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Over one-third of terrestrial habitats in South and East Asia are fire-sensitive. Many of these places suffer from too much fire as a result of the numerous blazes set by people each year to facilitate livestock ranching, agriculture and rural and urban development. These fires can also accelerate climate change through the direct release of greenhouse gases and by contributing to deforestation. Experts estimate that fire regimes across more than 80 percent of the region are degraded.
The frequency and intensity of fires in Southeast Asia have increased over the past 30 years. In 1997-1998, nearly 10 million hectares were affected in Indonesia, with damages estimated at nearly US$9 billion. Additionally, haze from forest fires can be widespread and often causes serious respiratory problems. The ecological, human and economic impacts of altered fire regimes are further exacerbated during El Niño years.
Because 95 percent of all fires are caused by human activities, it is important to address the underlying causes of these fires rather than focusing exclusively on national-level fire suppression efforts and tightening fire legislation. In many parts of the world, unnecessary burning has been sharply reduced through sustained programs that engage and empower local communities in making decisions about the management of forest resources and fire.
A Community-Focused Approach
The Conservancy's Global Fire Initiative and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) co-sponsored a regional Community-Based Fire Management (CBFiM) training workshop October 28 through November 4, 2007 in Balikpapan, Indonesia. Thirty-three forest managers and conservation practitioners from ten countries across the Asia Pacific region received intensive training on the underlying causes of fires that can be destructive to nature, regional legal issues, fire ecology, prescribed fire, fire suppression and fire education.
The workshop equipped attendees with the information and tools needed to develop successful approaches to work collaboratively with communities, government agencies and the private sector to reduce fire-related threats to both people and nature. Case studies from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and China provided an overview of community-based fire management in the region. At the conclusion of the course, participants were encouraged to organize their own training sessions in their home countries.
Empowering Others
The recent workshop in Indonesia represents part of the Conservancy’s wider strategy to work with communities and government agencies to develop solutions to fire-related threats to both people and nature. Working in partnership with organizations such as FAO, we have delivered fire training throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Together we are empowering individuals and organizations to face the challenges that altered fire regimes pose to their landscapes and livelihoods.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Heru Santoso/CIFOR (East Kalimantan’s Sungai Wain Protection Forest Fire Crew); Photo © Darren Johnson, TNC (A logged and burned forest just outside of Bukit Bangkirai forest and conservation parkland, East Kalimantan, Indonesia).
