JAKARTA: Greenpeace has challenged the Indonesian government to declare a moratorium on the conversion of peat land into plantations, if it is serious about putting a stop to the annual forest fires.

The international environmental group says oil palm companies are still clearing land for plantations by burning, despite a blanket ban on the use of such a method.

And this practice has been the cause of the annual haze that envelopes many parts of South East Asia.

Riau is one of three provinces in Sumatra where an increasing number of forest fires have been detected by satellite in recent weeks.

Greenpeace says thousands of acres of peat land forest in the area have been razed to make way for oil palm plantations.

But fortunately, rain has prevented the fires from flaring, saving the province and neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia from being smothered by smoke.

Says Hapsoro, a Greenpeace Forest Campaigner, "70 per cent of the fires that happened in Riau are found in the plantation area. We didn't see any significant effort that the government is planning to do apart from fighting the forest fires. The prevention that they are proposing is only to [increase] public awareness, not to [stop] burning."

Forest fires flare up easily on peat land, and are difficult to put out because they burn as deep as several metres underground.

But burning is the cheapest and most common method used to convert peat land into oil palm plantations, so Greenpeace wants the Indonesia government to stop issuing conversion permits to plantation owners.

Singapore and Malaysia have offered to collaborate with Sumatra officials to fight the haze problem.

And Jakarta says it's determined to get its act together, after last year's fires resulted in the worst haze to choke the surrounding region in almost a decade.

It has allocated US$60 million for a haze prevention programme, and wants to cut the incidence of forest fires by half.

But a move by the Riau provincial government is set to challenge this target.

It has proposed draft by-laws to legalise burning to clear land.

The draft by-laws clearly go against the national law that disallows individuals and plantation companies from burning to clear their land, and are now under scrutiny by the central government.

Whatever the outcome, officials need to act fast as forest fires are expected to flare up once the dry season peaks in about a month's time. - CNA/yy