According to Article 9 of the Haze Agreement, the prevention and control of haze are taken by member parties through developing and implementing laws and regulations to promote zero-burning and other appropriate policies to control activities causing land and forest fires. Preventive measures also include the strengthening of local firefighting capacity, the promotion of public awareness and participation in fire management, the supporting of indigenous knowledge and practices in fire prevention, and the setting of legal measures to control open burning to prevent land clearing by fire (ASEAN Secretariat, 2002a: 8). Regional cooperation in preventing haze is instead developed through the peatland forest management activities at the community level, rather than legal mechanisms. A variety of different policies, laws and regulations in ASEAN countries related to peatland management, the inappropriate or conflicting policies affecting peatland, and problems of poor law enforcement are recognized as challenges for regional cooperation on sustainable peatland management (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014a: 4–6). However, it should be noted that, under the framework for the sustainable management of peatland forest in Southeast Asia, which has been seen as a long-term effort in addressing the haze problem, individual national action plans are encouraged to naturally link with and complement the regional strategy (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014a: 11).
Since it is estimated that 90 per cent of the haze comes from peatlands, which are important to the natural ecosystem but little recognized, minimizing peatland fires could significantly reduce haze pollution (Letchumanan, 2014a; National Environment Agency, 2015). The burning of organic peat releases huge amount of smoke (Parish, 2013). Southeast Asia contains around 60 per cent of the world’s tropical peatlands, and over 70 per cent of Southeast Asian peat soil is in Indonesia. Other major areas of peatlands are found in Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand; however, smaller areas of peatlands are in Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Singapore (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014a: 4). Because of the meagre understanding of the peatland ecosystem, peat swamps were seen as useless and waste wetlands, which were then dried and over-exploited for economic development activities such as plantation, agro-forests, cash crops and peat-mining (ASEANPeatProject, 2011;
Letchumanan, 2014a; Ma, 2011). As water was drained from the peat areas, it created the perfect conditions for fires and smoke haze (Letchumanan, 2014a). In order to prevent and minimize the haze and fire, the APMI was established under the framework of RHAP and the Haze Agreement to address the issues of peatland management on a sustainable basis (ASEAN Secretariat, 2005a: 1, 3). The initiative aims to reduce fire, especially in the peatland (Letchumanan, 2014b). The lack of understanding of the unique ecosystem of peatland and the continuity of turning the peat swamp to agricultural land make the land vulnerable to fire when water is dried from the peat soils (ASEAN Secretariat, 2005a: 3). Therefore, the objectives of this initiative are increasing understanding and capacity building in regional peatland management; reducing the incidence of peatland fires and haze; encouraging national and local activities on peatland management and fire prevention; and developing regional strategy and cooperation mechanisms to support sustainable peatland management (ASEAN Secretariat, 2005a: 1). The ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy (APMS) 2006–2020 was developed under the framework of APMI and the Haze Agreement to set out the operational objectives of delivering one or more of the areas of enhanced awareness and knowledge on peatland; addressing haze pollution and environmental degradation; promoting sustainable peatland management; and enhancing collaborative regional cooperation on peatland issues (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014a). The APMS also aims to overcome common problems related to peatlands – including fires, drainage, inappropriate management practices, livelihood options and sustainability – which are found among ASEAN members (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014a: 6).
Two key projects that complement each other to support the implementation of the APMS at the regional and national levels are the ASEAN Peatland Forests Project (APFP) and the Sustainable Management of Peatland Forests in Southeast Asia (SEApeat) (ASEAN Peatland Forests Project, 2016a). Additionally, the projects provide guidance to ASEAN member states to use climate change funding mechanisms to benefit local communities from climate mitigation and adaption funds, REDD mechanism and voluntary carbon funds by finalizing national action plans for peatland forests, which relate to the cross-sectoral and integrated approach to tackle
deforestation and forest degradation (ASEAN Peatland Forests Project, 2016a). Under the APFP-SEApeat Project, which focuses on peatland management issues including the inappropriate drainage of peatlands, the over-exploitation of peatland resources, peatland fires and haze, illegal logging, loss of carbon storage, and the loss of biodiversity (ASEAN Peatland Forests Project, 2016b), activities aiming to avoid new emissions from land use change, to restore peatlands, and to re-wet drained peatlands (ASEAN Peatland Forests Project, 2016c) implemented at the community level are crucial for preventing and controlling peat fires. Best management practices for communities living on peatlands supported by the APFP-SEAPeat Project in several ASEAN peatland areas include the Buying Living Tree System (in Indonesia and the Philippines), seedling buyback (in Malaysia), the Green Contract (in Vietnam), Sorjan farming (in Indonesia and the Philippines), Floating Gardens (in the Philippines), peer learning (in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia), community fire prevention and control (in Indonesia), water management (in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia), research and development (in Vietnam and Indonesia) and ecotourism (in Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia) (ASEAN Peatland Forests Project, 2015).
The peatland management projects under the ASEAN framework are also received operational and technical supports from the Global Environment Centre (GEC), which is a non-profit organization based in Malaysia (ASEAN Secretariat, 2005a: 7; ASEAN Secretariat, 2014a: 2). Since the APFP comprises different components – including regional projects led by the GEC, country projects led by respective national executing agencies, and other non-profit organizations participating in the country project (Parish, 2014) – the GEC plays a critical role in implementing and coordinating the project to ensure an integrated approach with the government focal point. Moreover, it also works with the plantation sector and communities to provide and document the guidance adopted by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and sharing the best practices through transferred projects such as Sorjan farming (Parish, 2014) – farming in the swampy peat areas – which helps the Philippines site gain better crops by learning best practice from the method from Indonesia (Andres, 2014). This is the strength of the regional project that has been shared from one to another countries (Parish, 2014). The APFP, funded by the Global Environment
Facility (2009–2014) through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the SEApeat Project, supported by the EU, were considered an ASEAN achievements and substantive progress in promoting sustainable management of the peatland, sustaining local livelihoods and minimizing the risk of fires and smoke haze (ASEAN Secretariat, 2015b; ASEAN Secretariat, 2015c).
However, there are some problems limiting these efforts, such as the returning of the haze. To reduce the risk of the peatland and forest fires effectively, preventive measures – such as flooding the peatlands to reduce fire ignitions, and building canal blocking to stop the draining of peat areas – need to be prepared and done before the dry season. Even though prevention through hydrological management of peat areas is more cost-effective and less difficult than extinguishing the fires (ASEAN Peatland Forests Project, 2016c; Parish, 2013), these measures are still inadequate because of the limited resources (selective efforts can only be implemented at some prioritized areas) (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014a: 9), the existence of liberal burning (Parish, 2013) and/or even the Indonesian government’s technical and administrative gaps, where the provincial governments were reluctant to take preventive measures without official letters and technical instruction from the Indonesian central government (The Batam Post, 2015).