Forest fires and our powerlessness

Sarono Indonesian NGOs Network for Forest Conservation Jakarta

Forest and land fires are not new to Indonesia. Forest fires have been recorded since 1978 although major fires known to the public occurred in 1982 to 1983. The fires in these two years devastated 3.6 million hectares of forest. In 1994, these fires occurred again, devastating 5.11 million hectares of forest.

The process of forest and land destruction by fire continues. In 1997/1998, fires destroyed 10 million hectares of forest, making Indonesia the world's biggest carbon dioxide producer. Unfortunately we have yet to learn from the fires which sweep through Indonesia every year. Still, a suitable solution to the problem has not been found.

This year, the burning raged from mid February to April in Sumatra, namely in Riau, Jambi, North Sumatra, Aceh and other regions. These fires devoured plantation lands owned by companies, community-managed land plots and protected forest areas. In Bukitbatu district, Bengkalis, Riau, for example, at least 10,906 hectares of land in an animal reserve forest was reduced to ash. Land clearing by burning conducted by locals led to the burning of 30 hectares of coconut palms owned by residents of Cempaka hamlets, Kadaburapat, Bengkalis.

The fires became more extensive because of the customary practice in which people clear land for agricultural purposes by burning bushes and what is left of felled trees.

In West Kalimantan, the governor, H. Djawari said fires in the decade ending 2000 had destroyed 37,971 hectares of forest and incurred losses of Rp 73 billion. In 1997, 17,800 hectares of forest was burned with losses estimated at Rp 55 billion. In Riau, following these fires, dozens of people suffering breathing difficulties had to be hospitalized.

At Caltex Hospital of SBU Dumai and Duri, dozens of children and older people suffered breathing difficulties and upper respiratory tract infection because of the haze. In Medan in March, some 400,000 people or 20 percent of a total of 2 million people in Medan suffered from upper respiratory tract infection.

The burning may continue till the end of September 2002 given the drought which has hit many areas of Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Yet this practice in July contributed to the smoke from forest fires and burning which disturbed the surroundings. In Pontianak, 241 locals contracted upper respiratory tract infections in one week alone in early July. The haze also disrupted flights.

By Aug. 13, there were 285 hotspots in a number of regencies in West Kalimantan. Then there were reports of 65 hotspots in areas formerly used as timber estates, 125 hotspots in areas outside timber estates, forest-concession areas and large-scale estates and 93 hotspots in plantation areas. The latest data shows that West Kalimantan now has 1,048 hotspots.

In East Kalimantan, nearly the entire region is covered by smoke resulting from land clearing. Up till August 12, monitors recorded 427 hotspots but the next day that number had risen to 612. Central Kalimantan was last reported to have 1,428 hotspots.

Weak law enforcement is evident in the country's saga of burning. In forest fires in 1995/1996, for example, the forestry ministry issued a list of companies allegedly behind the occurrence of the haze. The list had 176 companies -- estates and timber estates -- but none has been penalized for their actions.

In the 1999 and 2000 fires, at least 50 companies allegedly used fire to clear land. Again, none were taken to court. The police blamed a lack of evidence for failure to charge a single person.

The laws go unheeded, specifically Law No. 23/1997 on environmental management. There is also the Government Regulation No. 4/2001 on control over damage and or pollution to the environment in connection with forest and or land fires.

But when a forest fire occurs, the government only calls upon the community to wear masks and does nothing else to seriously solve this problem.

Meanwhile, in the context of saving forests from damage as a result of human greed, Deputy of the State Ministry of the Environment, Liana Bratasida, once said that there were five steps that everybody needed to pay attention to.

First, each province and regency must determine areas prioritized for forest fire prevention and management on the basis of the dry season forecast, the land clearance or preparation plan and the history of forest fires. This is in keeping with Government Regulation NO. 4/2001.

Second, to ensure that all parties will participate in preparing themselves, the community must be informed about drought, hotspots and air quality through various mass media or community forums.

Third, companies concerned will guarantee that they will stick to the policy of no burning for land preparation (PLTB). To this end, the policy of collecting a cash bond amounting to at least the cost of PLTB plus the cost to arise for fire extinguishing must be adopted. This bond will be given when an preparation annual plan is submitted.

Fourth, a guarantee for the community's exploitation right, which leads to a sense of belonging towards the forest.

Fifth, legal enforcement. Action must be taken against the perpetrators of arson, be they land owners, estate owners, timber estate owners or business people.

To this end, it is necessary to take the following measures: (1) civilian investigators on environment and on forestry must be empowered so that they can prepare dossiers of investigation to ensure quick dispatch to the court; (2) the application of corporate penalties in land and forest fire cases must be popularized; (c) public opinion about cases being heard at the court must be shaped and (d) administrative sanctions must be imposed in the form of suspension of some of their activities if certain companies violate the prevailing laws or license revocation.

Through these steps, the guarantee for our safety and health will become a reality and we will not be carried away by our own sorrow because of our powerlessness to overcome problems of forest burning.