Advisory Technical Assistance (ADTA) Planning for Mitigation of Drought and Fire Damage - ADB
Source: A Review of Fire Projects in Indonesia (1982-1998) Rona Dennis. 1998. prepared for CIFOR, ICRAF, UNESCO, EC JRS Ispra
Donor: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Executing Agency: BAPPENAS
Project Type: Loan/grant
Budget: USS 1.2 million (consulting services, material, equipment, air travel, workshops, office space, local transportation); a TA grant of $1 000 000; executing agency (counterpart staff, office facilities), $200 000
Consultants: Team leader/resource economist - international, 6 months;
fire prevention and control specialist - international, 3 months; early warning systems design specialist - international, 3 months; tropical ecologist - international, 2 months; climate modelling specialist international, 2 months; fire and drought policy analyst - international, 2months; rural sociologist/deputy team leader - domestic, 8 months; community forestry management specialist - domestic, 2 months; food security agronomist - domestic, 2 months; remote sensing/GIS specialist - domestic, 3months; rainforest ecologist - domestic, 2 months; meteorologist - domestic, 2 months; logging residue utilisation specialist - domestic, 2 months; legislation and land tenure specialist - domestic, 2 months
Regions/Provinces: Central Kalimantan and Lampung proposed
Contact: Peter King, Senior Project Specialist (Natural Resources),
Project Coordinator, ADB Manila
Project Leader: Graham Applegate,
Time-frame: 8 months (4 for each phase); started June 1998
Project Description
The following project description and objectives have been extracted from the project aide memoire document (ADB 1997).The underlying rationale for the ADTA is that Government of Indonesia needs to know the losses to the economy resulting from inadequate preparation and quick response to the fire and drought conditions in 1997-98. This knowledge will then provide the impetus and support for policy changes and expanded investment in prevention of the damage caused by uncontrolled fires and drought in the next 5-year plan [Repelita VII (1998-2003)).
Project Objectives:
- to determine the causes of the forest and agricultural fires and the social, environmental, and economic impacts of fire and drought in Indonesia;
- to assess the extent to which each of the possible causes was responsible for the uncontrolled fires in 1997, and how these could have been prevented; this will help to determine future actions;
- to assess and evaluate current policies and regulations relating to the use of fire for site preparation, and the efficacy of current methods used in preventing and controlling fire outbreaks;
- to assess the need for new approaches to drought management and fire prevention and control, including early warning systems, market based instruments of control, alternatives to fire as a site clearing method, improved land use planning, and food security planning; and
- to make recommendations about the costs and benefits of investment in prevention, EWS, and institutional strengthening.
Scope
ADTA will encompass a Phase I investigation of:
- factual evidence on the proximate causes of the 1997-98 and earlier fires, including coincidence with drought conditions and other specific weather patterns;
- assessment of the areal extent, physical damage and social, environmental, and
- economic impacts of drought and fires;
- evaluation of the relevant regulatory mechanisms and their effectiveness;
- relationships between fuel conditions, prolonged dry periods, and the incidence of fires in Indonesia;
- assessment of the technical feasibility of alternatives to fire as a land clearing and preparation tool;
- evaluation of the effectiveness of land use planninc, and annual harvesting plans in
- reducing fire and drought hazards;
- assessment of the efficacy of, and constraints on, current EWS and public and private fire fighting capacity once a fire breaks out, and planning and management for droughts;
- assessment of the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of utilising forest residues for productive purposes, rather than as a waste product to be burnt;
- assessment of the effectiveness of market based instruments; and
- evaluation of the current abilities of, and constraints on, relevant government agencies to deal with the problems.
Phase 2 will address:
- recommended policy, legislative, and regulatory responses;
- proposals for alternative site clearance methods;
- design, cost, and benefits of an improved EWS;
- investment requirements for an expanded national response capability; and
- proposals for institutional strengthening to address future fire and drought management requirements.