- In 2019, volunteers from the environmental wing of the largest Islamic women’s organization in Indonesia, ‘Aisyiyiah, operated “Rumah Oksigen,” houses equipped with air purifiers and first aid.
- This year as El Niño intensifies, ‘Aisyiyah will advise members to reopen facilities for the young, the elderly and those most vulnerable to air pollution generated by the fires.
- Volunteers will also work to raise awareness in the community about how families can best protect themselves.
The oldest Islamic women’s organization in Indonesia will prepare volunteers in Kalimantan and Sumatra to open sanctuaries in clean air, if the strengthening of El Niño accelerates the fires in the coming months.
“We will make sure that the LLHPB protects our children, women, our network and the community around the forest fires to ensure that they stay alive and stay healthy in this situation,” said Hening Purwati Parlan, the vice chair of ‘Aisyiyah’s environmental and disaster management wing, the Lembaga Lingkungan Hidup dan Penanggulangan Bencana (LLHPB).
The first Islamic women’s organization in Indonesia was founded in 1917 to promote educational rights for girls. Today ‘Aisyiyah, part of the Muhammadiyah Islamic organization, claims more than 4 million members worldwide in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
In 2015, ‘Aisyiyah established her environmental arm, the LLHPB, to respond to environmental damage in the community and address damages from climate change, augmenting the community’s existing gender initiatives, such as preventing child marriage.
In 2022, while head of the LLHPB, Hening wrote a paper outlining the case for “eco-jihad,” a spiritual struggle to combat climate change, among ‘Aisyiyah’s followers. “The effects of climate change can no longer be managed as normal, there is a need to manage them with urgency,” Hening wrote, citing Surah Al-A’raf, verses 56-58 of the Koran.
Oxygen houses
As wildfires burned 3.1 million hectares (7.7 million acres) of land in Indonesia over the course of 2019, ‘Asiyiyah volunteers operated Rumah Oksigen (“Oxygen Homes”) with air purifiers to help the most vulnerable to the dangerous air circulating outside.
“The pollution outside is very high, so we protect them at home,” Hening said. “It’s like an emergency house.”
A study by Harvard and Columbia universities suggests that air pollution from the 2015 wildfire disaster in Southeast Asia may have caused 100,000 premature deaths.
At its upcoming annual meeting in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, in mid-July, the organization will emphasize the importance of women in raising awareness in communities.
“Education and awareness for women and children – distributing information on how to protect themselves,” Hening said. “Knowledge is very important.”
In addition, the leadership of ‘Aisyiyah will advise volunteers in provinces at risk of fires to prepare to open Oxgyen Homes if El Niño causes severe fires in the coming months.
‘Aisyiyah volunteers in the field said they are ready to change the system if El Niño ignites fires comparable to 2019.
“If the situation is an emergency like that time, it may be possible to reopen [the Oxygen Homes]and we can develop more,” said Widati Irma, the head of LLHPB in the province of Riau.
In the province of West Kalimantan, two Oxygen Homes have remained active every year since the 2019 fires, staffed by volunteers from ‘Aisyiyah as well as university health and nursing teachers.
“We always have to be on standby,” said Ramah Susanti in West Kalimantan. “Oxygen Home is always ready for the people of West Kalimantan.”
Air support
In mid-June the Climate Prediction Center of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that El Niño conditions had arrived for the first time since 2019 and would strengthen until October. Indonesia’s meteorological agency has advised that a dangerous summer season is approaching, raising the risk of forest fires burning in the world’s largest reserve of tropical peatlands.
“The fires of 2019 really taught a lesson for everyone about the environment and forests,” said Ramah in West Kalimantan. “Schools are closed, all activities are paralyzed.”
In 2020, President Joko Widodo ordered government officials to find a “permanent solution” to forest fires after the summer of 2019, which was exacerbated by a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, where warmer sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean lead to less rainfall.
A legal crackdown on small farmers burning biomass is underway, along with efforts to increase the capacity of farmers and community firefighters to prevent destructive fires. The head of Indonesia’s disaster management agency said earlier this month that officials are confident of better infrastructure in the field compared to four years ago.
Indonesia won praise after the archipelago recorded a significant drop in fire damage between 2020 and July 2023. However, experts say the first El Niño event since 2019 represents a major test, and a concern for those living in the firing line.
“This year there was a hot storm from El Niño,” said Rahmah Susanti. “It certainly makes us more concerned about wildfires in vulnerable areas.”
Banner: Trucks loaded with oil palm fruits drive through the haze in Indonesia’s Rokan Hilir district. Photo courtesy of Greenpeace Media Library.
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