Kalista Alam case set precedent for combating forest fires

The serious air pollution (euphemistically referred to as ‘haze’) emanating from Indonesian forest fires has continued to result in wide-ranging harm, not only to human health, but also to people’s security as well as to local and national economies. Prof. Harry Purnomo of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor estimates that Indonesia has suffered US$4 billion in economic losses this year — through agriculture production, forest degradation, health, transportation, tourism and other areas — as a result of forest fires.