Yesterday, I had a great opportunity to hear from Guest Speaker Putera Zenata from the People’s Movement To Stop Haze who talked about the recent Haze affecting Singapore: it’s causes and consequences. I genuinely learned a lot and I would like to share with you guys several interesting things that he’s pointed out and my reflections on the topic.
- Research in Singapore
At the beginning of his talk he mentioned several interesting research results that I’d like to share: 1) Low scores of environmental knowledge about haze. 2) The level of influence from the haze turns out to be most irrelevant in predicting behavioral change.
From the first results, we can see that people who took this survey did not know a lot about the haze even though it has been affecting Singaporeans these recent years. Just last year in 2013, PSI levels were at it’s peak around 420. I couldn’t even go out from my office at work and had to wear a N95 mask everywhere I go. I just couldn’t believe what was happening. But I also understood that the only individuals we had to blame for the haze is ourselves. Our drive for consumption and affluence. The results from the first study gave me a surprise that people who took the survey did not see a link between the haze that has been affecting us and the forest fires. Perhaps bringing more awareness on this topic (haze and deforestation) to these individuals can have a pro-environmental impact in the near future. The results from the second point reminds me of our human nature: Sometimes we know the problem but we choose to ignore it.
During Conservation Psychology there was a study that proved that there is little correlation between education (being informative of the problem) and predicting behavior (taking actions to solve the problem). I believe this is highly relevant in this case and proves that sometimes “base-line” information from news and headlines isn’t effective enough to cause a change. What then?
Continuing on with his talk he mentioned 3 aspects of changing a person’s consumption behavior: Environmental Knowledge, Environmental Values, and Environmental Attitudes. According to Zenata, without these three aspects, no matter how bad the situation can be it wouldn’t drive you to produce a change.
- So what actually causes the haze?
The underlying stakeholder is ourselves. The growing demand for “plantation goods” such as paper, palm oil, and rubber propel corporations and local communities, who earn a living from harvesting these crops, to resort to unsustainable methods in clearing the land. In other words, finding the most cost-effective and convenient method for coping with the supply and demand from consumers (like you and me). However, burning causes forest fires (deforestation) which eventually leads to haze. This affects everyone, including countries surrounding Indonesia. Levels of influence include wind direction and proximity.
PEAT: The accumulation of decayed vegetation and organic material found across Indonesia is the underlying condition in this problematic equation. It’s very easy to burn, spreads very fast, and it can burn several layers deep within the ground, making it extremely difficult to extinguish. So why do farmers continue to use PEAT? Sad to say, they don’t genuinely have a choice. Most of the soil that can be harvested is from peat-land because it is found nearly everywhere. Ironically, Zenata mentions that it isn’t the best soil to grow these cash crops.
- So why doesn’t the Indonesian government do something?
The Indonesian government does have very strict laws which have been passed to ensure the haze is reduced. However, implementation has always been the problem. Corruption from the government and the lack of political will from it’s small communities makes it very difficult to enforce these laws in the outskirts of small local communities. According to Zenata, in Indonesia there is a lot of “Freedom” given to the regional government and provincial government (village chief) thus the communication between the levels may pose as a problem as they do not see eye-to-eye all the time.
- Importance of NGOs (Non-Government Organizations):
NGOs have been formed to help bridge the gap, between the regional government and the local government, creating communication channels and serving as an investigative unit. One example is Waihi, which is one of the NGOs working alongside the government, that does investigative work on the plantations. Sometimes G2G (government-to-government) corporation takes a delayed time. Thus, in my opinion, perhaps one of the ways NGOs can play a part is to:
- Conduct research and critical analysis on causes, stakeholders, consequences, and solutions to the problem. Bringing both awareness and steps to prevent these issues.
- Serve as a communication channel from regional governments and local communities: Sometimes a middle-man is needed to help reach out to communities that are anti-government or are secluded from society.
- Investigative unit that provides the government (law enforcer) with information in order to maintain these laws: It is in the nature of a government to spend less time and attention on things that are seen as less-profitable.
But as we’ve found out, some local communities in Indonesia do employ a sustainable traditional slash and burn method that is small scale, and with preventive measures. They place logs around the surrounding areas to prevent the fires from spreading beyond the region. In addition, they also have MPA fire fighting efforts endorsed by the government to prevent fires from breaking out.
- Key Takeaways & Moving Forward:
- My first point is to prevent relying on the government to solve all our issues. In this case, the government’s environmental arm isn’t strong enough to implement the laws that they’ve passed. Thus, local NGOs can prove helpful by providing awareness to the government, the local community, and to society, and perhaps resolutions to the problems. Contrary to some people’s beliefs, NGOs don’t need to be against the government. Instead, it can have the same vision, but with a different approach to tackle such problems. I think that the farmers would respond better to NGOs, then to the local government (especially if it is perceived by some to be corrupted). As people might seem reluctant to trust the government, as they might believe there will be an added incentive in their decisions.
- Selective Informed consumers: As a consumer, be aware of the products that you buy and lessen your consumption needs. Sometimes, it doesn’t seem to be large steps taken because if this doesn’t fit in with your lifestyle and your current mindset, then it won’t lead to a long-term change. Instead, take things one step at a time. “Small step leads to big changes.” Perhaps choosing alternative products that are environmentally friendly, or even recycling are small steps that everyone can take.
- Selective Informed investors: In the future when you have the opportunity to make more important decisions that impact others, perhaps be aware of what you are investing in and what the consequences are to the environment.
- Educating others: If you are unaware of the issue, you won’t be aware of the consequences. Along life’s journey, I’ve continually met people who have the correct mindset and attitude, but do not know where to begin. This is the foundation of every decision: Knowledge. Knowing what you are doing. Perhaps educating others is one way we all can contribute.
Lastly, I’d like to say thank you to Putera Zenata for coming down to talk to our class on the haze issue. Really appreciate it. Anyways, for those who would like to learn more about his movement please visit: For https://www.facebook.com/pmhaze. All pictures are taken from their Facebook website.
