Southeast Asia's forest fires: blazing the policy trail

Yong, Ding Li and Peh, Kelvin S.-H. (2016) Southeast Asia's forest fires: blazing the policy trail. Oryx, 50 (2), 207-212. (doi:10.1017/S003060531400088X).

Abstract

Southeast Asia’s transboundary haze pollution, a consequence of indiscriminate land clearance practices with fire, inflicts enormous health and economic harm, borne annually by ASEANmember states. This is on top of globally significant carbon emissions, ecological disturbances and catastrophic biodiversity loss, all which have far-reaching impact, extending well beyond Southeast Asia. Yet the underlying science to combat the forest fires is well-studied and policy-level solutions have existed on paper for years. While the fires originate mostly from Indonesian territory, the involvement of multiple hierarchies of political actors from within Indonesia and stakeholders from Malaysia and Singapore adds complexity to the quest for lasting solutions. Inevitably, a more robust approach is required from the region’s governments, especially in instilling accountability among large companies, and this is feasible without increasing political tensions within ASEAN. Indonesia’s recent ratification of the Haze Agreement is a significant development, but has to be complemented with actions at the local (e.g. grassroot initiatives in forest protection, firefighting, policing of illegal clearance practices), national (e.g. centralising ministry-level control on forestry resources) and regional levels (e.g. implementing compliance mechanisms and legal standards in treaties tackling haze and forest fires). Ultimately, these actions to combat forest fires may also help secure the long-term conservation of combustible, yet biodiversity-rich peat swamps. From being a source of discord, combating haze pollution could become Southeast Asia’s defining environmental project

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Contributors

Author: Kelvin S.-H. Peh

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