Berbak National Park (about 162,700 ha in size and mainly covered by peat swamp forest) is located in Jambi Province, Sumatera. The bufferzone of the park has regularly suffered from fires, especially during the prolonged dry season, aggravated by the El Nino phenomenon (i.e in 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2002). In 1997, fire also attacked the inner part of the Park (about 12,000 ha of the peatswamp forest was burnt).

In 2002, the first hot spots were detected on 15 August 2002 and, mainly around the bufferzone of Berbak NP (i.e at Simpang Datuk and Air Hitam Laut villages; see Annex -1 and 2), about 25 ha of land were burnt. Later in September 2002, approximately another 100 ha of the inner part of the park was burnt. To suppress the fire, a team consisting of Berbak Park rangers, local NGOs, local communities and fishermen was sent to the area. This operation was organized by Wetlands International’s CCFPI Jambi office and carried out during 21-30 August and 12 – 17 September 2002 (see the pictures attached, Annex - 3). The operation was funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) under the Global Peatland Initiative (GPI) and by the Canada Climate Change Development Fund (CCCDF) under CCFPI (Climate Change, Forests and Peatlands in Indonesia)-CIDA project. Similar operations were also conducted in central Kalimantan and also funded by the same donors (see REPORT 2, Peatland Fire Mitigation in Central Kalimantan during 2 – 29 September 2002 ).

To overcome future fire risks in these areas, GPI-DGIS and CCFPI-CIDA are currently supporting project activities involving the government of Indonesia, local communities and NGOs. The project consists of a range of community-based and policy-level activities related to the protection and rehabilitation of peat swamp forests and peatlands in Indonesia (i.e in Sumatera and Central Kalimantan). The goal of the project is to improve the management of Indonesia’s globally important peatlands in order to improve the livelihoods of current and future generations, maintain and increase carbon storage, and conserve biodiversity.

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