Forest and peatland fires, which occur on an annual basis in Indonesia, affect the entire Southeast Asian region and result in extensive environmental destruction as well as threats to livelihoods. In particular, the displacement of massive pollution – a brown cloud consisting of fire-born particles mixed with industrial pollution – over Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Thailand in June 2013 caused a ‘haze crisis’ in the region and led to the development of trans-boundary legal measures. Most importantly, smoke-born damages resulting from haze are detrimental to the environment and have irreversible long-term impacts on human health. Peat smoke represents a major concern due to the adverse health effects, notably respiratory diseases and symptoms, and Indonesia’s forest and peatland fires are estimated to cause approximately 110,000 premature deaths annually. The 2015 fires affected 43 million people and hospitalized 550,000, along with an overall economic damage assessed at US$16 billion.
In response, UN Environment, the UN’s Pulse Lab Jakarta and UNICEF have initiated a collaboration to enable affected local communities by improving their disaster risk management capacity. The discussion will showcase innovative tools piloted by the Government of Indonesia such as the Haze Gazer and early warning Fire Risk System for tracking and managing the impact of fire and haze events, among others.
Key questions:
- What is the available science, and what are the gaps, in reducing long-term risks to human health and development caused by peat fires and haze?
- How can we build on the existing knowledge to ensure these issues are brought into the policy discourse, and to strengthen the implementation of existing policies?
- What are the lesson learnt from elsewhere on these policy options, and what is their relevance?
Background reading:
- Impact of haze from forest fire to respiratory health: Indonesian experience
- Towards Anticipatory Management of Peat Fires to Enhance Local Resilience and Reduce Natural Capital Depletion. In Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation in Practice
- Fire Risk System (FRS)
- Haze Gazer, a haze crisis analysis and visualization tool
