1997 Indonesian forest fires

Air pollution over Southeast Asia in October 1997. Southeast Asian haze series

Haze in Borneo, 2019

History

1990s

* 1997 Southeast Asian haze
* 1997 Indonesian forest fires

2000s

* 2005 Malaysian haze
* 2006 Southeast Asian haze
* 2009 Southeast Asian haze

2010s

* 2010 Southeast Asian haze
* 2013 Southeast Asian haze
* 2015 Southeast Asian haze
* 2016 Malaysian haze
* 2016 Southeast Asian haze
* 2017 Southeast Asian haze
* 2019 Southeast Asian haze

Key topics

* Chemical equator
* Deforestation
* in Borneo
* in Indonesia
* Mega Rice Project
* Peat swamp forest
* Borneo

Responses

* ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary
Haze Pollution
* Operation Haze
* Transboundary Haze Pollution Act 2014
* People's Movement to Stop Haze

See also

* Air pollution in Malaysia
* API
* Singapore PSI
* Social and environmental impact of palm oil

Category

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The 1997 group of forest fires in Indonesia that lasted well into 1998 were probably among the two or three, if not the largest, forest fires group in the last two centuries of recorded history.

In the middle of 1997 forest fires burning in Indonesia began to affect neighbouring countries, spreading thick clouds of smoke and haze to Malaysia and Singapore. Then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad searched desperately for a solution,[1] and based on a plan by the head of the Malaysian fire and rescue department sent a team of Malaysian firefighters across to Indonesia under code name Operation Haze. This is to mitigate the effect of the Haze to Malaysia economy. The value of the Haze damage to Malaysian GDP is estimated to be 0.30 per cent.[2]

Seasonal rains in early December brought a brief respite but soon after the dry conditions and fires returned. By late 1997 and early 1998 Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Sri Lanka[3] had also felt the haze from the smoke of the forest fires. By the time the 1997–98 forest fires were finally over some 8 million hectares of land had burned while countless millions of people suffered from air pollution.

## Causes and effect[edit]

Main article: 1997 Southeast Asian haze

The 1997 Indonesian forest fires were caused by changing land use which made the tropical forest vulnerable to fire during a drought associated with that year's El Niño. Indonesian forests have historically been resistant to burning even during long dry seasons and despite the use of fire to clear land for swidden agriculture. The land use changes that led to the fires were a combination of industrial-scale logging, draining peatlands for conversion to oil palm and fast-growing tree plantations, and a massive government program to drain swamps and convert them to rice paddies.[4] A total of 240 people perished in the wildfires.[5]

Due to the heavy smoke caused by the fires, an Airbus A300 operating as Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 crashed on approach to Medan's Polonia Airport. All 234 people on board died, making it the worst crash in Indonesian history.

## Estimated cost[edit]

The total economic value of the damages is conservatively estimated to be US$4.47 billion, of which by far the largest share was borne by Indonesia.[6] This figure excludes a number of damages that are especially difficult to measure or to value in monetary terms, such as loss of human life, long-term health impacts, and some biodiversity losses.

Forest fires in Indonesia in 1997 were estimated to have released between 0.81 and 2.57 gigatonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, which is between 13 and 40% of the annual carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels.[7][8]

As part of steps taken to avoid the recurring of the Haze, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) approved the need for an early warning system in the Regional Haze Action Plan (RHAP) in 1998 to prevent forest fires and the resulting haze through improved management policies and enforcements, example via Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS).[9]

## Countries affected[edit]

* Indonesia
* Singapore
* Malaysia
* Thailand
* Brunei
* Vietnam
* Philippines
* Sri Lanka

## See also[edit]

* Air quality index
* Pollutant Standards Index
* Haze
* 2005 Malaysian haze
* 2006 Southeast Asian haze
* Slash and burn
* Asian brown cloud
* 1997 Southeast Asian haze
* 2015 Southeast Asian haze

General:

* List of disasters in Indonesia

## References[edit]

1. ^ New Straits Times - Nov 8, 1997
2. ^ Indonesia's Fires and Haze: The Cost of Catastrophe By David Glover, Timothy Jessup, page 46
3. ^ Jim, C.Y. (1999). Geography Vol. 84, No. 3 (The Forest Fires in Indonesia 1997-98: Possible Causes and Pervasive Consequences). Geographical Association. p. 255.
4. ^ Seymour, Frances; Busch, Jonah (2016). Why Forests? Why Now?: The Science, Economics, and Politics of Tropical Forests and Climate Change. Center for Global Development. ISBN 9781933286853.
5. ^ "Capter 3 It Only Takes A Spark: The Hazard of Wildfires" (PDF). Brookings.edu. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
6. ^ Glover, David (2006). Indonesia's Fires and Haze: The Cost of Catastrophe. IDRC. ISBN 9781552503324.
7. ^ The global impact of Indonesian forest fires Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Mark E Harrison, Susan E Page, and Suwido H Limin, Biologist, Volume 56 Number 3, August 2009
8. ^ Indonesia Rainforest Fires Doubled CO2 Levels Globally, Cat Lazaroff, Albion Monitor, 5 November 2002
9. ^ "OPERATIONAL FDR IN MALAYSIA AND ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIA NATIONS" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2012.

## External links[edit]

* Investigating the haze transport from 1997 biomass burning in Southeast Asia: Its impact upon Singapore : Asia
* The Asian Forest Fires of 1997-1998
* The 1997-98 Air Pollution Episode in Southeast Asia Generated by Vegetation Fires in Indonesia
* RAND
* news.mongabeay.com
* www.mongabay.com/08indo_fires.htm
* Indonesia's fires and haze Av David Glover, Timothy Jessup, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, International Development Research Centre (Canada)
* Update On Hotspots And Forest Fires In Sumatra Archived 18 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forest fires in Indonesia.

