The people of Lubuk Ogong Village, Bandar Sei Kijang District and Rantau Baru Village, Pangkalan Kerinci District, Pelalawan Regency, Riau, benefitted from the land clearing without burning program facilitated by Asian Agri, since they were provided with pineapple fruit seeds for their alternative source of income.
Asian Agri conducted socialization about land clearing and assisted the community in clearing 4 hectares of land without burning. As an appreciation, there were 16,000 pineapple seedlings handed to village communities for their commitment to clear the land not with fire.
Hafiz Hazalin Sinaga, Fire Free Village Program Manager Asian Agri, said that the problem of forest and land fires is related to the economy. “Due to limited funds, people use fire to clear land. Apart from being fast, the costs are also cheap. But the impact is much more expensive and dangerous”, said Hafiz.
“Not only patrols and outreach, we need to take more direct approach to the community. The purpose of this non-burning land clearing activity is to invite people to leave the old ways of using fire for land clearing”, Hafiz added.
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