Indonesia’s wetlands have suffered extensive fire damage in recent El Niño years. In the 1997/98 El Niño event forest fires on dried-out wetlands accounted for 2.1 million ha or 18 percent of the total area burnt in Indonesia2. As would be expected much of the burning occurred in logged or drained wetlands such as those in southern Sumatra. But even intact peat forests such as in the Middle Mahakam Area East Kalimantan and Berbak National Park Jambi suffered due to increased human activities (such as turtle hunting and logging) within the forests. Fires are also common in non El Niño years but are smaller in scale and restricted to accessible areas along rivers streams and lakes34. Deforested and drained peatlands are however becoming major annual fire flashpoints such as in Central and West Kalimantan and more recently in Riau.
Publication year
2004
Authors
Chokkalingham, U.; Suyanto, B.L.
Keywords
Agriculture, Agroforestry, Humid zones, Research, Environmental degradation
