Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Environment and Forestry Ministry pointed to an increase in the area of forest and land burnt during the January-November 2021 period to reach 353,222 hectares, an increase from 296,942 hectares in 2020.

"There was a slight increase. This increase occurred in several provinces, in the two main provinces. These forest fires occurred outside forest areas and in non-mineral areas," Director General of Climate Change Control at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Laksmi Dwanthi stated during the 2021 End of Year Reflection here, Thursday.

According to the Environment and Forestry Ministry's data, the burnt forest and land areas were mainly located in the provinces of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

The area of forest and land burnt in NTB in 2020 had reached 29,157 hectares and expanded to 100,908 hectares in 2021.

In NTT Province, the area of forest and land burnt reached 114,719 hectares in 2020 and increased to 137,297 hectares in 2021.

Dwanthi later noted that the area of forest and land burnt in 2021 reduced by 1,547,598 hectares, or 87 percent, as compared to the area of forest and land burnt in 2014.

In addition, the smoke arising from forest and land fires that occurred in 2020 and 2021 did not spread across national borders unlike the 2019 forest fire in Sumatra and Kalimantan in which the haze reached Malaysia and Singapore, she noted.

Dwanthi emphasized that the government should make efforts to prevent and control fires, especially in areas that frequently prone to them.

"We still have to focus on maintaining other areas outside the forest area, especially in the agricultural and plantation sites," she affirmed.