Indonesia S Fires And Haze

From September to November of 1997, raging fires in Indonesia pumped enough smoke into the air to blanket the entire region in haze, reaching as far north as southern Thailand and the Philippines, with Malaysia and Singapore being particularly affected. This book conservatively assesses the damage at US $4.5 billion, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill and India's Bhopal chemical spill combined. It looks at the causes of the fires, the physical damages that resulted, and their effects on heath, industrial production, and tourism, among others.

Indonesias Fires and Haze: The cost of catastrophe

Despite the efforts of Southeast Asian governments and of ASEAN, transboundary haze continues to be a major environmental problem in Southeast Asia. This book demonstrates that the issue is complex, and explains why efforts to solve the problem in purely political terms are ineffective, and likely to continue to be ineffective. The book shows how state-led, state-incentivised agribusiness development lies at the heart of the problem, leading to a large rise in palm oil production, with extensive clearing of forests, leading to deliberate or accidental fires and the resulting haze. Moreover, although the forest clearing is occurring in Indonesia, many of the companies involved are Malaysian and Singaporean; and, further, many of these companies have close relationships with the politicians and officials responsible for addressing the problem and who thereby have a conflict of interest. The author concludes by discussing the huge difficulties involved in overturning this system of 'patronage politics'.

Fire in the wet tropical climate of Indonesia is not a new phenomenon. The ‘Great Fire of Borneo’ in 1982-83 was one of the worst fire events in recent decades. Small holders clearing land for cultivation were primarily blamed for starting fires that rapidly spread out of control. Subsequent fires linked to El Nino-Southern Oscilation occurred in 1987, 1991 1994 and most recently in 1997-98. The impact of the latest fire event is immense; estimates of the area burnt in 1997 vary between two and five million hectares (forest and non-forest), the number of people affected by smoke haze and fire at 75 million and the total economic costs in the region at as much as US$4.5 billion. The 1982-83 fires brought the issue to world attention. After 1992 three long-term projects were initiated with the objectives of management and monitoring of fires. These were the EU-Forest Fire Prevention and Control Project in Southern Sumatra (1995-1998), GTZ’s Integrated Forest Fire Management Project in East Kalimantan (1994-2000), and JICA’s Forest Fire Prevention and Management Project in Bogor, Jambi and West Kalimantan (1996-2001). In addition, the Indonesia-UK Tropical Forest Management Programme started in 1992 and comprised a number of components related to fires as part of its overall improved forest management objective. After the 1997 fires numerous short- and long-term fire projects were proposed and started. Others, such as the first phase of the WWF project and the ADB’s regional (RETA) and national (ADTA) projects, within a short time frame try to cover many aspects of fire problem such as socio-economic assessments, fire-fighting, area estimates, economic and policy assessments and ecological assessments. Representing a longer-term approach, CIFOR-ICRAF-UNESCO propose an in-depth study of the underlying causes and effects of fires. In addition to the international response Indonesia has several government agencies charged with the task of preventing, monitoring and controlling land and forest fires. Following the forest and land fires of 1994, the National Coordination Team for Land and Forest Fire Control was established in 1995. Interest in fire is only short-lived after a major fire event. Before the 1994 fires little attention was paid to the fire problem and missions mainly focussed on control and prevention of fires. Most of the new generation of fire projects established in 1997-98 address both issues.

Nearly ten million hectares were burned by fires that engulfed areas of Indonesia in 1997 and 1998. This report shows that the fires were the direct outcome of forest and land-use policies and practices unleashed by the Suharto regime and perpetuated by a corrupt culture of crony capitalism.

This book is a collection of insights from experts of various fields, and will entail discussions of the recurring haze problem in Southeast Asia.It discusses multiple aspects of the haze problem. What is the cause of the haze? Who are the perpetrators and victims? What are the impacts and costs of the haze? Why has the haze problem persisted for decades? Are there prospects of resolving the pollution? How should we analyze the issue? Which solutions are more or less effective than others? How can we involve the stakeholders? The book provides a wide range of views on the haze problem. Written in a simple and accessible manner, this book allows the readers to easily access across different fields and develop a deeper understanding of the haze.

This publication, a joint effort of ADB and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), brings together the current knowledge about land and forest fires, examines their causes and impacts with particular reference to Southeast Asia, and suggests what could happen in the future.

This bestselling author of High Crimes explores what causes forest fires and captures their danger and the heroism of those who fight them. In Megafire, a world-renowned journalist and forest fire expert travels to dangerous and remote wildernesses, as well as to the backyards of people faced with these catastrophes, to look at the heart of this phenomenon and witness firsthand the heroic efforts of the firefighters and scientists racing against time to stop it—or at least to tame these deadly flames. From Colorado to California, China to Canada, head to the frontlines on the ground and in the air, as well as in the laboratories, universities, and federal agencies where this battle rages on. Through this prism of perspectives, Kodas zeroes in on some of the most terrifying environmental disasters in recent years—the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona that took the lives of nineteen elite “hotshot” firefighters, the Waldo Canyon Fire that overwhelmed the city of Colorado Springs—and more in a page-turning narrative that puts a face on the brave people at the heart of this issue. Megafiredescribes the profound global impact of these fires and will change the way we think about the environment and the precariousness of our world. “I don't know any writer better equipped to explain what's gone wrong than Michael Kodas, who shines a light both on the astonishing bravery of the hotshots on the front lines and on the waste and ineptitude of the politicians and bureaucrats who too often fail them, sometimes with fatal consequences.”—Dan Fagin, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation