Orchid forest smoke-free

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: The 5,000 hectare Kersik Luway Melak orchid forest in Kutai has just been declared a smoke-free area in anticipation of the increasing number of fires which have become a national problem.

Head of the Kutai environmental office, Fadil Anwar Achmad, hopes visitors will not be inconvenienced by the latest ban in an area which he says has a very high "dryness index".

"The ban on smoking and matches will avoid any clumsiness from visitors which may result in a fire," he said as quoted by Antara here Friday.

He said the smoking and matches ban would be ineffective as long as the dry spell persists.

"If this forest catches fire then we stand to lose a great deal since there are thousands of types of orchids here," he remarked. (mds)