L-}5Fl BURNING ISSUES: CONTROL OF FIRE MANAGEMENT IN CENTRAL KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ANTHROPOLOGY DECEMBER 2004 By Glenn Phillip Dolcemascolo Dissertation Committee: Leslie E. Sponsel, Chairperson Nina L. Etkin P. Bion Griffin Jefferson M. Fox Jon D. Goss DEDICATION For Marion, Phil and Carol iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although this work is a modest contribution to a huge field, it would not have been possible without the tremendous support I have received. It is impossible to sufficiently acknowledge my gratitude to all the people to whom I am indebted, but I will mention a few. The East-West Center has been the foundation ofmy academic and professional development. I will always be grateful for the faith placed in me. I would also like thank my dissertation committee, for whom I have the highest personal and professional respect, for their guidance and support. In particular I'd like to thank Dr. Les Sponsel, my committee chair, for his unwavering commitment to applying anthropology in the pursuit ofsocial justice and eco-sanity. I am also grateful to The Wenner-Gren Foundation for funding my dissertation fieldwork. As with any anthropological project, I would have been quite literally lost ifit weren't for the kindness ofstrangers. I will always appreciate the strangers inPalangka Raya who have since become friends. lowe an abundance ofthanks to the Kusumaatmadja Family for making me feel at home in Indonesia. I could not have carried out this work without the generosity and kindness ofthe Limin family. On the home front, I realize that I would never have completed this dissertation without the love and support ofgood friends and family who helped me keep my project in context I wish I could name you all here but I think you already know how much I love and respect you! Hale Holoholo in Honolulu, has always been and will always be a place ofrefuge! Lids offto the Bean-Eaters in Southeast Asia! On other coasts, the Guthriarcha Clan and my blood - Dad, Mom, Grandma, brothers, aunts, uncles, niece and Iv nephew - you have always been a source oflove and inspiration! This dissertation was strengthened by each ofthese individuals and organizations; any shortcomings in this work are my own. v ABSTRACT In 1997 - 1998 an estimated eight million hectares offorest and land went up in flames and caused a haze crisis that darkened skies across the region for three months. Local, national and international stakeholders were moved to improve fire management capacity; but their visions, strategies and ability to maneuver diverged markedly. This dissertation is based on applied research carried out in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia between November 1997 and May 1999. It sought to identify the factors that influenced responses to the fire and haze crisis and to understand what led a group ofuniversity faculty and students to independently initiate local fire brigades. Perhaps more importantly, this dissertation asks why they did not succeed. Building on developments in political ecology, institutional analysis and disaster management, this dissertation argues that marginalized stakeholders leveraged opportunities created by the fire crisis to further broader agendas and mitigate non-fire related risks but that the planning process failed to recognize how other risks to personal, community, and organizational and national security influence participation in the initiative. The sustainability offire management, like disaster management and most environmental management initiatives relies on recognition ofshared risks and a commitment to identifying mutually agreeable solutions. The true challenge to institutionalizing fire management is building commitment among a broad range oforganizations at local national and international levels. Navigating the diverse perceptions ofrisk and approaches to problem solving should be a part ofthe planning process. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Abstract vi List ofTables ix List ofFigures x List ofAcronyms xi Chapter 1. Introduction __ __ 1 On Fire 1 The Ring ofFire 2 Overview ofDissertation 9 Chapter 2. Approaches to Fire Management 12 Introduction 12 Ethnoecology 12 Political Ecology 16 Integrated fire management 25 Risk Management and Adaptation 31 Planning process , 48 Summary 53 Chapter 3. Methodolog)' 5S Approaching Investigations 55 Multi-scalar ethnography 56 Framework for Analyses ofContemporary Fire Management 59 Planning as Event. 62 Research Objective 66 Research Strategy 66 Chapter 4. Earth and S.ky: 68 Fire Regimes: Between the Biophysical and the Social 69 Tropical Peat Swamp Forests 73 Central Kalimantan 74 Climate 75 Fire 77 Smoke and Haze 81 Summary 82 Chapter S. The Poople In Between ...