The consultative meeting with stakeholders in Pekanbaru Riau was intended as a project inception workshop to inform stakeholders about fire and haze research, as well as gather input related to forest fire management. In conjunction with this meeting, UK ambassador H.E. Moazam Malik visited Riau to greater understand the fires, their associated problems, and potential solution from stakeholders’ perspective. He attended the consultative meeting and held discussions with local government and several NGOs.
In preparing the consultative meeting, the project team worked closely with Dr Haris Gunawan from the Center for Disaster studies at Riau University (Pusat Studi Bencana Universitas Riau, PSB-UNRI). The meeting was held on 25 March 2015 in Pekanbaru and attended by around 65 participants comprising government (Riau Province and Bengkalis district), private sectors, NGOs, local community (Masyarakat Peduli Api, village heads) and the UK delegation. The consultative meeting was opened by Bupati Bengkalis, and H.E. Moazzam Malik was pleased to deliver an opening speech at the event.
Stakeholder meeting.
During the meeting, participants discussed the status of fire in Riau in general and Bengkalis specifically, with emphasis on the role of each actor in fire management. The discussion also linked with the current ‘zero fire tolerance’ commitments by President Joko Widodo and Siti Nurbaya of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF).
One of the solutions discussed by participants, in line with the MoEF program, was canal blocking – ensuring peatland remains wet during the dry season. However, challenges remain in the implementation phase. Other solutions discussed were improving land-use planning, strengthening Masyarakat Peduli Api (MPA), and improving law enforcement.
