A total of 97 forest and steppe fires have been recorded across Mongolia since the beginning of this year, destroying 1,051,907 hectares of forest and grassland, the country’s National Emergency Management Agency reported.

The number of registered wildfires is up around 73 percent compared with the same period last year.

The sharp increase is mainly due to people’s negligence, the agency said, warning citizens not to make open fires or throw cigarette butts on the ground.

On average, over 140,000 hectares of boreal forests are affected each year by fires and insect pests.