Techno-Socio Approaches in Peatland Fire Control in Indonesia

Abstract

Peatland fire has been the most prominent cause of transboundary haze problem in the ASEAN region since 1997/1998. The impacts are not locally but also globally identified. The paper aims to elaborate on how peatland fire occurred and techno-socio approaches for fire control. The study was based on a Focus Group Discussion of relevant stakeholders and literature review conducted using descriptive and content analyses. The study found that peatland fire occurred mostly caused by human activities in land preparation. Efforts on peatland fire control have been conducted by various agencies with various approaches. Technological approaches have been developed for peatland fire control in terms of fire prevention stage on early warning system, early detection system, and fire suppression stage on early suppression as well as of post-fire activities on burned area estimation. On the other hand, social approaches have also been developed and implemented in terms of community empowerment and incentives scheme for zero burning implementation. No doubt, synergy between socio-economic approaches and technological approaches have to be prioritized in peatland fire control in Indonesia with multi/transdisciplinary manners.