In recent years, annual forest fires in Indonesian have destroyed millions of hectares of forest and caused billions of dollars in economic damage. After each episode of fires the Indonesian government, facing criticism from neighboring governments, promises it will crack down. Nothing happens and the fires burn again the next year.
According to experts–including Dr. Lisa Curran, a biologist who has spent more than 20 years in Borneo–the cycle appears to be worsening. 2006 saw the highest loss of forest cover ever recorded in Indonesia even though climate conditions in a La Nina year were such that fires should have been below average.
While it may seem easy to dismiss these fires as somebody else’s problem, the impact extends well beyond Indonesia. Choking pollution or “haze” from the fires sometimes spreads as far as Australia, China, and India, while the fires release massive amounts of carbon dioxide. With well over 500 tons of carbon per hectare – one of the highest levels of biomass on the planet — burning of peatlands in Borneo and Sumatra can contribute up to 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in some years, making Indonesia the third largest greenhouse gas polluter, despite having only the world’s 22nd largest economy. Some scientists worry that fires and climate change develop into a positive feedback loop that only worsens conditions, producing ever drier climate, more frequent fires, and higher carbon emissions.
Haze over Malaysia during fires that took place in the summer of 2001. |
So what can be done about these fires? A paper published in this week’s issue of the journal Science argues there are five critical steps to reducing forest fires in southeast Asia as well as the Amazon and Africa.
The authors–David J. Lohman, David Bickford, Navjot S. Sodhi–say the top priority is to focus on reducing “dirty fires” from peat (peatlands) and green vegetation (i.e. tropical forests) since these release the largest amount carbon dioxide and soot. Further, these ecosystems provide other important ecological services including housing high levels of biodiversity.
Lohman, Bickford, and Sodhi say the next priority should be the creation and implementation of a coordinated regional fight-fighting plan. A blueprint for such is the 1998 ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which was proposed after devastating forest fires consumed over 8 million hectares in Borneo and Sumatra and caused almost $10 billion in damages, but never ratified by Indonesia.
The authors write that the use of financial incentives, the provision of alternatives to burning, and education campaigns could help to dissuade farmers and developers from using fire for land-clearing. They say that organizations like the Peace Corps could help in local fire-fighting and education efforts.
Lohman, Bickford, and Sodhi say solutions are needed soon. 2007, forecast to dry, looks to be a bullish fire year.
“Neither governments nor civil society have been able to mitigate the annual shroud of haze that blankets Southeast Asia… Solutions to the haze problem are needed before the onset of the dry season in June, as 2007 may be another El Niño year… Lessons learned from this catastrophe may help ameliorate similar smoke-haze episodes in Amazonia, Africa, and other parts of Asia,” they conclude.
CITATION: David J. Lohman, David Bickford, Navjot S. Sodhi (2007) The Burning Issue. SCIENCE VOL 316: 376 20 MAY 2007
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