Zero Chance of Last Year's Haze Happening Again This Year': Indonesian Agency

Thick haze was blanketing a road in Pekanbaru in Riau some time ago.

Singapore,10 Rajab 1437/16 April 2016 (MINA) – There is “zero chance” that the region will experience the same bout of haze this year as it did in 2015, according to the Head of the Peatland Restoration Agency in Indonesia, Mr Nazir Foead.

This is due to the determination from the government, palm oil and pulp and paper companies, and the community to make sure that steps are taken to ensure that fires do not break out on peatlands, added Mr Nazir, who was speaking at the third Sustainable World Resources dialogue on Friday (Apr 15).

The Peatland Restoration Agency was set up in January this year by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to restore about 2 million hectares of peatland that have been damaged by fires, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) quoted CNA as reporting.

It is a move by the Indonesian government to prevent fires from happening, which is a shift from a focus on mitigation efforts in the past.

The agency is now in the process of creating more detailed maps to complement the One Map initiative. This will be completed in the next two to three months.

It is also urging companies to play their part in restoring peatlands, which is something touched on by Singapore’s Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli at the same event.

“Agro-forestry companies should take full responsibility for fire prevention and mitigation in their concessions. There must not be a repeat, for example, of last year’s fires… Companies should invest in efforts to rehabilitate degraded and fire-prone peatlands. Companies must ensure that sustainable policies and practices don’t stop with them,” said Mr Masagos.

Restoration involves rewetting the carbon-rich peatlands, which burn easily when dry. The agency wants to create dams and canals to increase the water level in peatlands. It will also identify other types of crops besides palm oil that can grow well on peatlands, like the sago plant.

Mr Nazir added the agency is in talks with the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), to consider including companies’ efforts in peatland restoration as a criteria in issuing the Singapore Green Label certification.

“SEC has just announced that it is now taking it further and working on a new category for products with pulp and paper, which will include in its criteria the requirement for peatland management and fire prevention standards. When fully developed, I believe this standard will be the most holistic certification standard for pulp and paper in the world,” said Mr Masagos. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)