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Recent study on 2019 fires stirs debate on govt's forest data transparency
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Scorched earth: Smoldering peatland is pictured in Kampar, Riau province, on Sept. 17, 2019. (AFP/Adek Berry)
T
he government has disputed the recently published scientific research that claimed the area lost to forest and peatland fires in 2019 was larger than official estimates, a move which activists said highlighted the government’s lack of openness toward data gathered from independent studies.
The research, which was published in the Earth System Science Data (ESSD) journal in November, found that 3.1 million hectares were burned in 2019, almost double the 1.6 million ha reported by the Environment and Forestry Ministry.
David Gaveau, one of the study authors, said the recent publication of the research in a peer-reviewed journal had reaffirmed his initial analysis conducted in 2019, which estimated that the 2019 fires were far worse than official estimates.
Gaveau first submitted his findings to the authorities in December 2019, but the latter said his research was not credible as it was not peer reviewed at the time, Reuters reported.
In response to the recently published study, the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s head of international cooperation, Dida Migfar Ridha, said in a statement that research into forest and peatland fires in Indonesia should be based on data.
He also claimed that Gaveau had published an inaccurate report on forest and peatland fire data in Indonesia ahead of COP25, which was held in Madrid between Dec. 2 and 13, 2019.
“If we look at the time frame, then [the report] was made to weaken the credibility of the Indonesian government’s efforts at handling deforestation and forest fires,” Dida said in a statement.
