Palm oil firms burning Indonesian forests: Greenpeace

By Adhityani Arga

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Palm oil companies are burning peat forests to clear land for plantations in Indonesia's Riau province, despite government pledges to end forest fires, environment group Greenpeace said on Thursday.

Forest fires are an annual menace for Indonesia and the country's neighbors, who have grown deeply frustrated at the apparent lack of success in curbing the dry-season blazes and vast smoke clouds, or haze, that smothers the region.

Apart from the health risks to millions of people and damage to the environment, the smoke also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, fuelling global warming.

The government has pledged to cut the number of fires by half. A 2004 law prohibits plantation companies from using fires, or any other means that cause environmental damage, to clear or cultivate land.

Blazes have started flaring again since the end of June with the start of the dry season. Satellite images collected by the Forestry Ministry showed 124 "hot spots" in Riau on Sumatra island last week, more than other provinces in the country.

Riau is just across the Strait of Malacca from Singapore and Malaysia.

"The endless cycle of forest fires and forest destruction in Indonesia must now be seen as a global phenomenon because our country contributes a lot to climate change," Greenpeace Forest campaigner Hapsoro said in a statement.

"Beyond the frequent lip service and rhetoric coming from officials whenever these fires flare up, the government must take bolder measures to prevent the problem from taking place," he said.