Who is to blame for green crisis?

Who is to blame for green crisis?

By Sylvia Arifin

JAKARTA (JP): Over the last three months Indonesia's
environmental image has been greatly tarnished by the burning of
forests on almost all of its islands, with dire consequences not
only to Indonesia, but to neighboring countries.

Criticism from all parts of the world was heard, some merely
whispered, while others were deafening in their censure of
Indonesia's lack of ability to care for its own environment.

The current situation will make it harder for Indonesia in the
future to defend itself from accusations ranging from causing
climate changes through deforestation policies, to allegations of
exploitation of its rich environmental diversity.

To be fair and balanced, policies and real issues need to be
viewed to see how much is truth and how much is gross
exaggeration in the relentless accusations about Indonesia's
seemingly uncaring attitude toward its environment.

If the yardstick to measure Indonesia's concern on its
environment lay in policies, Indonesia would pass with flying
colors. In forestry Indonesia has implemented distinct measures,
dividing public forest into four categories; protected forest,
nature reserves and national parks, production forests and
convertible forest. In addition the Ministry of Forestry has used
timber certification as well as ecolabelling as part of its
policy.

On the matter of protecting its biodiversity, Indonesia has
promulgated the Law on Conservation of Biological Resources and
its Ecosystem as well as being party to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species.

To encourage public interest in the environment, the
government annually offers the Kalpataru Award to individuals who
have made commendable efforts to conserve the environment, as
well as awarding the Adipura Award to the cleanest, healthiest
and most beautiful cities.

The importance of preserving the environment was perceived in
the late 1970s with the establishment of the Office of the State
Minister of Environment.

The State Policy Guidelines have also emphasized the need to
preserve the environment since the Fourth Five-Year Development
Program (Pelita IV) began in 1984. The Sixth Five-Year
Development Plan which ends in March 1999, has ambitious
programs, such as inventory and evaluation of natural resources;
safeguarding of forest, land and water; development and
management of the environment; control of environmental
pollution; rehabilitation of critical land and development of
coastal areas.

To enforce the law on the preservation of the environment,
Environment Law No. 7 was passed in 1982. The House of
Representatives passed a new bill on the environment in August
this year, which the President signed last month.

The new Environment Law No. 23, which replaces the previous
Law 7/1982, gives the State Minister greater power in handling
environmental issues and greater clarity on who should be blamed
for environmental deterioration.

Individuals or companies who can not prove themselves innocent
of charges of using toxic materials, or producing hazardous toxic
waste, can face a stiff penalty of 15 years in jail and up to Rp
750 million in fines (roughly US$230,000).

One of the most important aspects of the new law is perhaps
the opportunity for the public to participate in the preservation
of the surrounding environment with the right to state their
views and objections on certain projects, as well as the right to
file a lawsuit against those who are responsible for
environmental deterioration.

The scale of the forest-fire catastrophe suffered by Indonesia
and its neighbors was unprecedented, and Indonesia was quite
unprepared to handle the immense repercussions.

To be fair, El Nio is partly responsible. The drought and
severe heat caused by El Nio has made it very easy for fires to
occur in all parts of Indonesia.

The peat soil in some areas which are susceptible to fires
also contributed to the catastrophe. Indonesian peat soil reaches
a depth of 3 meters to 6 meters, making fires hard to douse and
it hard to prevent them from spreading to other areas.

With the scarcity of water caused by the drought even the
means to put out the fires are difficult to come by, for only
with massive rain and sophisticated technology can the fires be
extinguished completely, especially on peat land. To make matters
worse, unfavorable wind conditions caused the haze resulting from
the fires to cling to the lower atmosphere, instead of moving
higher up.

Nevertheless, the fires and haze were not only caused by
natural phenomena but also by the activities of man. In recent
weeks the government has revoked the licenses of more than 160
plantations and forestry companies, based on allegations of using
the slash and burn method to open new areas or to clean waste
land.

Pending reviews of further evidence, these companies face
complete closure. But even with international aid and funds from
UN agencies and dozens of concerned countries, fires still rage
in Indonesia and haze is still choking the people.

Looking at environmental problems and policies in Indonesia,
the question remains whether Indonesia has done enough to protect
its environment. Looking at only the impressive policies, we can
conclude that the government has enacted worthwhile regulations
towards the preservation of environment.

But looking further, we see that the implementation of these
polices is questionable. A quick example is the slow reaction
toward the current fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra and their
disastrous consequences for Indonesia and its neighbors, Malaysia
and Singapore.

The weakness conceivably may lie not in the regulations, but
rather in their enforcement. The Office of the State Minister of
Environment does not have enough power to enforce the policies so
preventing deterioration of the environment.

Additionally, if a lesson should be learned from the still
raging fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia, as owner of
one of the biggest tropical forests in the world, should
anticipate such disasters and campaign more vigorously toward
greater public awareness of the danger of the slash and burn
method for opening up new areas.

Strict control of the forest and plantation companies should
also be undertaken. In readiness for future forest fires on the
scale that Indonesia is experiencing today, a clearer Standard
Operating Procedure should be defined.

Another major consideration is the necessity for closer
coordination, particularly between the Office of the State
Minister of Environment, the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry
of Agriculture, the Office of the State Minister of Agrarian
Affairs and the Ministry of Transmigration.

The fire and haze disaster also shows Indonesia its limited
capability in handling massive problems.

In anticipation of future disaster, the Office of the State
Minister for Research and Technology should also be consulted,
and should devise new and more sophisticated technology, much
needed in handling impending disaster.

Cooperation between these offices is essential for a
comprehensive understanding of Indonesia's capability in
preserving its environment and knowing where its weaknesses lie.

The environment will continue to be a major issue in the
future. Indonesia needs to implement and advertise its policies
locally to preserve and protect its environment.

Additionally, Indonesia needs to promote its policies
internationally to prevent misunderstanding and false accusations
about the country's aims for the environment.

The writer is a post-graduate from the University of
Birmingham, United Kingdom.