The Southeast Asian haze is a fire-related recurrent transboundary air pollution issue. Haze events, where air quality reaches hazardous levels due to high concentrations of airborne particulate matter from burning biomass, have caused adverse health, environmental and economic impacts in several countries in Southeast Asia. Caused primarily by slash-and-burn land clearing, the problem flares up every dry season to varying degrees and generally is worst between July and October and during El Niño events. Transboundary haze in Southeast Asia has been recorded since 1972 with the 1997 and 2015 events being particularly severe. Industrial-scale slash-and-burn practices to clear land for agricultural purposes are a major cause of the haze, particularly for palm oil and pulpwood production in the region. Burning land occurs as it is cheaper and faster compared to cutting and clearing using excavators or other machinery. Fires started for this purpose sometimes spread and create forest fires, worsening the problem. The high concentration of peat in soil contributes to the haze's density and high sulphur content. Fires in Indonesia (particularly South Sumatra and Riau in Sumatra, and Kalimantan in Borneo), and to a lesser extent in Malaysia and Thailand, have been identified as sources. The haze regularly has a major impact on air quality in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam; to a lesser extent and in particularly severe years, it also impacts the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and countries outside the region. Haze events have been shown to cause health issues and mortality in affected areas, and have caused disruption to economic activity and education as sectors are forced to close to minimise exposure to hazardous air. The haze also has a substantial environmental impact, being a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the region and affecting wildlife and ecosystems. The haze is an international issue which has caused regional political tensions. Efforts have been made to mitigate haze events and their impacts, and some relevant frameworks for regional cooperation among ASEAN countries have been introduced. Challenges remain in implementing these, and mitigation efforts have failed to prevent haze from reoccurring.
Causes
Most haze events have resulted from smoke from fires that occurred on peatlands in Sumatra and the Kalimantan region of Borneo island. Poor accountability and transparency of Indonesian agricultural companies, and limited political and economic incentives to hold companies to account, have been identified as key barriers to mitigating the issue. Undisturbed humid tropical forests are considered to be very resistant to fire, experiencing rare fires only during extraordinary dry periods. A study published in 2005 concluded that there is no single dominant cause of fire in a particular site and there are wide differences in the causes of fires in different sites. The study identified the following direct and indirect causes of fire:
Direct causes of fire Fire as a tool in land clearing Fire as a weapon in land tenure or land use disputes Accidental or escaped fires Fire connected with resource extraction Indirect causes of fire Land tenure and land use allocation conflicts and competition Forest degrading practices Economic incentives/disincentives Population growth and migration Inadequate fire fighting and management capacity
Fire as a tool in land clearing Fire is the cheapest and fastest method to clear land in preparation for planting. Fire is used to clear the plant material left over from logging or old crops. Mechanically raking the plant material into long piles and letting them rot over time, is expensive and slow, and could harbour pests. Clearing land with machines and chemicals can cost up to US$200 per hectare while using fire costs US$5 per hectare. After a peat swamp forest has been cleared and drained, the peat soil is still unsuitable for agriculture, because peat soil is nutrient-poor and acidic (pH 3 - 4). To make the soil suitable for agriculture, the pH has to be neutralised and nutrients added. Pests and plant diseases also have to be removed. One method is to use chemicals such as limestone to neutralise the acidity, as well as fertilisers and pesticides. This method costs about Rupiah 30 - 40 million per hectare. Alternatively, fire is used to clear the plant material left over from logging. The fire kills pests and the resulting ash serves to fertilise the soil and neutralise the acidity. This method costs Rupiah 2 million per hectare.
Land conflicts In Indonesia, the Basic Forestry Law grants the Ministry of Forestry authority over all land classified as forests. Approximately 49% of the nation (909,070 square kilometres) is covered by actual forest, although the government classifies 69% of the land area (1,331,270 square kilometres) as forest. The land rights of traditional communities that live on land classified as forest cannot be registered and are generally unrecognised by the state. Therefore, these communities do not really have the ability to enforce rules at the village level and exclude outsiders such as oil palm plantations, logging companies, residents of other villages, migrants, small-scale loggers or transmigrants. Competing claims in turn leads to land conflicts. As the number of new, external actors increases, so does the likelihood that fire will be used as a weapon.
Role of peat
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