The underlying causes and impacts of fires in South-east Asia : site 5. Danau Sentarum, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

Within the framework of the CIFOR/ICRAF/USFS project on underlying causes and impacts of fires in South-east Asia, 8 sites were studied in detail by linking spatial data with socio-economic information, to provide a solid basis for a scientific study of the causes and impacts of vegetation fires. This report provides the results of an analysis of the causes and impacts of vegetation fires in the Danau Sentarum area in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The 250,000 ha site is an area of open lakes and seasonally flooded swamp forests surrounded by low hills. Most of the site (197,000 ha) falls within the Danau Sentarum National Park. Two general fire regimes are present in the study area. One is seen in the upland areas and along the larger rivers, where fire has been used for centuries as part of the swidden agriculture system. The other is seen in the low-lying swamp forests in and around the lakes where fire has been present for centuries, but not for any apparent use such as cultivation. The methodology adopted for this site varies slightly from others in the study. Similar to other sites landscape level analysis was the basis, but within the site, 5 villages were selected for more detailed analysis. This applied to both the socio-economic as well as the remote sensing/GIS analysis. This approach enabled a deeper understanding of the complex issues surrounding the relationship between local communities and fires in the swamp forest. The research confirmed the locally held view that swamp forest fires have been worsening since the early 1990s. Satellite imagery showed that burn scars in swamp areas increased from 5,483 ha in 1973 to 18,905 ha in 1997. The reasons for fires in the swamp forest were clear. In broad terms, the results of the village interviews indicated that there are three main reasons for fires: resource extraction; increased population and greater access; and climatic conditions conducive to fire. However, the underlying causes were less obvious. Villages with apparently similar characteristics showed different experiences with fire. It was concluded that factors associated with community structure and organization, strength of customary laws, perceived value of the forest and inter-village relationships, play a crucial role in the absence or presence of fires.

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