Last autumn, forest fires in Indonesia choked Southeast Asia with a deadly haze (see Crisis In The Rainforest 10/10/97). Eventually, it seemed the fires were under control and the skies were clearing. But on the Indonesian island of Borneo, the fires rage on.
Since January, hundreds of fires have destroyed 700,000 acres of woodlands and created giant clouds of harmful smoke. The fires have killed thousands of orangutans, whose numbers had already dropped because of logging in the area.
Alarmed, many members of the United Nations met in Geneva, Switzerland. They discussed raising $10 million, enough to buy equipment and train 1,000 firefighters.
"We must prevent a repeat of last year's disaster," said the U.N.'s Klaus Töpfer (Tope-fer). "Urgent action is needed--now."