The Indonesian Forest Fires
10/8/97
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Headline: The Indonesian Forest Fires
Source: The Washington Post: Page A20-
Date: 10/8/97
Byline: ROGER A. SEDJO
Senior Fellow
Resources for the Future
Washington
Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
The Post's excellent piece on El Nino [front
page, Sept. 21] contrasts sharply with some of
the misinformation being circulated regarding
the Indonesian forest fires.
Contrary to common myth, fires in the tropical
forests of the Indonesian archipelago have been
common for millennia, certainly long before
serious logging was undertaken. Examination of
charcoal remnants suggests forest fires dating
back at least 18,000 years. More recent history
recounts a number of serious forest fires in
Borneo in the 19th century, well before major
timber logging was common. Contributing to the
likelihood of forest fires are natural
perpetual fires, occurring in ground-level coal
seams, apparently started by lightning strikes
thousands of years ago.
Furthermore, El Nin~o almost surely plays a
major role in both the history of fires in the
region and in the current fires. Indonesia's
tropic forests become dry and very vulnerable
to fire during periods of drought. Although
logging debris and agricultural burning are
likely contributing factors to the current
fire, the lack of precipitation occasioned by
the current El Nin~o in itself is sufficient to
create the forest fires.