Public-private partnership, peatland management

DEVELOPING new public-private partnership and managing the peatland were among the key steps identified in addressing forest fires and transboundary haze issues in the South Asian region.

The hunt for new initiatives and mechanisms to resolve forest fire and transboundary haze issues in the South Asian region heightened yesterday as concerned parties met in Brunei to participate in the ongoing Second Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze (MSC) Forum.

Hosted by the Sultanate, the forum was attended by environment ministers, senior officials and delegates from all the MSC countries namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Brunei's Development Minister Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman, who officiated at the opening of the MSC Forum, in his speech urged participants to take advantage of the forum to increase their efforts in exploring new initiatives and funding mechanisms to resolve the issue including through public-private partnership.

"Forums such as this one are essentially important for the MSC countries as they present the opportunity for policy makers and regulators to interface and interact with one another and to discuss as well as strengthen institutional capacity through training, education and knowledge sharing measures on issues that are of common interest and relevant to the MSC countries," he said.

The minister added that haze pollution as a result of land and forest fires, should be mitigated through concerted national efforts and intensified regional and international cooperation.

YB Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi pointed out that these should also include cooperation with government ministries and agencies, MSC countries, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, private sector and local authorities.

He shared that fires in peat soils had been identified as a major contributor to transboundary haze pollution in the region and were difficult to suppress as they occurred under the ground. Peat fires also produce very thick smoke haze and release a high amount of carbon, the minister said.

"It has been more than 10 years since the first haze resulting in a number of programmes and activities, some which have been implemented or to be implemented or will be implemented. It is also on record that MSC countries have agreed to jointly undertake fire control and prevention measures to combat the haze problems in the ASEAN region," he said.

"We have also made decisive undertakings by employing a bottom-up approach by closely working with provincial and state governments to protect us from land and forest fires. One such example is our collaboration with locals, which can prove to be useful and effective."

YB Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi said that much of what had been achieved to date, lies in the region's success to work collectively in a "coordinate, holistic and synergistic manner through the ASEAN spirit of cooperation and solidarity through prevention, monitoring and coordination and other measures".

Singapore's Minister of Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said that peatland management has been identified as one of the key strategies in addressing the transboundary and forest fire problems.

"The second thing is the necessity for proper regulations for governance structure and for enforcement on the ground. So that's one whole area which I am hopeful that we'll see progress on. We see progress on the management of peatland. I think (this) will also make an impact on reducing problems of transboundary haze," he said in an interview.

The Brunei Times