Forest and Land Fires Are Mainly Associated with Deforestation in Riau Province, Indonesia

The relationship between knowledge and disaster preparedness of undergraduates responding to forest fires

Forest and land fires are disasters that regularly occur on the island of Kalimantan, Indonesia. Higher education students on the island of Kalimantan are considered vulnerable to these disasters, hence the need for mandatory disaster knowledge and preparedness for every individual in the area. This research aimed to: (1) determine disaster knowledge and student preparedness in dealing with forest and land fire disasters, (2) determine the relationship between knowledge and student preparedness. This study used a quantitative correlation method with a questionnaire. The data were processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 21. The research sample used purposive sampling because it followed the needs of the study, which involved 300 students affected by forest fires, representing three universities located in a forest fire-prone area in West Kalimantan province, Indonesia. Each campus has 100 students, a total of 300 students. The results showed as many as 284 students had experienced forest and land fire disasters. In addition, 202 out of 284 students were known to have low disaster knowledge. Four main parameters of disaster preparedness were used to measure student preparedness, namely (1) knowledge and attitudes, (2) emergency response plans, (3) disaster warning system and (4) resource mobilisation. The number of students with high preparedness was 141, while 143 had low preparedness. Thus, student preparedness measures need to be increased to avoid disaster impact.

CONTRIBUTION

Based on the data analysis, students' knowledge and preparedness to face forest fires are positively related. It was shown that the higher the learning of students, the higher their readiness and vice versa. It is suggested that there is a need for increasing knowledge and preparedness actions for students in dealing with forest fire disasters through regular disaster lectures, simulations and training so that they can make the right decisions in coping with disasters.

Joint Pattern Analysis of Forest Fire and Drought Indicators in Southeast Asia Associated with ENSO and IOD

Land and forest fires in Southeast Asia often coincide with severe dry seasons in the specific region caused by the warm phase of an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). This research aims to identify and quantify the ENSO–IOD effect on a joint pattern between the dry season and land and forest fires in Southeast Asia. This research provides a quantitative result which represents the ENSO–IOD’s impact in Southeast Asia for hotspots, dry spells, and precipitation anomalies. The methods used in this research are singular value decomposition, probability density skill score, and coherence analysis. Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand gave a similar result with less than a 25% increasing severity in the hotspots from normal to either El Niño, positive IOD, or El Niño–positive IOD years. The maximum increase in hotspot severity in North Sumatra was 13.06% and happened during a weak El Niño and positive IOD. Meanwhile, South Sumatra had a maximum accumulation of more than 89% and Kalimantan had more than a 72% increase during the strong El Niño in 2015. Even though the relationship between the ENSO and IOD was inconsistent, the occurrence of both phenomena in the same year can lead to fires and need to be considered.

Air Pollution From Forest and Vegetation Fires in Southeast Asia Disproportionately Impacts the Poor

Forest and vegetation fires, used as tools for agriculture and deforestation, are a major source of air pollutants and can cause serious air quality issues in many parts of Asia. Actions to reduce fire may offer considerable, yet largely unrecognized, options for rapid improvements in air quality. In this study, we used a combination of regional and global air quality models and observations to examine the impact of forest and vegetation fires on air quality degradation and public health in Southeast Asia (including Mainland Southeast Asia and south-eastern China). We found that eliminating fire could substantially improve regional air quality across Southeast Asia by reducing the population exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations by 7% and surface ozone concentrations by 5%. These reductions in PM2.5 exposures would yield a considerable public health benefit across the region; averting 59,000 (95% uncertainty interval (95UI): 55,200-62,900) premature deaths annually. Analysis of subnational infant mortality rate data and PM2.5 exposure suggested that PM2.5 from fires disproportionately impacts poorer populations across Southeast Asia. We identified two key regions in northern Laos and western Myanmar where particularly high levels of poverty coincide with exposure to relatively high levels of PM2.5 from fires. Our results show that reducing forest and vegetation fires should be a public health priority for the Southeast Asia region.

Assessment of the Local Perceptions on the Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Agents of Drivers, and Appropriate Activities in Cambodia

Understanding the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and the agents of such drivers is important for introducing appropriate policy interventions. Here, we identified drivers and agents of drivers through the analysis of local perceptions using questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions, and field observations. The Likert scale technique was employed for designing the questionnaire with scores ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). We found nine direct drivers of forest deforestation and forest degradation, namely illegal logging (4.53 ± 0.60, ± is for standard deviation), commercial wood production (4.20 ± 0.71), land clearing for commercial agriculture (4.19 ± 1.15), charcoal production (3.60 ± 1.12), land clearing for subsistence agriculture (3.54 ± 0.75), new settlement and land migration (3.43 ± 0.81), natural disasters (3.31 ± 0.96), human-induced forest fires (3.25 ± 0.96), and fuelwood for domestic consumption (3.21 ± 0.77). We also found four main indirect drivers, namely lack of law enforcement, demand for timber, land tenure right, and population growth. Our analysis indicates that wood furniture makers, medium and large-scale agricultural investors, charcoal makers, land migrants, firewood collectors, and subsistent farmers were the agents of these drivers. Through focus group discussions, 12 activities were agreed upon and could be introduced to reduce these drivers. In addition to enforcing the laws, creating income-generating opportunities for locals along with the provision of environmental education could ensure long-term reduction of these drivers. The REDD+ project could be an option for creating local income opportunities, while reducing deforestation and forest degradation.