Nine northern provinces afflicted with wildfires and haze are trying to draw lessons learned from their experiences this year, in the hope that they can be used to develop an operational plan to help them better tackle the problems in the years to come.
Led by the Third Corps, local administrative officials from Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan, Lampang, Tak, Phayao, Phrae and Lamphun held a meeting in Chiang Mai to discuss this year's wildfire and haze problems after four months of struggling to contain them.
The total number of hotspots (crop burning areas) detected by satellite in these provinces between Jan 1 and April 23 was 8,551, or 4,240 more than the number recorded last year during the same period, said Third Corps Commander Lt Gen Supachoke Thawatphirachai, in his capacity as the director of a regional operation centre for wildfire and haze prevention and resolution.
This year's worsening situation was attributed to the vast amount of accumulated biomass fuel brought about by extremely hot weather and dryness, which made several areas prone to wildfires that also send ultra-fine dust particles into the air, he said.
Aside from the unusually high quantity of biomass fuel, another contributing factor was inefficiency in the so-called single command system adopted to deal with these problems in the affected areas, he said.
The system wasn't working very well in certain areas because there is still a lack of clarity in problem-solving plans and efficient public communication techniques, while area executives had failed to accurately analyse problems, he said.
After this year's operations, the affected provinces realised that a clear operation plan to control wildfires and haze should be prepared at the district level, and all concerned parties should be engaged in drafting the plan to ensure full integration of their work, he said.
Although the wildfire situation will begin to improve with summer storms hitting certain areas, the number of hotspots may still rise in other areas, he said.
"Most of these hotspots were found to begin in the forest and highland areas before spreading to farming zones … This clearly has resulted in immeasurable losses to natural resources," he said. "We have sought cooperation from neighbouring countries to tackle the wildfires in border areas."