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Engaging local governments, communities in fight against forest fires
World Environment Day, which falls on June 5, highlights the global concern for “air pollution”
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span>World Environment Day, which falls on June 5, highlights the global concern for “air pollution”. Severe cases of air pollution in Indonesia are often related to transboundary haze resulting from land burning activities.
The 2015 Southeast Asian haze was the latest occurrence of transboundary haze coming from Sumatra and Kalimantan. Previously, the fires occurred in 1982-1983, 1987, 1991, 1994, 1997-1998, 2005, 2006-2007 and 2013. Since 2016, however, the incidents have been reduced but risks associated with fires remain high, especially when the dry season nears.
A study titled Environmental Research Letters in 2016 states that the haze outbreak in 2015 was the worst since 1997 as a result of the extreme El Niño weather phenomenon, which is characterized by drought, causing peatland and forests to be more vulnerable to fires.
Fires have been widely used in Indonesia when the country rapidly grows its land-based economy through, for example, expansion of agricultural and forestry production. Land-based operators (small to large) choose fires as the cheapest way to clear or prepare land.
Whenever crop growers or farmers — both large and small scale — engage in burning activities or slash-and-burn practices during the dry season or on land that has dry peat (usually highly combustible during the dry season), a disaster literally happens.
The question remains whether the country can find a long-term solution that focuses on fire prevention, while maintaining the growth of its land-based economy. Basically, it is about finding the right policies and business models that will lead to improvement in “production” of the agriculture and forestry sector, while strengthening “protection” of forests and peatland, and improving the welfare of smallholders and rural people.
The government’s responses to these challenges have been positive. Key policy interventions have been rolled out, including a moratorium on forest and peat conversion as well as prohibiting the draining and clearing of not only new peatland but also existing concessions previously licensed to plantation or forestry companies.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry has also beefed up its capacity and actions in enforcing the law. In 2017, for instance, it won a lawsuit filed against a firm responsible for forest burning, with the court requiring the corporation to pay a US$35 million fine.
The formation of the Peatland Restoration Agency by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, with an ambitious mandate to restore 2 million hectares of degraded peatland, has sent a serious reminder to subnational governments, the private sector and communities to focus on peatland protection and restoration as well as fire prevention activities.
Among other fire prevention activities include managing the hydrological system of the peat, blocking canals and providing options and livelihoods to smallholders so that they can move away from land burning methods.
Many private companies, as a response, have deployed fire-free village programs, in addition to their own fire prevention and suppression efforts. They help villages around their operational areas with a program that will improve their capabilities in social, economic, health, education and the environment so that they can ensure a fire-free future, including no or zero burning activities during their cultivation activities.
Fire Free Alliance (FFA) is an example of a multi-stakeholder group initiated by the private sector and other organizations like Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) that seek to achieve fire prevention mainly via community engagement. FFA’s initiatives and its members have focused their intervention efforts in more than 200 villages in Indonesia, covering more than 1.5 million hectares of land.
Many subnational governments, including regencies, have also acted seriously in fire prevention and managing their peatland. A few pioneers have formed the Sustainable District Association (LTKL), and with the support of many organizations, including IDH, have called on regional administrations across Indonesia to have a concerted effort to better manage their forests, farms and fields.
It is clear that regional leaders play a significant role in peatland management and fire prevention. The leaders of LTKL (regents) acknowledge that fires start because their farmers clear land and/or forest to grow valuable crops such as palm oil, and they realize they and the private sector share a responsibility to help and incentivize farmers to find fire-free economic activities.
At the community level, fire prevention, peatland and forest conservation and sustainable management are crucial. Without the involvement of locals, especially forest-dependent people, assurance that forests and peatland can be managed well is challenging and almost impossible.
The collaboration between the provincial government of Jambi, IDH, locals and Perkumpulan Gita Buana, Belantara and ZSL community groups, for example, has strengthened the protection of 18,660 hectares and the restoration of 300 hectares of peat area at Sekitar Tanjung grand forest park, which burns annually.
The interventions in Jambi show that communities are willing to contribute to fire prevention, protecting peatland and cultivating their crops without using fires especially if they receive support that will boost their local economic activities and link these with better value chains and investment.
It is clear that individual and collective or collaborative efforts among key stakeholders (i.e. government, the private sector and communities) need sound policies and business models that can lead them to improvement of “production” of commodities, “protection” of forests and peatland, and “inclusion” of smallholder farmers or villagers.
Developing sound policies and business models that cover production, protection and inclusion as one complete intervention package is crucial to preventing and address fires and transboundary haze in the long run.
As a nation we will face a new test in the current dry season of 2019. While it is challenging, we need to show the world that we can extend our good record.
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The writer is executive chairman of Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) in Indonesia.
