Theme 1. Managing Smoke

Posters on Managing Smoke

Paradox and Implication of Policy of Land and Forest Fire Control: Case Study of Indonesia

by Hariadi Kartodihardjo¹ and Kukuh Murtilaksono²

Keywords: causes, consequences, fire, performance bond, property right, resource accounting

There has been six huge land and forest fires with lost of billions rupiah in Indonesia for last 20 years. Nevertheless, it showed that the repeated land and forest fires have not been to be lesson for all of the stakeholders. Even, the terrible forest fire of 1987/1988 was happening though early warning system was being implemented.

Thus, the thing must be carefully take into account is that the lost and consequences of repeated land and forest fires were just artificial one. It is just due to institutional problem, so that the causes action and consequences or lost have no absolute relationship. The fact in the field indicated that there was very limited time available to tackle with applicable extinguish technology when the fire is still small (less than two hectare) running to situation where the technology could not be applied anymore due to very huge and extended land and forest fires. Other fact showed that the fires were not stopped by effort of extinguishing, but by rainfall in the beginning of rainy season. Therefore, the success of fire control could not only depends on centralised and organised institutions, but it also depends on willingness and capability of local people of the society (farmers, dwellers, forest and estate concessions, etc.) wherein land and forest fires is happening.

In order to express the willingness and lifting up the society capability, prevention of land and forest fires depend on the success of government in arrangement of property right on land and forest. Aside from that, the government must cancel immediately the policy of land clearing without fire and replace it with performance bond. Each of government institution related with effort of prevention of land and forest fires must implement natural resource accounting as the performance. The implementation of the three components is predicted consuming plenty of time due to economic-politic factors and the high of conflict of interest on land and forest arrangement among the stakeholders.

Footnote_______________

¹ Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agriculture Institute, Darmaga, Bogor, Indonesia. Telp.: 62 251 621285

² Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural Institute, Jl. Raya Pajajaran, Bogor 16141, Indonesia. Telp/fax: 62 251 312642; Email: soilipb@indo.net.id