAILY HOTSPOTS COUNT January – 19 September 2012 50

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA FIRE OCCURENCES §The hotspots detected in the country were mainly from : –Shifting cultivation and burning activities on the National Customary Rights (NCR) land, –Burning of paddy stalks prior to replanting, which are allowed under strict control. –Bush and shrub fires that accidentally occur during the hot and dry weather had also contributed to the total number of hotspots detected in the country. §These fires were put out immediately by the Fire and Rescue Department

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA The burning are allowed under strict conditions, as follows : § Burning times between 8. 00 a. m and 6. 00 p. m ; § Carried out away from roads and other major routes; § Does not cause nuisance to nearby residents nor interfere with normal visibility; § Closely monitored and controlled until completely burned; § Not carried out at any peat soil area; § Does not use material that emit black smoke as tinder material to ignite the fire; and § Prior written approval from the Director General of the DOE.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA AIR QUALITY OR VISIBILITY § The air quality status for Malaysia was between good to moderate level. § Visibility throughout the country was generally good with the average of more than 10 kilometers (except during the episodes of transboundary haze the visibility in the affected area reduced to less than 6 km).

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA HAZE SITUATION § Malaysia experienced 2 episodes of haze and deterioration of air quality due to transboundary haze pollution during the drier period in the Southern ASEAN region from the month of June to Mid August 2012: i. from 14 to 21 June 2012 – west coast of Peninsular Malaysia experienced unhealthy air quality with maximum unhealthy level of Air Pollutant Index (API) recorded was 158, in Port Klang on 15 June 2012; ii. from 30 July to 13 August 2012– west coast and this time the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia were also affected by transboundary haze pollution with maximum unhealthy level of API recorded was 138, in Port Klang, Selangor.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA ACTIONS TAKEN AT NATIONAL LEVEL § MONITORING § PREVENTION § MITIGATION AND PREPAREDNESS

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA MONITORING § DOE monitors Malaysia’s ambient air quality through a network of 52 stations that are strategically located in residential and industrial areas, and in areas with heavy traffic to detect any significant change in the air quality which may be harmful to human health and the environment. Five (5) criteria pollutants were measured and used to calculate the Air Pollutant Index (API), namely : – PM 10; – sulphur dioxide; – nitrogen dioxide; – carbon monoxide; and – ground level ozone.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA PREVENTION § The Department of Environment (DOE) continues to carry ground surveillance on fire prone areas as an early detection for any fire occurrence § The programme on Fire Prevention and Peatland Management continue as yearly programmes § The SOP on Prevention of Peatland Fires is updated from time to enhance the capacity of the executing agencies involved in the programme

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA Fire Prevention and Peatland Management Check Dam Watch Tower Tube Well Pumping of water to canal

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA MITIGATION AND PREPAREDNESS § The National Haze Committee Meeting chaired by H. E Minister of Natural Resources and Environment convened twice this year on 22 nd March 2012 and 7 th August 2012 and the committee discussed on the followings : – Inter-agency’s preparatory actions to prevent land forest fires and open burning; – Enhancement on Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for response time on fire suppression and mitigation – Improvement of actions taken by the relevant agencies to curb land peatland fires and dissemination of information to public during the hot and dry season from June to Mid October.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA ACTIONS TAKEN (DURING 2 EPISODES OF TRANSBOUNDARY HAZE : 14 – 21 JUNE AND 30 TH JULY TO 13 TH AUGUST 2012 § § API was monitored hourly

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA LESSON & BEST PRACTICES TO BE SHARED 1. The success of Fire Prevention Programmes in controlling fire breakouts in the high risk fire prone peatlands in the six states (Selangor, Kelantan, Pahang, Johor Sabah and Sarawak); • Enhance coordination among enforcement agencies and Local Authority to curb peatland fires • Continuous improvement on Standard Operating Procedure to synchronise actions taken by the relevant agencies • Action taken and response time to mitigate peatland fires are updated and enhanced from time to time

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA 2. Implementation of zero burning practices by the plantation industry; 3. Review and operationalisation of National Haze Action Plan at different alert levels based on the status of the air quality (Air Pollutant Index); 4. Stringent penalty for open burning offences as stipulated in the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Amendments 1998). i. e. maximum fines of RM 500, 000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or both; and

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA 5. Prohibition of open burning by certain activities and in certain designated areas such as peatlands as provided for under the Section 29 A, Environmental Quality Act 1974, “Prohibition on open burning”.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA PROBLEMS & CHALLENGES; ASSISTANCE REQUIRED § Enhancing awareness and alternatives to control open burning among the shifting cultivators and small farmers; and § Factors that limits enforcement action, among others : – Shortage of manpower; – issues related to open burning on National Customary Right (NCR) Land; and – poor accessibility of the site.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA THANK YOU