Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The government's pledge to reduce forest fires in attempt to help slow climate change is now under question after a report revealed the number of recorded hotspots soared last year.

The 2009 State Environment Report launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono showed the number of fire hotspots rose to 32,416 in 2009 from only 19,192 in the previous year.

The Environment Ministry pointed its finger at weak law enforcement and a lack of supervision from local authorities for the increasing number.

"Illegal land clearing with fires by local people in Kalimantan and Sumatra is still rampant," Heddy Mukna, deputy assistant for forest and land management at the Environment Ministry told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He said that in Kalimantan, local administrations were forced to withdraw policies prohibiting land clearing due the protests from local people. "It [land clearing] caused the increase number of hotspots in Kalimantan last year."

The report showed the number of hotspots in West Kalimantan increased to 7,276 in 2009 from 2,881 in the previous year. In Central Kalimantan, the total number of hotspots reached 4,942 last year from only 1,852 in 2008, while in South Kalimantan fires jumped to 1,291 from only 372 in 2008.

The annual Report of State Environment was issued in line with commemoration of World Environmental Day to report on conditions such as the quality of water, air and atmosphere as well as forest and biodiversity issues.

The plan of action on climate change issued in 2007 stipulates the government must slash the number of forest fire hotspots by 50 percent annually in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The were 35, 279 hotspots in 2006.

A year after the promise was made in an international forum on climate change in Bali, hotspots decreased to 17,896 in 2007 and 19,192 in 2008. In 2009, the number soared to 32, 416.

Heddy said that President Yudhoyono had revised the target of a 50 percent reduction to only 20 percent by 2010 in line with the country's commitment to cut emissions by 26 percent by 2020.

"The target of a 50 percent reduction in hotspots has been revised to only 20 percent, but the baseline on whether from it is from 2006 or 2008 remains unclear," he said.

The government has said that most of the 26 percent target reduction could be realized by only reducing forest fires and planting trees. Heddy said the government targeted to have zero forest fire in 2014.

Climate Society Forum (CSF) coordinator Giorgio Indarto, said the rising hotspots showed the strategy used to deal with forest fires was weak.

"It means President Yudhoyono still has lots of work to do to meet his promise to cut the emissions. The President must stop making new promises and should focus on real action to stop the forest fires," he said.

Forest fires have long been an annual event in the country during the dry season. The massive forest fires in 1997 placed Indonesia as the world's third-largest emitter CO2.

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said the forest fires had created cross-border issues, with smoke blanketing neighboring countries such as Malaysia almost annually.

Hatta has summoned governors, regents and lawmakers from 10 provinces prone to forest fires to prepare for forest fires this year.