Berson
Fire Prevention, the Farmers' Way

The two rubber plantations in Jabiren Raya subdistrict, Central Kalimantan, look like they have nothing in common. The left oneis covered with tall green grass, shrubs and bushes, next to neat rows of rubber trees measuring 20 centimeters in diameter. By comparison, the other plot looks as if it was dying, dried up and covered in ash and soot. The stumps of scorched rubber trees have turned into charcoal.

Fires had ravaged the more than three hectares of rubber plantation within a few days, long before the rains started to come in late October. The three-meter-wide moat alongside the plantation looks reddish brown. "When the fires raged, no water was in the moat. The other plantation was protected by an artesian well we hastily built to get water," said Berson, head of the Panenga Farmers Group of Jabiren Village.

December 29, 2015