CAUSES OF FOREST FIRES IN INDONESIA

Many land clearing by burning is the leading cause of forest and land fires. But not only that the cause of the fire, there are many other factors that make land and forest to burn. The cause of the fire can be intentional or unintentional. Enormous human role in managing the natural environment that creates the cause of forest fires.

One of the things that is often blamed for prolonged droughts due to the impact of El Nino so that the land becomes dry. Natural dry conditions facilitate the expansion of forest fire very quickly.

The opening of the road through the forest made by the government and private entrepreneurs towards facilitating access to parts of the forest that was once difficult to reach. Easy access to the forest gives a fresh breeze to the forest encroachers open up new land for farming and gardening. The traditional way of clearing land by burning finally done by these people.

Deforestation for the purpose of industrial wood timber or by reason of the opening of plantations by large capital entrepreneurs, both legal and illegal. Logging followed also by the community to meet immediate economic needs.

Utilization and conversion of land that was once tropical rainforest humid, reduced humidity. Ability to store rainwater that falls seep into the soil is also reduced due to the low levels of tree density. If the felled trees on peat forest, sunlight can enter directly into the forest floor. The more extensive the larger cutting area hiatus created. Peatland from drying out and is the fuel that sparked forest fires and land. Forests in Sumatra and Kalimantan are the areas that are burned each year.

Rapid increase in the number of people making the finding and opening new lands settlement. Target is a forest that has not been inhabited by people. The rivalry between the settlers and the natives sometimes cause social jealousy. The success of the efforts of migrant communities in the process of land to make the natives feel unrivaled. The actions of other people's land burning may occur due to a sense of dissatisfaction.

Those are some of the causes of land and forest fires in Indonesia. Preventive efforts need to be done rather than the actions of forest fire extinguish itself at a cost and greater losses. Control measures requires the intervention of all parties to get involved in addressing the causes of forest and land fires.

ELIMINATING SMOKE DOES NOT NECESSARILY CUT CARBON EMISSIONS

Land-clearing techniques exist that do not produce smoke, including biological methods to accelerate decomposition and various mechanical techniques that chip or shred biomass, either for mulching on the site or for transport off site for disposal or sale. All of these `no-burn' techniques presently are more expensive than burning. Moreover, as noted above, burning produces many benefits for land users.

Research may be able to reduce the economic and technical disadvantages (compared to burning) of certain techniques, such as mulching. If they are feasible, policies to regulate the timing of burning and new techniques for land clearing without burning could-over time- address part of the regional smoke problem.

However, it must be emphasized that unless a significant portion of the biomass from land clearing is used to manufacture wood products with a long useful life (instead of simply decaying), these measures will only have a short-term effect on C emissions.

Moreover, the attractiveness of technological alternatives to clear land without burning, or the level of subsidies required for adoption of these techniques, also are infuenced by national policies, such as timber export taxes.

FOREST PROTECTION

Definition of Forest Protection is a business, activity, and measures to prevent the destruction of forests and forest products due to human actions or natural. Causes of deforestation can be forest fires, pests, diseases, grazing, theft and causing protection factor. One of the principles of forest protection is the prevention of the onset or progression of a cause of forest destruction , would be more effective than control activities after the damage occurred.

The principle of priority to the prevention of forest protection onset or progression of a forest damage through silvicultural planning and good management.

In conjunction with the management measures, prevention of the concept of forest protection is approached by way of:

• decision to move or act to prevent the causes of forest destruction is not developed and does not cause deforestation seriously.
• development of a form of forest management is careful and insightful future.

Studies of forest protection in general as well studied as part of the Science Silviculture . Forest Protection Branch of Science has developed into a more specific knowledge of science among the Forest Diseases, Pests of Forest Science and Forest Fire.

FOREST PROTECTION STRATEGY

Several forest protection strategies that can be used to achieve sustainable forest management are:

1. understand the interaction with the agent of forest destruction so that:
   • can identify the factors that cause problems in forest protection
   • can identify the cause of primary damage
2. can analyze and make decisions as a whole and not just limited to the most serious causes of damage
3. always seen as a forest protection measures are not separate from silvicultural
4. aware that forest protection is increasingly important and the approach is not limited to field crops but excluding forest products.

Protection strategies in addition to ensuring the sustainability of forest management can also ensure a low risk of forest management.

FOREST DEGRADATION IN INDONESIA

When the rainy season floods everywhere, many people say that this is due to forest destruction. Flooding is just one result of the impact of deforestation on the environment. Not only floods during the rainy season, the danger of drought occurs when the dry season comes. When the forest is still well preserved has the trees are dense, the forest can absorb water when the rains come and save them in the soil in the crevices of the roots , then release it slowly through the watershed . Forests control the fluctuation of the water in the river during the rainy season so it does not overflow during the dry season and not dry. Here the forest functions as a regulator of hydro-orologis for human life and other living creatures.

In addition to flooding and drought, there are many more negative effects of deforestation. Damage to the forest environment like this is a human-induced damage to the cutting down of trees in the headwaters of the river even clearing the converted in other uses.

Understanding and definition of forest degradation is the reduction in forest area due to damage to ecosystems that are often called forest degradation and deforestation as well plus the conversion of forest land or the term deforestation .

CIFOR study (International Forestry Research) examine the causes of forest cover change which consists of shifting cultivation, encroachment, transmigration, mining , plantation, plantations, logging and timber industry. Besides illegal logging activities carried out by professional groups or smugglers who illegally supported by rogue elements.

The opening of forests for oil palm plantations be accused as one of the causes of forest destruction. Forest in which there are many different types of trees turned into monoculture, causing loss of biodiversity and the balance of ecological in the area. Some types of animals that make the forest as its habitat will move to find a more suitable place to live.

Land clearing for oil palm plantations in tropical forests is one of the trigger fires and forest negative impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

Recent research results of CIFOR revealed some negative impact from changes in land use for the production of biofuels. Development of oil palm plantations on peat land, carbon emissions resulting from land conversion takes hundreds of years for the recovery process as usual.

Data of forest destruction in Indonesia is still confusing, this is due to differences in perception and interest in revealing data about forest destruction. The rate of deforestation in Indonesia according to World Bank estimates between 700,000 to 1.2 million ha per year, where deforestation by shifting cultivators is estimated at half. But the World Bank acknowledged that the estimated rate of deforestation is based on weak data. Meanwhile, according to the FAO, said the rate of forest destruction in Indonesia reached 1.315 million ha per year or a total area of ​​forest annually reduced by one percent (1%).

NGOs concerned about environmental degradation revealed at 1.6 - 2 million ha per year. While there are forestry experts who reveal the rate of forest destruction in Indonesia was 1.08 million ha per year.