IDH, together with a group of leading forestry and agriculture companies, NGOs and other partners announced the formation of the Fire-Free Alliance (FFA) on March 11 in Jakarta.
FFA is a voluntary, multi-stakeholder platform that aids in the solution to land and forest fires in Indonesia.
Other founding members include APRIL Group, Asian Agri, Musim Mas, PM.Haze, Rumah Pohon and Wilmar. Members have jointly committed to collaborate and share knowledge, information and potentially, resources to roll out fire prevention initiatives based on APRIL Group’s Fire Free Village Programme (FFVP), and also to enhance fire monitoring, detection and suppression.
Upon request of the Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Fund, IDH is currently mapping villages in South Sumatra that could benefit from the Fire Free Village approach, in particular villages with significant (oil palm) planted areas. IDH will then select the villages and develop a detailed proposal for transforming them into Fire Free Villages.
In addition, IDH is mobilizing further support to review and inform the Provincial Fire Free Strategy.
Further, we are developing additional public-private alliances to support the implementation of the FFV approach in the province and create deeper understanding of the conditions on the ground. Understanding these conditions will determine the success of implementing the approach.
Fire Free Villages and fire management in peat areas in general are part IDH’s work in West Kalimantan. Companies and government already play an active role in rolling out fire prevention and management strategies, within and outside projects supported by IDH.