Slash-and-burn is as fast as it is destructive and doesn’t require much technology or equipment to accomplish – making it one of the fastest ways for farmers to turn over their fields before the next farming season can begin. By setting their plots ablaze and allowing the ashes to fall, farmers are also able to provide a foundation upon which next year’s crops can grow.
However, a significant byproduct of these practices is a thick and acrid haze that is picked up by transboundary winds and carried across the sea into neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia. The consequences can also be severe locally, with the potential for forest fires to spread into neighboring natural reserves, endangering wildlife and the ecosystem.
In response to these instances, public sentiment in the past decade (both within and outside of Indonesia) has been nothing short of harsh and stern. Key stakeholders in the country must step up proactive forest fire management strategies to both reduce the popularity of slash-and-burn and ameliorate its consequences. Both the Indonesian government and corporations with a vested interest in agriculture have to take the initiative to break the status quo. Thankfully, one company has stepped up to the plate and is taking measures to change the situation.
Regarding sustainable forest management and balancing environmental sustainability with production, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Sinar Mas has taken an Integrated Fire Management (IFM) approach. Across its four key pillars: Prevention, Preparation, Early Detection, and Rapid Response, Asia Pulp & Paper has utilized a multi-stakeholder strategy that benefits the community while preventing and mitigating forest fires.
1. Prevention
As the age-old saying goes, prevention is often better than cure. To prevent forest fires before they break out, Asia Pulp & Paper engages suppliers and communities to ensure a zero-burning policy from all pulpwood suppliers.
Additionally, Asia Pulp & Paper recognizes the economic factors that push farmers into using slash-and-burn in the first place and has deepened the reach of their forest fire management initiatives through a bottom-up approach to poverty alleviation. Implementing their Desa Makmur Penduli Api (DMPA) program across 386 villages across Indonesia, Asia Pulp & Paper has extended additional sources of income to communities that primarily engage in slash-and-burn techniques for cost-cutting reasons.
Complemented by agroforestry programs that provide alternative livelihoods for local communities, the Asia Pulp & Paper’s Desa Makmur Peduli Api (DMPA) program also reduces the community’s overall reliance on slash-and-burn techniques while promoting environmentally-friendly farming methods. Launched in 2015, the IFFS program offers technical and financial assistance to villages in the hopes that they adopt more sustainable agricultural approaches. Asia Pulp & Paper’s on-the-ground collaboration with local firefighting councils (known as Masyarakat Peduli Api) further enables the organization to play a more significant role in fire fighting and prevention through extended ground patrols and cash incentives for maintaining zero forest fires.
Finally, Asia Pulp & Paper has also partnered up with the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry to leverage Weather Modification Technology (TMC) on land and peatlands with a high potential for fire. Touted as a permanent solution to hotspots and forest fires, TMC operations are carried out with the aim of wetting peatlands to maintain moisture and keep water levels stable. Through air and ground delivery, TMC operations achieve forest fire management by filling ponds, canals, and retention ponds, which significantly lower the chances of forest fire in peatlands.
2. Preparation
Even with extensive preventative measures, being prepared for worst-case scenarios plays a vital role in protecting forests and peatlands from irreparable damage. In the case of forest fire outbreaks, Asia Pulp & Paper and their respective pulpwood suppliers are ready with 2,670 firefighters as well as 6 medium- and large-capacity helicopters on standby for water-bombing affected areas. Taking cues from global best practices, this forest firefighting force is perpetually trained to build sharpness and confidence ahead of dry seasons.
Alongside this team of firefighters, international fire management experts are continuously engaged in providing Incident Command System (ICS) training, which develops individual and team competence between aerial and ground firefighting efforts.
Advanced reconnaissance of forest and peatlands at risk are also conducted routinely via data from RADARSAT-2 satellites. This information aids Asia Pulp & Paper in mapping and analyzing peatland areas at high risk during dry seasons while providing for contingencies in the form of improved water management systems to defuse forest fires. Combined with additional information obtained from LiDAR scans, experts at Asia Pulp & Paper are able to formulate and prepare strategies preemptively for a variety of disaster scenarios.
In 2020, aided by skilled firefighters and favorable weather, Asia Pulp & Paper managed to keep areas affected by fires limited to 0.01% of the total pulpwood suppliers’ concession areas and exceeded their Sustainable Roadmap Vision 2030 goals of keeping areas impacted by the fire under 2% of total concession areas.
3. Early Detection
To facilitate early detection, Asia Pulp & Paper utilizes state-of-the-art technology in order to set up multiple early warning systems. Through thermal imaging technology fitted on planes, which is considerably more accurate than satellite imagery, Asia Pulp & Paper can pinpoint fires within 50 meters of their real ground position and relay that information to headquarters and field staff within 15 minutes. Consequently, the Integrated Fire Management Team can detect 79% of fires via these planes before satellite imagery picks it up.
Complementing this use of technology, Asia Pulp & Paper also commits to engaging communities and villages close to fire-prone areas, as highlighted in its 2020 Sustainability Report. Regular rounds are conducted by fire patrol teams (Regu Pemadan Kebakaran) to spot early smoke and forest fires, and additional fire towers were installed in 2020 for quicker response. The company is also currently in the process of developing micro-scale weather forecasts for stakeholders in concession areas, which allows for district-level weather forecasts on a weekly basis.
4. Rapid Response
Time is of the essence when it comes to fire fighting and fire prevention. Rapid response is necessary for staff on the ground to efficiently contain forest fires and limit any damage in the event that prevention fails.
Asia Pulp & Paper’s target goal is to extinguish fires within four to twelve hours of occurrence. This is achieved via the aforementioned principles of preparedness and operational readiness. Communities and staff on daily patrol have access to an open source of information on Asia Pulp & Paper’s website, which provides detailed Daily Fire Updates. These updates state potential hotspots in peatlands while signaling if they are any verified fires. Complemented by water sources located strategically, first responders on the scene can engage in forest fire management in time to contain its spread.
An All-Hands Approach
Whether it’s through lifting out communities in poverty to prevent them from actively practicing unsustainable slash-and-burn techniques or working with villages and government organizations to ensure the best fire management practices, Asia Pulp & Paper understands the importance of fire fighting and fire prevention’s role in safeguarding forest and peatlands for generations to come. Involving all stakeholders so that each voice may be heard is vital to balance sustainability with production as we look ahead to long-term solutions to problems that affect the wider region.
