No pressure on government over forest fires

JAKARTA (JP): Little pressure can be expected to be put on the government to take concrete action to prevent further forest destruction, given Indonesia's position as a major business partner to its neighbors, an environmentalist has said.

Agus Purnomo, executive director of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), said on Tuesday, "Neighboring countries complain about the haze from slash-and-burn forest clearing but no pressure will be made as Indonesia is their potential business partner," which neighbors need to maintain long-term good relations.

He said there has been no significant follow-up to a recent meeting of Southeast Asian ministers in Singapore to combat the haze.

The ministers had underlined the importance of taking immediate and firm action in stepping up implementation of a regional action plan to combat the haze.

The ministers said efforts would also be accelerated to promote a "zero-burning policy" among plantation owners and timber concessionaires, especially in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, which were most affected by haze.

The Indonesian Forum for Environment's chairwoman, Emmy Hafild, said that despite international pressure, forest degradation here has reached about one million hectares of forests per year.

Over 104 bird species, 57 mammal species, 21 reptile species, 65 fish species and 281 plant species were now categorized as nearly extinct, Emmy said.

WWF's deputy director, Togu Manurung, said natural forest conversion, which has been widely abused by industries, should be terminated.

WWF executives said they would join forces with various non- governmental organizations and the community to find solutions for decisionmakers.

Daniel Murdiyarso, an ecosystem expert, has urged the government to take effective preventive action in handling forest fire destruction, instead of only concentrating on expensive investments in remote-sensing for tracing hot spots. (06)