Between 19 May and 10 June 2003, Dr. Irawati and Mr. U.. Mahyar (BO) in collaboration with the WWF Indonesia went to the Kayan Mentarang National Park for orchid training.

Between 19 May and 10 June 2003, Dr. Irawati and Mr. U.. Mahyar (BO) in collaboration with the WWF Indonesia went to the Kayan Mentarang National Park for orchid training. They visited Tarakan, Long Bawan, and Data Dian and were accompanied by the people from the surroundings of the national park. Seventy-six herbarium specimens and 142 living sample specimens were collected and deposited at the Bogor Botanic Gardens.

Ms. Rugayah and Mr. A. Hidayat (BO) went to Bukit Bangkirai, West Kalimantan, between 18 August and 1 September 2002, for exploration of this area. One hundred numbers were collected.

F.S.P. Ng writes in Flora Malesiana Bulletin, Volume 13 (2) December 2002 (pp. 126-17):

"Forest fires in Kalimantan: who is responsible? For several weeks in August 2002, the atmosphere in many parts of Malaysia was polluted with haze originating from 'forest fires' in Kalimantan and Sumatra. The fingers of accusation have been pointed at the usual suspects.

"The Indonesian Government blamed 'shifting cultivators." The NGOs blamed the oil palm and logging industries.

"During one of my visits to South and West Kalimantan a few years ago, I found that, in the peat areas of South Kalimantan, all the areas of logged rattan forest were being occupied by settlers from other parts of Indonesia as soon as the logging was over. The settlers would occupy and parcel out the land among themselves. Then they would cut and burn the remaining trees and plant pineapples on the peat. Every year, in the dry season, they would set fire to the peat and bum off the top layer. After 5 to 10 years, depending on the thickness of the peat, they would reach the mineral soil at the bottom, which would then be suitable for planting rice, bananas, and fruit trees. At this rate, we can expect peat fires every year until all the peat is burnt oft; and the carbon added to the atmosphere. That should take about 10 years.

"In the inland areas, the situation is different. All along the roads in the interior, I saw small dwellings, each with an adjacent small home garden of bananas and tapioca, shrouded in smoke from the burning of surrounding secondary vegetation. Each settler occupied land far in excess of what his family could farm. The excess would revert to forest if left alone. To maintain 'ownership' the settler had to burn the secondary woody vegetation every year, in the dry season. Eventually, the whole area will become a fire-climax grassland of Imperata cylindrica, as has already happened in vast areas between Banjarmasin and Pulau Laut. Why are the settlers clearing so much land? I am told they are hoping to 'sell' their land to others for a good 'compensation.'

"For their own reasons, the Government and the NGOs do not want to admit the truth. The establishment and enforcement of land ownership laws is long overdue, but the Government seems to lack the will. As for those NGOs who have been most vocal, I do not think they want to save forests or reduce greenhouse gases. They just want the opportunity to bash the logging and plantation industries."