Agreement by Asian countries on forest fire haze welcomed by UN environment agency

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today welcomed the signing of an agreement by southeast Asian nations designed to prevent a repeat of the suffocating smog caused by forest fires that plagued the region in 1997 and 1998.

On Monday in Kuala Lumpur, environment ministers signed the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which was drafted with the assistance of UNEP.

The agreement, which addresses policy and technical matters relating to monitoring, preventing and mitigating smoke from forest fires, follows four rounds of negotiations arranged by the ASEAN Secretariat.

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer congratulated the ministers on the accord, saying the legal framework provided another layer of resolve and preparedness against future forest fire episodes.

“I also welcome the strong stand taken by governments to prosecute, or rescind the licenses of, logging and plantation companies on whose property illegal fires are detected,” Mr Toepfer said.

The 1997-98 fires started mainly on oil palm plantations and agricultural and forestry holdings on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, and were fanned by hot, dry conditions caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

About 10 million hectares of Indonesia's national forests, one of the world's centres of biodiversity, were destroyed while more than 20 million people were exposed to extremely high levels of pollutants known to cause both acute and long-term health effects.

Airports in Singapore and neighbouring countries were closed because of thick smog. UNEP said the total economic losses from the fires were estimated at around $9.3 billion.