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Eastern Indonesia has a semi-arid climate with large areas of savanna vegetation, and consequently the region is fire-prone. The land is used mainly for low-yielding subsistence agriculture and the region faces major problems of land degradation and forest degeneration. Fire is a fundamental component of traditional and current land management. Prescribed fire is used in slash and burn cultivation, for land clearing, weed control and to increase nutrient status. Fire is also used to promote new grass growth for cattle grazing and to provide some protection from wildfire. Some fire regimes have undesirable effects. Some fire and grazing regimes encourage the invasion of grazing lands by shrubs, threaten lives, property and forestry reserves, and contribute to regional atmospheric pollution. Fire has impacts on soil and water conservation, which all affect the long-term productivity of the land.

Although the extent, severity and impacts of fire appear to be increasing, these changes are poorly documented. There is little understanding of the processes affecting fire behaviour in eastern Indonesia and the steps necessary to better manage fire.

Current and past work by non-government organisations and international funding agencies in eastern Indonesia verify the importance of integrating fire management with animal husbandry and other farming practices when recommending modifications to land management practices. An understanding of the cultural and economic restrictions within Indonesian communities is essential for the successful adoption of recommendations for change.

The objectives of the workshop were to:

review fire management in eastern Indonesia and northern Australia

develop closer regional and institutional links between researchers and land managers in northern Australia and eastern Indonesia

The workshop included position papers, describing the state of knowledge in a range of fire management issues, followed by discussion sessions.

Workshop tasks were to:

identify and describe the key fire management issues for eastern Indonesia and northern Australia;

summarise recommendations and resolutions generated by the discussion sessions;

discuss methodology appropriate for adoption of recommendations and for research and training programs in eastern Indonesia and northern Australia;

publish the proceedings of the workshop in the ACIAR Proceedings series.