Global Peatland Initiative

Background
Berbak National Park (a Ramsar site of about 162,700 ha in size) constitutes the largest protected peatswamp forest area of Sumatra. It is located in Jambi Province, Sumatera. The buffer zones of the park have regularly suffered from fires, especially during prolonged dry seasons aggravated by the El Nino phenomenon (i.e in 1982, 1987, 1991, 1994, and 1997). In 1997, fires also occurred in the core zone of the Park (about 12,000 ha of the peat swamp forest was burnt). In 2002, Sumatra was hit by a dry spell that again caused high fire risk conditions, particularly also in the peat swamp forests regions. Peat fires started in July and August in Jambi province near the Berbak National Park. The fires threatened the buffer zones of Berbak as well as some core areas inside the park. Wetlands International, in cooperation with the park rangers closely monitored the situation, and submitted a request for emergency funding to the GPI. On 6 September 2002, the head of the National Park reported that the fires now extended towards the core zone. He had tried to get financial support from elsewhere (including the central government) to mobilize his rangers but was unable to convince the central government to expedite funding. He blamed the long bureaucracy at the central government to endorse such expenses rapidly enough. Meetings were organised with various stakeholders, including adjacent logging concession and local authorities to discuss the fire issue in the park and to obtain solutions and support. The logging concessions were helpful in contributing transportation facilities in the buffer zones. In the core zone of the park, the transportation (boats, fuel, etc) should be covered by the Park and other donors. Quick action to suppress the fire inside the park was considered by all a top priority, as the fires were moving in the direction of important and extremely fire prone areas.

Brief project description: Wetlands International's site coordinator in Jambi (together with his supporting staff) in coordination with Berbak National Park's Management Unit organized fire fighting units. Tasks included:

Identifying people (including local people), groups and/or agencies to be involved directly and indirectly in the fire fighting actions at each site;
Two large groups were formed, including a Supporting Team and a Fire Fighting Team. The Supporting Team organized the mobilisation of the members of the Fire Fighting Teams to the fire areas, as well as the distribution of food, drinks, medicines, masks and other equipment. The FFT would thus be able to concentrate on the suppression the fires areas.

Partners:
Government agencies:
Barbak National Park office & rangers

NGOs
PINSE foundation
Wetlands International Indonesia

Local communities
Farmers and fishermen from the local villages around Berbak

Donors:
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) through the Global Peatland Initiative (GPI)
CIDA, Canada Climate Change Development Fund (CCCDF) under CCFPI (Climate Change, Forests and Peatlands in Indonesia).

Industry:
PT. Putra Duta Indah Wood

Location of fires (Hot Spots) on 20 August 2002 in Sumatera, including Berbak National Park-Jambi (marked with circle).

The Support Team was also responsible for the administration of people involved, maintaining lists of people involved in the fire fighting and ensuring that the activities were closely monitored. This also involved decision making on shifting people between different locations as and when necessary.
During the fire fighting attention was paid to awareness raising of local communities, and public at large, by reaching to and through the local press.

GPI support would be used mainly to deal with fires in the core zone of the park. Co-funding and support in kind was received from CIDA and the logging companies.

Expected	Outputs and Results achieved
Objectives and results: Emergency support for fire suppression in the Berbak National Park (Ramsar site) Direct actions are: The WI-IP in coordination the National Park's Management Unit will organize community fire fighting groups. Action will be focused on the core zone of Berbak, and the bufferzones of the Air Hitam Laut, Simpang Datuk and Sei Aur villages. Tasks include: Identifying local people, groups and agencies to be involved directly and indirectly in the fire fighting actions at each key site; Establishment of a supporting team/ST and a fire fighting team/FFT. Mobilization and coordination of local fire fighting groups to the fire areas, Organisation of logistics, incl. supply of food, drinks, medicines, masks. Fire surpression Monitoring. Shifting people between locations in relation to shifting hot spots. Publicity for awareness raising	Achieved: Quote from report: "The sky above the villages around Berbak was shut out by smoke, while in the forest (Berbak NP) the sky was relatively clear. The inhabitants did not seem to feel that they were doing anything wrong nor to be worried about these conditions. For example, even though he had just lost 3 ha of coffee plantation to fire (ditch 10, Air Hitam Laut village), Pak Tukang did not appear sad, "It's simply fate," he said. Perhaps the authorities and related institutions have the same attitude, and just ignore the situation until they receive instructions on what to do". Fire fighting achievements: Extinguished a fire (0.5 km x 2 km) on abandoned land near Simpang Datuk. Checked for fires at Simpang Datuk - Air Hitam Laut -Simpang Melaka, and implemented an Awareness campaign on the dangers of fire to fishermen and the community at Simpang Melaka and Simpang Gajah Extinguished a major fire inside Berbak NP with a team consisting of rangers from Berbak, WI-IP staff, the local NGO PINSE and the local community. Implemented an awareness campaign on the dangers of fire to fishermen at the Raket area (inside the park) Establishment of a preliminary strategy on how to address the issue of peatswamp forest fires in the Berbak area in the future. Much attention in local press to the projects actions, thus raising awareness on the possibility to deal with the fire problems and argue against complacency.
Evaluation
The project succeeded in extinguishing several fires that constituted a significant threat to the Berbak National Park, which holds 90% of Sumatra’s remaining pristine peat swamp forest. The project was the first successful attempt to develop a multi-stakeholder task force to address the fire problems in the area. It established a basis for follow-up actions by communities and government, as outlined in a strategy, included in final project report, on how to address the fire threat in the future. The project is followed by GPI 62, which will provide a concerted action towards fire prevention through the development of income generating activities in Berbak's bufferzones (see elsewhere in this report).

Peatland Fire Mitigation in Berbak National Park and Surrounding Area, Jambi - Sumatera

Grant Agreement nr. WGP2 02 gpi 60