Every dry season, Kalimantan and Sumatra become major exporters of haze to neighboring countries. The source of the haze is the use of fire to clear land for agriculture. Many, particularly NGOs, have argued that forest conversion into oil palm plantations is the primary cause of this recurrent problem.

At the regional level, the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) has paid serious attention to this transboundary haze pollution, and released the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which has been in force since 2003.

In addition, the State Ministry for the Environment has recently called on oil palm companies and groups of marginal farmers to stop using fire to clear land. However, statements and conventions are of no use in controlling transboundary haze. Most foreign experts think that the government of Indonesia does not consider this a serious problem. This argument is probably true since the government of Indonesia has not ratified the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Pollution Agreement.

Further, the budget allocated for controlling forest fires is extremely small. And, it is only rain that kills the fire and clears the sky from haze.

Although it has almost 10 years of experience of the haze problem, Indonesians ability to control this disaster is still weak. This is because there is no government authority that has total responsibility for fire management. At present, the focus of the Forestry Ministry through Manggali Agni is limited to fire control in protected areas. And, there is no authority that completely focuses on forest fire management.

Based on satellite hot spot data, the locations of the fires reis easily identified. Satellite images could be analyzed for measuring the damage of the fire. Again, this approach does not solve the Transboundary Haze Pollution. What is currently needed is fire management that focuses more on fire prevention rather than fire control.

Forest fire management used by the traditional community is really a must if the government pays a serious attention on transboundary haze pollution.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060830.F07