No pressure on government over forest fires

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)