Fire & Haze Prevention
At APRIL, we take the prevention of fire and haze seriously. In 2007, APRIL was privileged to become a founding member of the UN-FAO Fire Management Actions Alliance, actively implementing the Fire Management: Voluntary Guidelines – Principles and Strategic Actions which promotes a holistic approach to fire management. In support of the Alliance, APRIL has:
1. Translated the Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines to bahasa Indonesia (Dec 2007)
2. Contributed to an FAO Overview of Indonesian National Legislation on Forest Fires (2008)
3. Co-sponsored a FAO Fire Management Southeast Asia Regional Workshop in Pekanbaru, Riau (Nov 2008)
We are committed to a "No-Burn" policy in our fiber plantation development where fire is not used as a management tool for clearing land. Instead, we minimize wood waste from tree harvesting by ensuring high wood utilization for pulp and paper production, using manual and mechanical equipment to prepare land for planting, and actively extinguishing any fire that threatens our plantation.
The risk of damaging forest and land fires in Riau, Sumatra is high because there are periods of no rainfall for up to two weeks or more. During these dry periods local people use “slash and burn” land-clearing techniques to clear and prepare land for agricultural or other use. These fires often burn uncontrolled and give rise to haze until the rains return.
APRIL’s fire protection program is based on constant preparedness, early detection, rapid response, and effective containment and control procedures. We have invested over 1.3 million dollars in the past six years in specialized firefighting equipment. All APRIL fiber estates maintain a high level of preparedness by conducting fire patrols, using lightweight, high-pressure water pumps for extinguishing fires, and cooperating with our contractors to use heavy equipment to construct fire control lines where needed. Aerial firefighting resources are also used to support ground-based firefighting efforts.
Fire Weather and Haze Update – January-February 2009
Based on historical average rainfall data, Riau Province experiences two dry seasons per year. The first dry season occurs from February to March and the second from June to August. During these dry periods forest and land vegetation become dry and people engaged in land-clearing use fire to dispose of the slash residues. If the dry period becomes extended and severe, fires can threaten the APRIL plantations and smoke/haze can develop in Riau, which affects the health and livelihoods of both the local population and also our neighbors abroad.
The APRIL Fibre Estates monitor daily weather and calculate daily Fire Danger Ratings based on rainfall, humidity and vegetative condition. During the month of January 2009, a 35% rainfall deficit occurred, which caused Fire Danger in the APRIL operational area to reach HIGH and EXTREME levels at nine of thirteen reporting weather stations. There was a period of almost no rainfall occurring from 12-25 January. The increased Fire Danger in January is partially a result of the 30% rainfall deficit which also occurred in December 2008. Other factors that contribute to the HIGH and EXTREME Fire Danger are low mid-day Relative Humidity and strong winds originating from a northeasterly direction which can make firefighting efforts dangerous and difficult.
The APRIL Fire Management Department monitors NOAA18 satellite data via the Singapore ASMC website. 406 "Hotspots" were identified in Riau Province during January 2009, primarily located in peat land areas. Twenty-six (26) of these hotspots were located within the gross area concession boundaries of APRIL and/or our Joint Venture (JV) partners. Because satellite "hotspot" monitoring is not 100% reliable and does not provide enough information about the exact location or conditions which a fire is burning, APRIL and JV companies conduct both ground- and aerial-fire patrols of our fibre plantation boundary's to quickly identify threatening fires.
APRIL and our JV's implement a "No Burn" policy and Standard Operating Procedures within our fibre plantation area which mandate that land-clearing be accomplished without using fire, instead using mechanical techniques for utilizing and removing the wood and unwanted vegetation prior to re-planting.
On the other hand, communities within the concession boundaries continue to use "slash and burn" land-clearing techniques for the establishment of gardens, palm oil and rubber plantations. Community members actively engage in slashing unwanted vegetation during the rainy season in anticipation of the dry season in order to burn and purposely dispose of the unwanted debris. This is the primary cause of hotspots and fires inside the concession boundaries.
The fibre plantations next to community lands are most vulnerable to burning during the dry season. To protect plantation assets from fire, we employ specially trained firefighters equipped with specialised forest firefighting equipment that can rapidly mobilize to the plantation boundaries and extinguish the threatening community land-clearing fires.
20 fires were attended to by APRIL and JV fire suppression teams in January 2009. With community "slash and burn" land-clearing activities next to our plantation boundaries causing 11 of these fires.
APRIL and our JV partners continuously monitor weather and "hotspot" data, calculate daily Fire Danger, conduct fire patrols and rapidly respond to any fires that threaten our plantation assets. We also submit reports to Police to identify these threatening fires, have provided training to over 100 Community Farmer Groups on "No Burn" practices, and have assisted communities to develop their land (27,000 ha) to productive and sustainable Community Tree Plantations using "No Burn" techniques.