Forestry Experts Say Fires to Worsen in Coming Years
Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
10/31/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Forestry Experts Say Fires to Worsen in Coming Years
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 10/31/97
Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (AFP) - Forest fires in Asia will worsen in
coming years unless governments addresses the problems of
corporations' slash and burn agriculture, an organization that
studies agroforestry said Friday.
The International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in
a statement recommended that that Indonesia revise its forest
policies, issue fewer government land clearing permits and more
research on "no burn" land clearing methods.
Since September, 20 million Indonesians and inhabitants of
nearby nations have suffered from the smoke of huge forest fires in
Southeast Asia.
ICRAF noted that "many local communities in Indonesia have
created their own effective systems fo fines and other penalties
imposed on people who mismanage fire and cause damage to their
neighbors' property."
But "government regulations on the use of fire by large
companies have been largely ignored," said ICRAF.
Slash and burn agriculture has been used by farmers for
centuries, the report emphasized. But today large corporations use
the method to drive off small landholders, who then burn the
companies' trees in retaliation.