Palangka Raya, Ekuatorial – After burning villagers’ houses, fires were getting closer to Sebangau National Park of Central Kalimantan on Wednesday (10/9) putting Indonesia’s efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation at risk.
Sebangau National Park holds a pivotal role for Central Kalimantan as a pilot project province for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, or dubbed as REDD+.
Located between Sebangau and Katingan rivers, Sebangau National Park is considered crucial for Indonesia, not only for its biodiversity but also for its carbon rich peats.
Many scientists have argued that peats, wetlands made up of decayed vegetation or organic material, can store up approximately 250 MtCO2 (megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) per hectare. However, if peats are burned then it will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere leading to global climatic changes, or simply known as climate change.
Sudi, who is living near the National Park, said that fires were spotted near Sebangau river bank and started around one o’clock on Wednesday. “My house and three other houses were almost burned down. Luckily, we managed to put it off before fires reached to our houses,” said Sudi adding that fires ravaged the same location a few weeks ago and burned nearby houses.
Based on local villagers’ reports, they suspected that fires came from fishermen burning down areas to make ways to the fishing areas.
Meanwhile, Sipet Hermanto, Head of Central Kalimantan Forestry Agency, said that these irresponsible actions were putting the park in danger. “Sebangau National Park is Central Kalimantan’s important project to reduce carbon emission. Green activists put lots of hope in these peat lands,” said Hermanto. “But, if it’s getting burned down then we are worried that international world might be disappointed especially after billions of dollars have been spent to protect the national park.”
One of the obstacles, he said, was lack of forest rangers to monitor the area. “The total areas of Sebangau reach up to 500,000 hectares which is too big for rangers to cover,” he said adding that it was not fair to blame forest fires solely on the rangers. Maturidi