August 03, 2009 - Riau,
Indonesia — Greenpeace demanded President
Yudhoyono take urgent action to tackle the
latest spate of forest fires. Forest fires
are raging across Indonesia, with Riau Province
in Sumatra, West and Central Kalimantan
and parts of Sulawesi being hardest hit
- most fires are lit deliberately to clear
land for palm oil and paper plantations.
Indonesia destroys its forests faster than
any other country, making it the world’s
third highest climate polluter
A Greenpeace team has
joined community firefighting efforts to
extinguish fires in Kuala Cinaku, southern
Riau, using equipment left with the community
at the end of 2007 following firefighting
drills conducted by Greenpeace. The small
team of 15 has so far only managed to contain
fires in a 10 hectare-area close to palm
oil concessions where fire recently claimed
over 1000 hectares of land. Firefighters
were denied access to tackle fires on concession
land by the company.
Riau Province alone
recorded 2,800 fire hotspots in July and
the province is bracing for more as the
dry season begins. Whilst Riau has been
burning, Government efforts have been pathetic
- a four-day firefighting workshop with
US and regional military, culminating in
a firefighting simulation. Many of the fires
are in Riau’s forest areas recently allocated
for conversion by Indonesia’s Minister of
Forestry, largely on carbon-rich peatlands.
“President Yudhoyono
needs to wake up to the climate crisis and
take immediate action by declaring a moratorium
on deforestation. During his second term,
he will be amongst the 8 key world leaders
who have the historic opportunity to lead
the concerted global efforts to reverse
the worst impacts of climate change at the
UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen in
December.” said Zulfahmi, Greenpeace Southeast
Asia Forest campaigner.
“To show his intent,
the President should ensure a ‘fire-free’
season this year and stop palm oil and paper
companies from burning and destroying our
forests. Only then forest protection funds
can start to flow from developed countries
to provide sustainable solutions to forests,
the people and biodiversity that depend
on them and help win the global battle against
climate change, “ he added.
A law against burning
was introduced in 1999 after widespread
fires in 1997/98 caused a thick haze to
blanket parts of Indonesia and surrounding
nations. The law carries penalties of up
to 10 years in prison and a 10-billion-rupiah
($1 million) fine. However, enforcement
of the law is weak due to corrupt officials
and tortuous legal proceedings. Also, a
logging moratorium was declared by RIau
Governor, Wan Abu Bakar in 2007, but current
Governor, Rusli Zainal, has blocked its
implementation.
Forests are a
key defense against runaway climate change
because they store huge amounts of carbon.
When they are destroyed, the carbon is released
and causes climate change. Stopping the
destruction of tropical forests in countries
like Indonesia would save an incredible
one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions
and is the fastest and easiest way to keep
global temperatures safe. To give our planet
a fighting chance, developed countries that
are historically responsible for causing
climate change, must fund at least $40 billion
per year to protect the world’s rapidly
diminishing forests and make deep emissions
cuts at home.
