Orchid forest smoke-free

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)