•................................................................•.......... 83 Introduction 83 Fire Management and Underdevelopment in Central Kalimantan 83 Organized Fire Management 86 Forestry Agencies 87 Bapedal: Indonesian Department ofEnvironmental Degradation 90 International Assistance 96 ASEAN 98 Summary 102 v;; Chapter 6. Crafting Regimes ,.........................................•..•.. 104 Central Kalimantan's Fire Brigade: Tim SerbuApi.. 104 United Nations Disaster Assistance ,. 105 Bapedal ~ sOffer 107 Proposing to the World Bank 110 Budgets 113 Crisis ofFaith 115 Fonnulating the Center 116 Final Workshop 120 ASEAN 121 Swnmary 127 Chapter 7.- Analy"sis _.._ 12,9 Risks ofFire and Haze 129 Opportunities Created 134 Mechanisms for realizing opportunities 136 Swnmary 156 Chapter 8. Conclusions _ _._ 159 Institutional Evolution 159 Political Economy 163 Relevance to disaster management.. 167 Bi,bliography _ _.._ _ 173 LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1. 1997-1998 Fire and Haze Damages (USD millions) .4 Table 2.1. History of Fire Use Policy in the United States 24 Table 2.2. Ecological, economic and management aspects of integrated fire management options in tropical deciduous broadleaf forests 26 Table 2.3. Progression of Household level Risk Aversion strategies 31 Table 2.4. Organizational Levels ofDecision Making in Fire Management.. 36 Table 3.1. Field Sites and Activities 57 Table 3.2. Research Objectives and Strategies 66 Table 5.1. International Fire Programs (S= Secondary Focus; P= Primary Focus) .......... 97 Table 6.1. History of the Palangkaraya Project from an ASEAN perspective 122 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Map of Fire Distribution in Kalimantan and Sumatra 3 Figure 2.1. The Disaster Management Cycle 28 Figure 2.2. Illustrative Fire Management Options 34 Figure 2.3. The planning process 50 Figure 4.1. Peatlands of Central Kalimantan 75 Figure 5.1 Ministry of Forestry Organizational Structure 88 Figure 5.2 Bapedal Organizational Structure 91 Figure 5.3. Organization of Land and Fire ControL. 92 x LIST OF ACRONYMS ADB Asian Development Bank ADPC Asian Disaster Preparedness Center AMME ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations ASMC ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Service ASOEN ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment ASSET ASEAN Sub-Regional Environmental Trust Bapedal Indonesia's Environmental Impact Management agency BOMTIK Nickname for Water Bomb CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CIFOR Center for International Forestry Research COP Conference of Parties (to the UN Climate Change Convention) ENSO EI Nino Southern Oscillation EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GIS Geographic Information System HTTF Haze Technical Task Force United Nations International Decade of Natural Disaster IDNDR Reduction IDRB International Development and Reconstruction Bank IFPM Integrated Forest Fire Management Project IPK Indonesian Forest Concession Permit ISDR International Strategy for Disaster Reduction IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature JICA Japan International Aid Agency KATIR Method for building fire breaks KKN Indonesian abbreviation for "Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism" LH Indonesian Ministry of Environment MF Indonesian Ministry of Forestry NGO Non governmental Organizations OFDA Office ofForeign Disaster Assistance (USAID) PoskoKLH Command Post for Forest and Land Fires PUSDALKARHUTDA Regional Center for Forest Fire Control PUSDALKARHUTNAS National Center for Forest Fire Control RETA Regional Technical Assistance (ADB funded Project) RHAP Regional Haze Action Plan SATGAS Forest Fire Management Task Force xi SATLAK Disaster Management Task Force (kecematan level) SRFA Sub-Regional Fire Fighting Arrangements TKNPKLH National coordinating team for prevention of forest and land fires TSA "Tim Serbu Api" or "Fire Attack Squad" UN United Nations UNDAC United Nations Disaster Assistance Committee UNDP United Nations Development Program UNEP United Nations Environment Program UNOCHA UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance USAID United States Agency for International Development WWF Worldwide Fund for Nature (World Wildlife Fund) xii CHAPTERl INTRODUCTION On Fire Wildfires are widespread on every continent and occur in every vegetative ecosystem. An estimated 20-40 million hectares of tropical forests bum annually, often escalating to disastrous scales - destroying habitats, threatening biodiversity, contributing to global warming and affecting the health and livelihoods of people around the world. But wildfires are not all wild, it is estimated that human activities may account for up to 90% of all fires globally (Levine et