1 Fire, Deforestation and Land Tenure in the North-Eastern Fringes of Bukit

according to the Bappenas/ADB report (1999), the burnt area covered 9.5 million ha, and occurred mostly in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The official burnt areas estimate in 1994 was 5.11 million ha2. In both 1997/1998 and 1994, fires produced smoke that caused air pollution, poor visibility, and severe health problems in Indonesia and the neighboring countries of Singapore and Malaysia. The major causes of fire in Indonesia during the El Niño fire years in 1997/1998 and 1994 are still unclear. Reports of causes of fires include pointing the finger of blame at actors who deliberately set fires such as small-scale farmers and large-scale estates and the amount of land burned and impacts on vegetation and ecosystems are subject to continuing debate. In 1994, the Indonesian government blamed slash-and-burn activity by smallholders as the major cause of fire, and estimated it accounted for more than 90 % of total area burned. Environmental NGOs, however, blamed activities by forest concessionaires and plantation owners as the major causes of fires. In contrast, taking advantage of data obtained from fire hot spot information and satellite imagery, all institutions including government agencies believe that plantation owners large scale of pulpwood and oil palm plantation were the major cause of fire in 1997 and 1998 in many parts of Indonesia