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1997: The Year the World Caught Fire

December 16th, 1997

London -- In 1997, more tropical forest burned around the world than at any other time in recorded history, according to a report published today by WWF - World Wide Fund for Nature.

According to the report, it is still too early to know the total area of forest destroyed worldwide, but at least 5 million hectares of forests and other land burned in Indonesia and Brazil, along with vast areas of Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Peru, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Congo and other parts of Africa. Elsewhere in the world, large scale fires burned in several Mediterranean countries, Australia, Russia and China.

"1997 will be remembered as the year the world caught fire" said report co-author Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, Head of the Forest Programme at WWF International Secretariat, at a press conference in London. "Although the fires in Indonesia grabbed the headlines, large-scale fires have raged on every continent and new figures show just in the Brazilian Amazon forest fires have increased by more than 50 per cent over 1996. The wide spread of these fires is a clear indication that forest fire management is in a state of crisis around the world".

The fires did not start by accident. Most were set deliberately, and often illegally, to clear land for planting, to cover up illegal logging and sometimes to open up land for development. They were worse this year partly because of the century's most severe El Nino weather event, which has caused prolonged droughts over much of the planet. El Nino events are growing more frequent and severe, probably as a result of pollution-induced climate change. The forest fires are turning previously moist forests into drier habitats, that burn more easily as global warming begins to bite. Carbon dioxide and other gases released from fires add to the greenhouse effect.

"We are creating a vicious circle of destruction, where increased fires are both a result of changes in the weather and a contributory factor to these changes," said Jeanrenaud, who went on to point out that most carbon emissions come from industry and cars in the industrialized nations.

To make matters worse, this year's fires in Indonesia and other parts of South East Asia have set peat deposits on fire and these will remain burning deep underground for months or even years. Many specialists expect the fires to flare up again in the next dry season, which can only worsen the high human and ecological cost of this season's fires.

According to report co-author Nigel Dudley, some forest fires do occur naturally and if carefully controlled can be a useful management tool. "However, the relationship between deliberate fires and natural forest ecosystems is becoming more and more dangerously unbalanced," he said. "Many forests that burnt this year should never have burnt at all. In contrast, in some cases forests that should burn naturally are prevented from burning, leading to both ecological problems and more intense fires in the future."

For example, in the United States, where forest fires are routinely suppressed, ecological processes are disrupted and the accumulation of flammable materials in forests poses a serious risk of greater and more destructive fires in the future. The report warns that "now the US government is trying to use the risk of fire as an excuse for felling old-growth forests rich in wildlife to subsidise the logging industry." "People are responsible for this vicious circle and people must find the solutions," said Jeanrenaud. "Forests are an insurance policy. If we cash in the policy, what will be left for our children and the future of life on Earth? Governments must assume full responsibility for taking the threat of fires seriously and insuring that adequate legislation and prevention systems are in place to deal with this increasingly serious problem."

WWF is calling on the international community to take strong measures to tackle the breakdown of the rule of law that is at the root of many environmental problems. On the eve of the 21st century, it is time for the world community to establish an International Court for the Environment that would arbitrate in cases where environmental mismanagement at national level results in major global impacts.

Notes for News Editors

  1. "The Year the World Caught Fire" by Nigel Dudley and Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud

  2. For more information, please contact:
    • Rachel Thackray at tel. + 44 (0) 181 347 6743 or mobile +44 (0) 973 618 304, or

  3. Alison Lucas at tel. +44 1483 419 266 or mobile +44 (0) 468 688 011

  4. Copies of the report are available from Jill McIntosh, WWF Forests for Life Campaign, tel. +44 1483 419 266, fax: +44 1483 427 965

  5. A video news release on the year's forest fire crisis is available from Marc Dehond, WWF Television Centre, tel. +31 3069 37 385, fax: +31 30 69 22 484

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