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INDONESIAN FIRES: WWF Calls For Preventive Actions

WWF: Indonesia Programme


WWF- INDONESIA PROGRAMME: Statement on Forest Fires

September 25th, 1997

Smoke is currently blanketing much of the Indonesian archipelago, and is especially dense over the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. The density and distribution of the smoke has increased steadily over the past couple of months because the Indonesian dry season has been prolonged as result of the El Nino weather phenomenon. El Nino affects the Pacific Basin every three to five years, causing drought conditions in Southeast Asia. The situation is now so serious that the Indonesian government has declared the worst affected provinces disaster areas, and has dispatched thousands of fire fighters to combat the flames.

Most of the smoke comes from the burning of waste wood during the process of land clearing to establish oil palm and industrial pulpwood plantations, although the area being cleared for oil palm far exceeds that being cleared for pulpwood plantations. Land clearance for commercial plantation establishment has increased dramatically over the past few years in response to high palm oil prices and a government initiative to make Indonesia a major exporter of pulp and paper. The areas designated by the government for plantation establishment are legally restricted to land covered with scrub vegetation or previously logged forest that cannot be managed for timber production, although there are instances where secondary forest has been converted to plantations. Burning is the method of land clearance preferred by the plantation owners because it is cheaper than the alternatives of mechanical clearance or chemical treatment.

The smoke covering Indonesia is impacting human health, the natural environment and the economy. The smoke contains high concentrations of particulate matter and numerous chemicals that are hazardous to human health, especially when the period of exposure is extended over a period of months. People have been warned to stay indoors in the most heavily affected areas, and the government has closed some schools. The incidence of respiratory ailments has increased sharply, and people have been advised to wear clothe face masks to protect them from the particulate portion of the smoke.

The impact of the smoke on wildlife, vegetation and water chemistry has not been studied systematically, although the health effects on mammals is probably similar to those experienced by humans. At a minimum, the smoke is reducing the rate of vegetative growth by blocking solar radiation. Commercial air traffic has been completely halted in several provincial capitals, and the danger involved in road and river travel has increased due to greatly reduced visibility (less than 10 meters in some locations).

The fires initially consumed scrublands and degraded forests having low value for biodiversity and wildlife habitat. Secondary forests and plantations are often denser than primary forests at ground level, and there is a greater risk of fire spreading quickly in these areas. In primary forests, most of the biomass is concentrated in the forest canopy, and there is less risk that mature trees will be damaged by the fire, although a hot fire will kill these trees also.

Recent satellite images indicate that fires are now spreading from scrublands into forests, although there is no indication that any parks or protected areas have been burned. The lowland tropical rain forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan are among the most biologically rich ecosystems on earth. These forests, unlike those that grow in drier climates, are not adapted to fire, and suffer greater damage when burned. The two islands where the fires are concentrated also have extensive peat swamps. If the peat dries out due to the drought, it becomes highly inflamable, and resulting fires are very hard to extinguish.

Ecological studies conducted in areas burned in East Kalimantan during the drought of 1982-83 showed that fruit eating animals and birds are especially affected by fire, because the trees that they rely on take many years to mature and fruit. Orang utans and hornbills, two of the most well known species in this category, occur in both Sumatra and Kalimantan, and are already under pressure from habitat loss. Most birds and some mammals can escape fire by running, while burrowing animals may survive underground. Animals that live in the leaf litter on the forest floor, such as reptiles, amphibians, and insects are especially vulnerable to fire. Species such as bats and some mammals that live in the cavities of dead trees are also vulnerable because these trees are much more likely to catch fire. Even if animals can survive the initial burn, it is usually difficult for them to find suitable habitat within a distance that they are capable of traveling.

The World Wide Fund for Natue Indonesia Programme (WWF-IP) is very concerned about the forest fires currently ravaging Indonesia, and urges the Indonesian government to take all possible steps to extinguish the existing fires and prevent new fires from starting. This will be a difficult task since the dry season is predicted to continue until November or December. Because of the enormous size of the task, we request that the resources and manpower of the Indonesian military be mobilized to fight the fires.

WWF-IP appreciates President Suharto's gesture of apologizing to neighboring countries for the smoke pollution, and applauds the firm statements by the Ministers of Forestry and Environment threatening to revoke land use permits of plantation firms found guilty of intentional burning. The Minister of Agriculture has condemned those plantation companies who are guilty of burning. His support is crucial because estate crop plantations have burned the largest areas. We commend the Minister of Environment for having provided early warning about the fire hazard, and for taking the lead in identifying the companies alleged to be responsible for illegal burning.

WWF-IP urges the Indonesian government to take steps to permanently halt burning as a method of land clearance, and to create a framework of policy, regulations, and technology that will permit monitoring and enforcement of this ban. We strongly urge the government to review its land use policies and procedures to insure that productive natural forest is not transformed into plantation monocultures.

WWF-IP is currently assisting the Indonesian government to detect and monitor individual fires through the use of satellite imagery and remote sensing technology. We are also providing technical and financial assistance to produce televised and newspaper public service announcements to inform the public about the fires and to ask their assistance to report fires. We have donated Global Positioning System devices to the government to assist them in pinpointing the location of the fires. Our field projects in the affected areas are helping local governments to monitor the fires, and to report these fires to the national coordination center.

It is difficult to communicate the enormity of the impacts of the fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan in terms of wildlife, but the following statement by WWF-IP orang utan expert Dr. Barita Manullang conveys some sense of the tragedy. "The orang utan as a species is under great threat in the wild from habitat destruction and the pet trade. These fires are very likely to push them to a more critical phase in their fight for survival."