Forest concession holders urged to foil forest fires
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)