The underlying causes and impacts of fires in South-east Asia : site 2. Menggala, Lampung Province, Indonesia

Within the framework of the CIFOR/ICRAF/USFS project on underlying causes and impacts of fires in South-east Asia, 8 sites were studied in detail by linking spatial data with socioeconomic background information, to provide a solid basis for scientific study of the cause of vegetation fires. This report provides an analysis of causes of vegetation fires in the Menggala area, Lampung Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. The 150,000 ha study area was divided into ecologically different units, i.e. the peneplains and the coastal swamps. The former area is mostly used by large forest plantations and small-scale farming, while land-use in the latter, much wetter area is mostly restricted to swamp rice farming, both by the indigenous inhabitants of the area, spontaneous migrants, and transmigrants as well as plantations. In thepeneplains, the four main causes of fire are: land tenure conflicts between local communitiesand large plantations, the large-scale clearing required for plantation development, the lack ofa transparent legal system to address land claims, land ‘ownership’, and communal rights, anda lack of fire management facilities in plantations. In the coastal swamps area, fire is used as atool in “traditional” swamp rice cultivation, and as more people become involved with thistype of land-clearing the pressure on regenerating swamps increases. Burning on plantationland in the swamp area was also found, but underlying causes could not yet be established.Based on the cause analysis, possible implications for policy changes are discussed.

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