IMPLEMENT POLICY
Due to the poor national records and lack of information, it is very difficult to gather documentation of every forest fire in Indonesia until the massive fire in 1997/98. Global became more interested in forest fires because they pose serious threats to the ecosystem and human health. Indonesia regulations regarding forest fires have been developed since massive fires from 1997 to 1998. Deforestation, pollution, and forest degradation are the fire-related policy problems that need to be considered in detail.
There was another massive fire in 2015, the Indonesian president has implemented policies aimed at addressing root causes of fires, including introducing a peatland restoration program to prevent massive forest fires in 2016 by founding the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG). Moreover, the government planned to fine the companies and individuals responsible for the fires; as well as strengthening local enforcement and firefighting capabilities. However, local communities resisted the restoration program since it is against their common practice. Without local participation, it would be challenging to restore degraded peatland and prevent fires in the future.
According to the analysis (Perthalia R, 2015), even though the policies are not proved to be able to prevent forest fires yet, some experts claimed that the policy did limit the levels of damages and losses because of the fires. However, the policies need to be reevaluated and improved to ensure the terms are well-defined and support the goal.
PRESCRIBED BURN
Prescribed burning is a tactic to fight the fire with fire. It is the process of planning and applying fire to a burning area under specific environmental conditions, to achieve the desired outcome. The purposes of prescribed burning are to reduce loads of fuel, maintain biodiversity, and rehabilitate some vegetations.
Many policymakers believe all fires are harmful, and best to prevent and be extinguished. However, they do not realize forests and fires have coexisted for a long time, and local communities have the knowledge to manage fires. In the Asia region, the application of forest fire and land-use systems often follows traditional patterns; Slash-and-burn agriculture of small local communities. However, there is a loss of traditional skills in a safe and sustainable fire application, so they cause widespread fires.
In South-East Asia, the use of advanced prescribed burning is occasionally practised such as in the Philippines, or even in South Sumatra, Indonesia, but the controlled burn needs to be ignited in a very controlled surrounding to prevent the spread. However, the concept of early burning in the seasonal forests in order to reduce fuel loads during the early dry season is common.
WATER-CANAL
FIREBREAK
“President Joko Widodo wants large canals with dams built in fire-prone areas to ensure peatlands are not drained during the dry season, becoming tinder for forest fires.”
The Straits Times
In 2015, after the visit to Central Kalimantan, the Indonesia president personally directed the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to take action immediately and build the canals on a large scale. The financing for the project would come from Jakarta since the local government did not have the funds to pay for it. The robust immigration system, when linked to an upstream river, could keep peatlands humid, and prevent hotspots from spreading.
Even though the national government has put policies into places, people are still illegally burning the land, making it difficult to reduce the fires. According to the Forestry Department officials in Riau, they do not have enough budget or resources to protect the land.
However, the Peatland Restoration Agency only has the budget to implement the restoration program but not to maintain it. Various infrastructures have been built to restore peatlands such as deep wells or canal blocking. However, without proper funding, the infrastructures are easily destroyed, mostly by disapproving villagers.
To build the canal system, the authorities must first obtain the approval from local residences whose lives will be affected. It is very crucial for the project to maintain both the wetness of peatlands to prevent the fires and secure local people's approval since they use the canal for transportation. Moreover, the climate should be taken into consideration because it will affect the presence of water-canals.
EARLY WARNING
SYSTEM
There are many experiments about improving forest fires monitoring systems. In Indonesia case, the local organisation creates the Peatland Restoration Monitoring system to track the progress of peat restoration projects that is up-to-date, and reliable; as well as, planning the restoration activities.
However, to install the monitoring system in Indonesia is very tricky, and the need to understand the local texture is very crucial. According to Petabencana, which is an organisation designing a platform to monitor the flooding in Jakarta, some local people will break the monitoring system apart, then sell them because they are valuable. They do not see the value of the system that can help them prevent the fires because of their culture.