Local Law & Collaboration Key to Fire & Haze Prevention

Local law and collaboration across sectors key to fire and haze prevention

Pekanbaru (Indonesia), August 30, 2017 - The 2015 fire and haze event had severe effects for people and the environment. Since then, governments, companies, local communities, NGOs and donors have engaged in a variety of initiatives to prevent and manage forest fires.

A national policy dialogue organized by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Pekanbaru (Riau, Indonesia) on August 30 brought together different stakeholders to share their experiences with the prevention and management of forest fires. Together, they analyzed progress so far and discussed a way forward and best practices for legislation, law enforcement, implementation and collaboration.

Local regulations are more effective

Academics and researchers at the event highlighted that regulations are more effective at the provincial, regency and city levels, issued in the form of local laws (Peraturan Daerah, or Perda). The advantage of this type of legislation is that it is binding and enforceable.

Local regulations should focus on offering incentives not to burn forest land; improving coordination among farmers for fire prevention and restoration; strengthening law enforcement; developing water management and infrastructure; and improving initial responses to fire. New legislation should be based on solid scientific evidence and support community-based restoration.

“We are happy that our research outputs can be used by all stakeholders to inform public debate, policies, regulations and best practices,” said Dr. Herry Purnomo, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) on behalf of the team of researchers. “We expect that the insights shared today will contribute to the reduction of fire and haze, not only in Riau but also in other regions of Indonesia.”

Sharing knowledge and collaboration

Participants agreed that best practices for fire prevention and restoration need to be established and communicated. Governments, corporations, communities and academics must share lessons learned about what works and what does not work. For example, ‘fire-free village’ programs run by different stakeholders must be evaluated and compared.

Partnership and collaboration across sectors is also essential to improve law enforcement and the implementation of best practices on the ground. At a regional level, bilateral and multilateral cooperation between ASEAN member states and stakeholders will also support fire prevention.

ENDS

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ABOUT CIFOR:

CIFOR advances human well-being, equity and environmental integrity by conducting innovative research, developing partners’ capacity and actively engaging in dialogue with all stakeholders to inform policies and practices that affect forests and people. CIFOR is a CGIAR Research Center, and leads the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). Our headquarters are in Bogor, Indonesia, with offices in Nairobi, Kenya; Yaoundé, Cameroon; and Lima, Peru.

www.cifor.org

This event is funded by UK Aid under the International Forestry Knowledge (KnowFor) project.

This event forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, ICRAF, INBAR and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.

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