Land and Forest Fires in Indonesia
Everyday trees fall. Less than a month, the wilderness is
gone. As far as the eye could see there was only a dead carcass. A few weeks
later, black smoke soared. The fire blazes wildly. The sky became dark. Then
acid rain. The fish in the river are dead. Forest and all the animals in it,
just a memory.
I experienced the incident in the 1980s. Many times. Because
I live in villages in remote parts of Sumatra. I witnessed the disappearance of
forest areas into oil palm plantations. Almost every year there is always
burning forest, after being cut down. Performed by a plantation contractor. In
the past, forest burning has not caused a haze disaster.
But, since the 1990s massive deforestation caused a smog disaster.
Long-term effects that must be suffered by the current generation. Indonesia is
also a country prone to forest and land fires. Especially in Sumatra and
Kalimantan. Since over a decade ago large fires have been repeated every year.
Forests that have been felled, in addition to being a plantation also becomes
empty land. Shrubs are prone to burning during drought.
Data from Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry and Environment
indicate that the peak of major fires occurred in 2015. In 2015 the number of
hotspots in Indonesia reached 108,663 points and burnt land area reached
261,060.44 hectares. Five areas with the highest fire rates are Riau, Central
Kalimantan, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Papua.
Fires covering land of plantations, oil palm concessions,
forest concessions, agriculture, mining, swamp forests, natural forests and others.
From World Bank (2016) data it is seen that the most is on oil palm concession
areas and others include abandoned land and community property.
World Bank (2016) in the report "Losses from Fire
Fires: Economic Impact Analysis of the Fire Crisis of 2015" also estimates
that fires in Indonesia by 2015 cost at least Rp 221 trillion (USD 16.1
billion) or equivalent to 1.9 Percent of GDP by 2015. The smog has also
contributed to the deaths of 19 people and more than 500,000 cases of acute
respiratory infections.
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