JAKARTA -- Indonesia has teamed up with Japanese experts to help prevent wildfires in flammable peatland.

A series of wildfires in the Southeast Asian nation have increased carbon dioxide emissions and the smoke spreading to Singapore and other neighboring countries has become an international problem.

To improve the situation, Indonesia's Peatland Restoration Agency has signed a memorandum with Kyoto University, Hokkaido University and the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature to jointly conduct studies aimed at restoring peatland.

Jakarta is counting on the knowledge both universities have accumulated through restoration work in Indonesia.

Peatland, which occurs in wetlands, is drained and cultivated by agricultural and other companies for farming. When the field is burned to clear it of grass, carbonized wood buried deep underground often catches fire, leading to major wildfires.

With Japan's help, Indonesia plans to improve waterways to prevent peatland from drying out.

The government plans to preserve peatland on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, where overdevelopment has been a serious concern. This year, it hopes to complete 30% of the overall work to preserve 2 million hectares of peatland.

In a wildfire that struck Indonesia in June-October 2015, some 2.6 million hectares of land burned. The World Bank estimates the country's economic loss from the disaster amounted to around 220 trillion rupiah ($16.5 billion).