Forest concession holders urged to foil forest fires

JAKARTA (JP): A regulation has been issued specifically aimed at preventing forest fires by holding more parties, including forest concession holders, accountable for fires breaking out in their areas, even if they are not directly responsible the fires.

State Minister of the Environment Sonny Keraf said that with Government Regulation No. 4/2001, concession holders can no longer shirk responsibility when a fire occurs.

"It's been very difficult to ask for the concession holders to be accountable. With this regulation, hopefully it will get easier," Sonny said of the regulation, which was signed by President Abdurrahman Wahid on Feb. 5.

"It stipulates that everyone is obliged to prevent any damage and or environmental pollution connected to forest or land fires," Sonny said.

Article 12 and Article 13 underline the "obligation" attached to preventing forest fires.

Article 13 specifically states that businesspeople whose ventures may effect or cause environmental damage through forest fires "must prevent" such fires from occurring.

Article 14 requires such ventures to be well equipped in preventing forest fires, such as early warning systems, fire prevention equipment and establishing standard operating procedures to anticipate the event of a fire.

Owners of such ventures are also required to conduct regular monitoring and file regular reports every six months.

Article 21 stipulates that owners of the ventures also have the obligation of conducting restoration programs on the burned forest area.

Separately, the ministry's Director of Land, Forest and Watercourse Degradation Control Bambang Setyabudi said that it has been difficult to find evidence of certain parties' involvement in forest fires, including those of concession holders.

"Therefore, we will coordinate with experts and other departments in the use of technology," Bambang told The Jakarta Post recently.

The urgency of endorsing the new forest fire regulation has been pushed by many parties, including the International Monetary Fund, since the impact of major forest fires has transboundary effects, particularly in heightening pollution.

An international forest monitoring group, Forest Resources Assessment, has revealed that an estimated 1.2 million hectares of Indonesian forests were cleared annually between 1981 and 1990, accounting for 8 percent of the world's annual forest loss.

It further noted that during the major fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra in 1997 about two million hectares of forest went up in smoke.

According to Deputy Minister on Environmental Policy Development Daniel Murdiarso, calculations by several international institutions estimate that the 1997 forest fires resulted in US$8 billion to $10 billion in health costs.

"The fires eliminated one giga ton of forest carbon, which causes pollution," he said.

Normally, he added, forests are naturally damaged within 15 years. But fire speed up the process to only two days.

The minister's office has also recorded that 55 percent of natural forests, about 22.7 million hectares, managed by forest concession holders have been logged or damaged.(hdn)