InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – The fire in the forests and areas in Indonesia gets worse. Not only in many regions in Indonesia covered by the smoke, but also to Malaysia and Singapore which are disturbed by the burners.

Actually it is a habit in this country to burn the areas to cultivate for it has been done since our ancertors. Moving one place to another in cultivating the areas is our ancerstors tradition.

H.E. Benjamin (2009) in his book “Perladangan Berpindah : Bentuk Pertanian Konservasi Pada Wilayah Tropis Basah”, wrote, the plantation cultivation which most people run in the tropical regions, including in Indonesia is moving from one place to another.

Sometimes they left their neighbour, by leaving the previous environment or clearing one village. But they sometimes leave some of their men to stay on.

Since years ago, the moving environmentt also makes problems in the next days, such as, the community will be more and the different perspective to enlarge the areas too.

The author “How Blaming Slash and Burn, Farmers is Deforestating Mainland Southeast Asia; Analysis from The East-West”, JM. Fox (2000) also writes the complete description about the moving farmers who burned the areas to cultivate new plantation.

The behaviour of the moving community could be seen in this nowadays circumstance. In addition, there are many remoted regions in the wild forests. This kind of community is still far away from the civilization, and social problems, such as, education, health, and others. It might happen, burning the areas has been running since their ancestors until nowadays too.

So education becomes the answer from many problems relating to burn the forest and areas which keeps happening. The involvement of the local people also plays the big role to anticipate and prevent the fire so that the fire will not be larger.

Palm Oil Plantation Could be the Solution

What InfoSAWIT told about describing the hard lives in many remoted regions, not only happens in Sumatera and Kalimantan. It happens in many other remoted areas in Indonesia. The concentrated developments in the big cities make the economy, education, and welfare disparities

Actually, the fire in the forest and areas could be healed by itself if there is strong will from the government, both in central and regional to equalize the development itself. The equalized development could increase the survival ability of the people who live in the remoted areas to stand on their feet.

When the survival ability gets better, the business could be done indipendently. Just like the two regions, which have been described above, the division of the indigenous areas is wisely done – some for the habitat, some for the cultivation and some for the indigenous forests.

Now, the cultivation has been changing to be palm oil plantation. They affiliate with the palm oil companies. The villagers also make the cooperation which the members are the indigenous people within the same division of the harvest. If every thing is fair, what the people get is just the same too. That is the solution from palm oil plantation.

So developing the villagers could be done in social and should cover the whole villagers. The indigenous village will be good, the economy increases, and the evironment gets better because the indigenous forests remain good and sustainable.

Actually, the solution was once offered by the former Regent of East Kutai, Isran Noor
“Years ago, this region was in flame but it is not. The villagers did their best with the palm oil company to do reforestation in the barren forests by planting palm oil. Now the people get wealthier for the harvest of the fruit,” he said. (T1)

This article once published in InfoSAWIT, October 2015