Description

In 1997, two million hectares of rainforest burned out of control in Indonesian Borneo. But the smoke and pollution did not obscure the real cause of this disaster: big plantation companies demonstrating on a scale rarely seen before.

Transcript

Consequences of Rainforest Fire in Borneo, Indonesia Kaimantan 1997 Correspondent: The rainforest holocaust in Indonesian Borneo was ignited by a big plantation company’s demonstrating short termism on a scale rarely seen before. In 1997 2 million hectares of what the United Nations calls the World Biological Heritage, blazed out of control creating in its words an environmental and humanitarian disaster of exceptional proportions. Severe air pollution blanketed much of Southeast Asia leading to serious respiratory ailments. The fires happened again in the next year and then again the next. Klaus Topfer (Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme): I believe we are far from a blue eyed optimistic view and one of the other mistakes we will repeat it again and gain. It is really a simple economic consequences that gives us a need for longer and more detailed planning view. You can go to quite a lot of main dams in the world, their you have the short term advantages paid very, very high prices is about to meet in the long term disadvantages.