Environmental Minister Says Burned Forests Will Need 500 Years to Recover
11/9/97
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Headline: Environmental Minister Says Burned Forests Will Need 500 Years
to Recover
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 11/9/97
Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse
JAKARTA, Nov 10 (AFP) - Indonesia's vast forests could take
500 years to recover from the damage wrought by months of
devastating fires, Environmental Minister Sarwono Kusumaatmaja has
said quoted Monday.
Sarwono gave no figures for the extent of the fires which have
ravaged swathes of forest including unique rainforest, the Suara
Karya daily said.
"Efforts to restore the functions of the soil, following the
change in soil characteristics due to ground fires, would also need
at least 10 years," Sarwono said, speaking in Denpasar, Bali.
The fires have affected up to 800,000 hectares (two million
acres) of forest in Indonesia, non-governmental organizations have
said.
The leading environmental watchdog Walhi has estimated the fires
to have razed about 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of
forest and ground.
The smoke released by the fires has blanketed Indonesia,
Malaysia, Singapore, and parts of the Philippines and Thailand and
caused serious health and air traffic problems there.
Indonesia has about 143 million hectares (353.4 million acres)
of forest, including 49 million hectares (121 million acres) in
protected areas.