Indonesia: Riau’s People, Budgets Burned Out by Persistent Peat Fires

Kennial Caroline Laia Jakarta Globe 2 Dec 14;

Siak, Riau. A parched landscape marred by the remnants of fire that swept through here — burnt branches and half-cut blackened trees amid dried grass — frames the road near the Zamrud National Park’s protected forest.

In Indonesian, zamrud means “emerald,” but that toponym is belied by charred grays and browns.

On the right side of the our view stretches a long canal that collects water from the landscape that used to be a peat swamp forest near Dayun village in Siak district, in Sumatra’s Riau province.

Now drained of the water that once sustained the richly biodiverse peatland that flourished here for centuries, monoculture plantations stretch for thousands of hectares to the horizon in their place, threatening the ecosystem, people’s health and their livelihoods.

“We Riau people often welcome our guests by saying ‘welcome to the jerebu [haze] country,’ ” says Riau University peat researcher Haris Gunawan, referring to the severe smoke from area’s nearly constant forest and brush fires.

“People in Riau don’t want to have to greet visitors like that,” Haris says. “But the fact is, that’s the ultimate truth of our life here.”

For 17 years, nobody in Riau has talked about the problem, besides the roar of cars and trucks passing through plantation areas,” he adds.

“Since 1997, when the government granted operating concessions to corporations here, there hasn’t been any talk about a comprehensive solution to solve this problem. There’s also been a lot of misconceptions about the peatlands themselves, that is not the main cause of Riau’s haze,” Haris says.

“But in fact, the way companies in Riau operate is far from the healthy way. They have been draining the peatlands by creating canals to more easily burn the peatlands’ vegetation.

“This should be solved by experts who really understand peatland matters. There’s no way to solve Riau’s fires except by people who really do understand the root of the problem,” Haris says.

Forest crimes

Virtually all of Riau’s forest and brush fires are started by arsonists, according to Haris. For 17 years, he says, Riau has been suffering from forest crimes committed for the sole benefit of a few irresponsible parties.

“Once altered, tropical peatlands are very susceptible to repeat fires. And these fires keep burning,” Haris says.

Stamping out the problem of peat fires requires enforcing the existing laws, Haris says.

Under the direction of the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), firefighting team Manggala Agni is supposed to be the most reliable party in terms of extinguishing fires. However, according to Yusman, the head of the Manggala Agni branch in Siak district, the firefighters are hampered by lack of funding.

“The most common way of intentionally lighting fires is by burning mosquito coils in the afternoon with a splash of gasoline in a woodpile. Once the fire catches the woodpile, it starts burning the surrounding area, creating massive haze that disrupts people’s health here,” Yusman says.

“We are responsible for preventing such things from happening. We hold alternating patrols once a week in our operational area,” Yusman says, adding that there are 60 firefighters under his command in Siak district.

Although his team is adequately staffed, Yusman says, it is underfunded to monitor for forest fires, particularly in the conservation areas.

“Honestly, our budget to operate in the surrounding forests of Riau is really low. This year, we only received Rp 500 million [$40,700]. It isn’t enough,” Yusman says.

“We’re short in our logistic capabilities. However, we always do the best we can to prevent fires, and to extinguish them when fires strike.”

Haris agrees, saying law enforcement is in the forests also need to be improved.

“Manggala Agni needs to be strengthened with added personnel and logistics improvements. Moreover, every person must be equipped with vast knowledge on fire prevention,” Haris says.

“Manggala Agni also needs to cooperate more with local communities and institutions to get more information about detecting fires early.

“Canals must be restrained permanently. Rogue companies must be disciplined. And people must be educated on how to cultivate the land without having to change the peatland’s characteristics.

“It is enough for companies. Now is the time for the people to use the land,” Haris adds.

Between February and April this year, fires burned nearly 2,400 hectares of biosphere conservation areas and 21,900 hectares nationwide, contributing to some 58,000 diagnoses of respiratory ailments and thousands of children displaced from schools.

Blind eye

National forest campaigner Zenzi Suhadi from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) says one of the main causes of fires is lax government monitoring and law enforcement, which corporations with forest concessions have come to take for granted.

“This puts people in danger,” Zenzi says.

“Why are these fire happening? Because government and law enforcement have intentionally turned a blind eye to those who benefit from them. If the police were serious in handling this, fires wouldn’t have been happened in the first place,” she adds.

Forest and peat fires can only be prevented if the laws are enforced, Zenzi believes.

“Regulatory reviews review and license evaluations should be included as government priorities,” Zenzi says.

“The law may be deceived, but the environment doesn’t lie.”

Hope rises

Although skeptical that peat fires will be stamped out in Riau, Haris says President Joko Widodo’s visit to burned-out Sungai Tohor village in Riau’s Meranti Islands offers some hope.

Joko visit the village last week in response to a letter from lifelong resident Abdul Manan, also known as Cik Manan.

“I asked the president to visit us because I wanted to show him the condition of our village. I wanted to show him how the peatland in our village has been severely drained due to corporations’ activities here,” Manan says.

“I really hope that after his visit, his promises will be implemented. Our lives depend on this land, because we plant sago. That’s our source of income,” Manan says.

“Haze is like vicious cycle here. It’s an endless matter. But with our new president, our hope has started to grow beyond the haze in our lungs,” Haris says.

Akiat, a sago farmer in Kepau Baru village, says the government should immediately revoke the licenses of corporations that operate near their village.

The Jakarta Globe could identify at least two corporations operating in the area surrounding Kepau Baru: Lestari Unggul Makmur, which is associated with Asian Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) and Raja Garuda Mas (RMG); and Nasional Sago Prima, a subsidiary of Sampoerna Agro.

“Besides having to breathe in the haze for several months every year, our sago has also decreased in quality. Most land has burnt down. We hope the government can express their concerns by pushing these corporations to compensate us for our loss,” Akiat said.

Joko has pledged action against forest fires. “We cannot underestimate peatlands’ importance to our country. Be it two meters or four meters, it has its own function in our ecosystem. We have misunderstood peatland as wasted areas, but the truth is, it is an important ecosystem,” Joko said.

“The best thing to do is to give the land to people so they can use it to plant sago. What’s made by people is usually environmentally friendly. They won’t do any harm to nature,” Joko said.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has said the government will reevaluate corporate concessions, adding that the government will take necessary actions to protect people’s livelihoods against disruption by irresponsible concession-holders.

Siti has also said her ministry will do everything in its power to prevent fires, including improved spatial planning, water management and law enforcement, as well as educating people and corporations about the environment.

“The people have high hopes for Joko. I am sure he is an outside-the-box leader. He can solve this,” Haris says.

“Fires in Riau are a complex problem, but they only need one simple solution: All it takes is water. All we have to wait for is the government’s commitment,” Haris added.

“While Riau dried out, there’s still hope we can hold on to Meranti Island. It hasn’t yet been severely burned. If the government supports it, we can save the island.

“Also, it could be an example for this country and the world that we’re not totally drained.”

The reporter traveled to Siak district at the invitation of Walhi, Greenpeace Indonesia, Yayasan Perspektif Baru and Change.org.