Blaze and haze in nation's forest must be stamp for good

As the dry season arrives, fires are again starting to spread, threatening to cause untold damage to people's health and to the environment. There has been a sharp increase in the number of patience visiting hospital complaining of haze related ailments such as respiratory problems and sore eyes. The prestigious Center for International Forestry (CIFOR) says that one of the causes is the large areas of forest land that have been allocated for conversion to other uses, without ensuring adequate support mechanisms for environmentally sound land-clearing practices are properly in place. CIFOR points to the decentralization of government authority leading to more stakeholders involved in forestry decision-making process than was the case in the 1990s, rendering obsolete top-down implementation of national-level forest polices.