The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everyday life on a global scale and thrown economies into disarray. For the SIIA Haze Outlook 2020 report, we interviewed private sector, government, academia, and NGO representatives to understand the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the risk of fires and transboundary haze.
Most interviewees cautioned that it is too early to determine the full impact of COVID-19 on fire prevention and mitigation efforts. That said, interviewees have already observed that sustainability initiatives and haze preparedness have already been slowed down by the pandemic. The impact can be classified under the following –
- Cost – where budgets are diverted to address the pandemic;
- Bandwidth – decrease in capacity to prevent illegal forest encroachment and burning; and
- Interruption – addressing the pandemic has caused delays in efforts including peatland restoration, firefighting and community engagement.
This infographic highlights the key areas that have already been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the full analysis, refer to pages 16 to 18 of the full report here.
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