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Disasters in Malaysia

Health disasters|

| Air pollution|

| Haze|

* 1997 Indonesian forest fires
* 1997 Southeast Asian haze
* 2005 Malaysian haze
* 2006 Southeast Asian haze
* 2009 Southeast Asian haze
* 2010 Southeast Asian haze
* 2013 Southeast Asian haze
* 2015 Southeast Asian haze
* 2016 Malaysian haze
* 2017 Southeast Asian haze
* 2019 Southeast Asian haze

|

Radioactive contamination|

* 1982 Bukit Merah radioactive pollution

Contagious/Viral diseases|

* 1997 Sarawak HFMD outbreak
* 1998–1999 Malaysia Nipah virus outbreak
* Global spread of H5N1
* 2009 flu pandemic in Malaysia (H1N1)
* 2015–16 Zika virus epidemic
* Sarawak rabies outbreak (2017–present)
* 2018 Malaysia HFMD outbreak
* 2019 Kuala Koh measles outbreak
* COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia (2020–present)

Soil pollution|

* 2015–16 Kuantan bauxite disaster

Water issues|

| Pollution|

* 2019 Kim Kim River toxic pollution

|

Scarcity|

* 1998 Klang Valley water crisis
* 2014 Negeri Sembilan and Selangor water crisis

Natural disasters|

| Earthquakes|

* 1976 Sabah earthquake
* 2015 Sabah earthquake

|

Floods|

* 1971 Kuala Lumpur floods
* 2006–07 Southeast Asian floods
* 2010 floods in Thailand and north Malaysia
* 2013 Cameron Highlands mud floods
* 2014 Cameron Highlands mud floods
* Early 2014 Sabah floods
* 2014–15 floods in Southeast Asia and South Asia
* 2014–15 Malaysia floods
* 2015 East Malaysian floods
* 2016 Malaysian floods
* 2020–21 Malaysian floods
* 2021–2022 Malaysian floods
* 2022 Malaysian east coast floods

Landslides|

* 1993 Pantai Remis landslide
* Highland Towers collapse
* 2002 Taman Hillview landslide
* 2006 Kampung Pasir landslide
* 2008 Bukit Antarabangsa landslide
* 2011 Hulu Langat landslide
* 2022 Batang Kali landslide

Tornadoes|

* Peninsula Malaysia tornado outbreak of 2014

Tropical storms|

* Tropical Depression Gloria (1965)
* Typhoon Sally (1967)
* Tropical Storm Ruth (1970)
* Severe Tropical Storm Judy (1971)
* Typhoon Sally (1972)
* Typhoon Percy (1983)
* Severe Tropical Storm Irving (1985)
* Typhoon Gay (1989)
* Tropical Storm Forrest (1992)
* Tropical Depression BOB 03 (1993)
* Tropical Depression 34W (1995)
* Tropical Depression Greg (1996)
* Tropical Storm Linda (1997)
* Tropical Storm Gil (1998)
* Tropical Depression Hilda (1999)
* Tropical Depression 31W (1999)
* Tropical Depression 32W (1999)
* Tropical Depression 29W (2001)
* Tropical Storm Vamei (2001)
* Typhoon Muifa (2004)
* Tropical Depression 25W (2005)
* Typhoon Utor (2006)
* Typhoon Hagibis (2007)
* Tropical Depression 01W (2008)
* Tropical Depression 01W (2010)
* Tropical Depression 19W (2010)
* Tropical Depression 25W (2011)
* Tropical Depression 26W (2011)
* Tropical Depression 25W (2012)
* Severe Tropical Storm Sonamu (2013)
* Tropical Storm Shanshan (2013)
* Tropical Storm Jangmi (2014)
* Tropical Depression (2016)
* Tropical Depression 29W (2017)
* Typhoon Tembin (2017)
* Tropical Storm Kai-tak (2017)
* Tropical Storm Toraji (2018)
* Tropical Storm Pabuk (2019)
* Typhoon Lekima (2019)
* Typhoon Saudel (2020)
* Typhoon Molave (2020)
* Tropical Depression 29W (2021)

Tsunamis|

* Effect of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake on Malaysia

* Environmental issues in Malaysia
* Health in Malaysia

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Asia pollution topics

Air pollution|

| Notable incidents|

| Dust storm|

* 2010 China dust storms

|

Forest fires and haze|

* 1997 SEA haze
* 1997 Indonesian forest fires
* 2005 Malaysian haze
* 2006 SEA haze
* 2009 SEA haze
* 2010 SEA haze
* 2013 SEA haze
* 2015 SEA haze
* 2016 Malaysian haze
* 2016 SEA haze
* 2017 SEA haze
* 2019 SEA haze
* 2019 Vietnam forest fires

Air radioactive contamination|

* 1982 Bukit Merah radioactive pollution

By countries|

* China
* Hong Kong
* Macau
* India
* Malaysia
* Taiwan

Recurrent issues|

* Asian brown cloud
* Asian Dust
* Shamal
* Southeast Asian haze

Counter-measures|

* ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution
* Operation Haze
* Pollutant Standards Index
* Great Green Wall (China)

Water pollution|

| Notable incidents|

| Water radioactive contamination|

* 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

|

Marine pollution|

* 2016 Vietnam marine life disaster
* 2019 Kim Kim River toxic pollution
* Pollution of the Pasig River

By countries|

* China
* Water crisis
* India
* Japan
* Philippines
* Vietnam

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