The Jambi Forestry Office revealed on Monday as many as 245,975 hectares of land and forest in Jambi province had been razed in 2014 and is asking plantation companies and residents to participate in preventing the fires.

The head of the office’s Forest Protection Division, Bestari, urged the companies to form Fire Awareness Communities (MPA), which should embrace the local communities to protect land and forest, an important step for the quick suppression of fires.

“The MPA is part of an effort to anticipate land and forest fires. The companies should involve the local residents and MPA members should be provided with training and facilities. Currently, only three companies are equipped with MPAs: PT WKS, PT LAJ and PT Arangan,” Bestari was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said this year the office would improve coordination with the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) because in the event of a fire that the regional head declares a disaster, “the BPBD’s role would be much needed”.

The authorities in the regencies and mayoralties, said Bestari, had taken precautions and actions and carried out orders from the Jambi Forestry Office when they found hotspots in their areas through satellite images.

Bestari disclosed that the land and forest fires in 2014 took place in six regencies, while two regencies and a city had yet to report to the Jambi Forestry Office.

“West Tanjung Jabung, East Tanjung Jabung, Tebo, Bungo, Batanghari and Muarojambi have reported about the razed forests, while Sarolangun, Merangin and Sungaipenuh city have yet to report to us,” said Bestari.

He added that 208,005 hectares of land had been razed in West Tanjung Jabung regency, 33,000 hectares of which were forested areas.

In East Tanjung Jabung, 2,360 hectares of land had been burned, 1,384 of which were forested.

In Tebo regency, 59.5 hectares of land and 517 hectares of forest had been destroyed. In Batanghari, 20 hectares of land and 70 hectares of forested areas were burned.

In Bungo, 6 hectares of land were razed, while no forested areas were reported burned. In Muarojambi, no land fires were reported, but 554 hectares of forest were burned.

The excessive expansion of oil palm plantations in Jambi is among the major causes of the increasing number of peat fires every year.

Earlier, the communication manager of the Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI Warsi), Rudi Syaf, said that from the perspective of environmental management, peat with a depth of more than 3 meters was categorized as having a higher tendency to burn during the dry season.

He said many peatlands had been canalized by plantation companies holding industrial forest concession (HTI) permits because it was unlikely the companies could cultivate crops in peat more than 3 m deep without a drainage system. This often led to fires because the canals caused peatland to lose a lot of water during the dry season.

According to data, of the 710,078 hectares of peatland in Jambi, 226,928 hectares is under management by HTI holders and oil palm plantation companies.

Separately, Jambi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Almansyah said on Monday the overall crime rate in Jambi province had tended to rise in 2014, but a number of specific types of crimes had instead dropped, such as crimes against state assets.

Data at the Jambi Police headquarters showed a drop in illegal logging, fuel smuggling and illegal gold mining, Almansyah said.

Police across Jambi handled seven illegal logging cases in 2014, which was a drop compared to 2013, when 28 cases were recorded.

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