[ti:Indonesia Cuts Back on Fire Protection] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Budget cuts caused by the coronavirus crisis [00:05.40]have forced Indonesia to reduce fire patrols [00:09.92]and protection for some of the world's most important forests, [00:15.40]the environment ministry said recently. [00:18.56]Indonesia's forests are some of the biggest in the world. [00:24.36]They are home to more than a tenth of the world's mammal species [00:29.80]and nearly a fifth of its birds. [00:33.04]And the cuts come ahead of the worst season for fires. [00:38.80]Indonesia is also the world's top producer of palm oil. [00:44.72]Fires, often set to clear land for palm oil plantations, [00:51.00]were very damaging in 2019. [00:54.68]It is still too early in the dry season, [00:58.40]when most land is cleared, to get a clear picture of what will happen this year. [01:05.72]But a careful study of satellite information shows about 400,000 hectares [01:13.36]were cleared in the first 24 weeks of 2020. [01:18.56]In the same time period last year, 300,000 hectares were cleared. [01:25.12]Environmental officials said that the coronavirus outbreak [01:30.44]is affecting the country's economy. [01:33.56]Nearly $50 billion is being sent to health emergency programs. [01:40.52]This led to a 50 percent budget cut [01:44.36]for the team that finds and puts out fires. [01:48.88]At the same time, people who lost their jobs during the health crisis [01:55.16]are clearing land for crops using fires. [01:59.36]And in some areas, social distancing rules are making it harder to fight fires. [02:07.52]President Joko Widodo called for the tough enforcement of laws [02:13.56]in order to stop illegal fires. [02:17.08]And the environment and forest minister told parliament recently [02:22.76]that an extra $35 million was needed to fight forest fires this year. [02:30.20]Environmentalists agreed the budget cuts could have bad results. [02:36.80]"There is a real risk of another ecological and health disaster in 2020," [02:44.04]said Kiki Taufik, head of Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest campaign. [02:51.16]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM