No significant effort made to deal with forest fires

No significant effort made to deal with forest fires

Forest fires have become a fact of life in several areas in
Sumatra and Kalimantan. However, the government has yet to make
significant efforts to deal with the core problems that cause the
fires. The recent forest fire in East Kalimantan, which has more
than 100 hot spots, has even reached a coal mining site and
residential areas.Fajar Pambudhi, deputy head of the Center for
Social Forestry (CSF) at the Mulawarman University in Samarinda,
East Kalimantan talked to The Jakarta Post's correspondent Rusman
on the fires, which have destroyed thousands of hectares of
forests in the province.

Question: Forest fires occur every year in East Kalimantan,
however nobody seems to know how to prevent them. How do you see
this?

Answer: Frankly, fires can occur at any time. There are times
when fires occur more than once in a year. The fires are mainly
caused by large-scale of land clearance, which includes the
burning of the forest during the dry season.

Why do people burn the forests when clearing the land?

There are two groups of people. We should distinguish between
the indigenous villagers and the migrants in this case.

By tradition, the indigenous people separate the newly cleared
area from the existing forest by building a kind of firebreak
entrenchment along areas to be cleared.

They clear the land and carefully monitor the spread of the
fire. In this way, the fires don't spread out of control and burn
the whole forest, including residential areas. Those who violate
this by not controlling the fire will be subject to punishment or
fines. There is an internal regulation that is respected by the
indigenous community.

The migrants also burn to clear the land, because the fires
will also help the soil become more fertile. The problem is they
usually fail to control the spread of fire as they work
individually.

In addition to the residential areas, the coal mining site and
the conserved forest areas were also ravaged by the most recent
major fire. What really happened?

As far as I know that area was formerly a coal mining site.
Trees and other vegetation have grown up around the area. The
area became vulnerable to fire in the dry season. Brush fires at
former mining locations have happened in several areas, including
Kutai Kertanegara.

I'm sure that land clearance has been the main cause of the
fires. I have discussed this with local people. They said the
fire, which raged in the area close to the coal mining site were
set by people living close to the area. I don't believe that the
fire was a natural phenomenon. ...

How do you see the East Kalimantan administration's policy to
cope with the fire?

I would say there have been no significant efforts to deal
with the fire. The administration has paid very little attention
to the core problem, despite the special budget allocation. The
most important thing to do is to open access in the forest by
constructing proper roads to make it possible for fire engines to
reach the fires. When fires ravaged the Bukit Soeharto
conservation area in 1999, fire fighters found it difficult to
reach the fire due to poor access. Water is another problem
during the dry season.

Then, what should the administration do to minimize -- if not
eradicate -- the forest fires?

The most important thing is establishment of an information
network system, which directly involves people. In this way fires
-- even small ones -- could be dealt with at an early stage. The
system must start at the lowest level in the community and
punishment, including fines, must also be planned and introduced
to the community. This will run smoothly only if the community is
mature and strong.

There must be good cooperation between the people and the
government (administration) before the system is established. We
don't want to see people doing nothing but watching when a fire
starts. Involving people in this issue is the correct and wise
policy.

What is the most serious impact (to the people) of the forest
fires?

Health and transportation. Many people have reportedly
suffered from respiratory problems. Some of the fires take place
on locations close to the provincial main roads. The fire and the
haze do disturb people who have to use the roads. (The haze has
also become a big problem in neighboring countries.) Vehicle
accidents become more likely in such a situation with poor
visibility.

Apart from land clearance, is there anything else to be noted
as a significant contributor to forest fires?

Illegal logging. Such activities usually take place in the dry
season. Illegal loggers prefer to clear the forest -- by burning
the brush around the area -- to establish roads to transport the
stolen logs.

Do you have any special concrete and reasonable idea you could
offer to the government to deal with forest fires?

Empowerment of the people is a must. People living in villages
must be made aware of how to preserve and improve the environment
in their neighborhood.

The government (provincial administration and the central
government) must be more approachable and pay more attention to
the people living in areas vulnerable to fire just to encourage
and enhance the people's participation in preserving the
environment.