About 20% of Pohnpei’s forests are lost in El Niño-related fires (per a US Forest Service visit).

What happened

The figure comes from a US Forest Service forester, Leonard Newell, who said fires set during the 1983 El Niño drought, whether by accident or on purpose, burned the forests. Forest above 500 metres looked intact, but clearing for houses lower down had led to burning, and he urged Pohnpei to create watershed forest reserves. This rests on one newsletter report.