Students in Sydney holds discussion, art-making in response to Indonesia's forest fires

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A group of Indonesian students in Sydney came together for a discussion and art-making event in response to the ongoing forest fires in Indonesia.

In response to raging forest fires in their homeland, Indonesian students in Australia held a discussion and art-making event titled Dialogue and Art: Indonesia’s Forest Fires, What can we do? on November 8 to exchange knowledge and channel emotions.

University of New South Wales Students Dian Anggraeni and Aisyah Rahmaniya said that the event, held in collaboration with LPDP (Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency) UNSW and Aliansi Gusar was triggered by their frustration of feeling helpless and unable to do anything aside from posting on social media about the forest fires.

Dialogue and Art invited Zullya Pratiwi, who on that day was still on location in Kalimantan along with volunteers to provide assistance such as medicine, clean water and psychological aid to affected communities.

According to speaker Sayyidatii Hayaa, who is an environmental activist and a student of Environmental Management in the University of Sydney, one of the reasons behind the massive scale of Indonesian forest fires that are threatening endemic species such as the orangutan is irresponsible management of peatlands, seemingly prioritising industrial crops such as palm oil. One of the practices threatening such landscapes is drainage or canalisations.

“Indeed, in terms of legalities in Indonesia, peatland draining is considered illegal, from the constitution level to the environmental and forestry minister’s regulation,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kevin Aprilio, who is studying global health and infectious diseases intelligence at UNSW, focused on the health-related effects of forest burning and destruction in general. According to him, the lack of action in managing forest fires seemed contradictory to the government’s stating it wants to solve health problems such as stunting and acute respiratory infections.

Those attending were encouraged to donate to Indonesian organisations that are involved in fighting the forest fires and their impacts.

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