Indonesia forest fires remain high despite heavy rains

Members of the Pekanbaru Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) try to extinguish a peat fire in Pekanbaru, Riau province, Indonesia in late August. — Photo XINHUA/VNA

JAKARTA — Although Indonesia is experiencing a wetter-than-normal dry season with higher-than-average rainfall, forest fires in the country continue to pose serious challenges.

An independent report by environmental group Madani Berkelanjutan revealed that between January and August, at least 218,000 hectares of forest and land were burned by fires – an area three times the size of Jakarta.

Of this, about 42 percent (about 80,000 hectares) is located in concession areas for palm oil plantations, petroleum operations and mineral exploitation.

In July alone, nearly 100,000 hectares were burned, almost double the figure recorded in the same month in 2023, when Indonesia was severely affected by the El Niño phenomenon.

Analyst Fadli Ahmad Naufal noted that this year's dry season has been relatively short and has seen frequent rains, so the high rate of burning suggests human activity is the main cause, especially in industrial concession areas.

Madani used satellite imagery to identify forest fire hotspots, a method also used by the Forestry Ministry's Sipongi monitoring system. The ministry's data differed by only about 6,000 hectares from Madani's figures.

Meanwhile, environmental group Pantau Gambut reported that in July alone, 23,600 hectares of peatland were burned, concentrated in West Kalimantan and Riau – areas where peatland has been exploited for oil palm plantations and is highly flammable when dry.

Analyst Juma Maulana from Pantau Gambut said most of the fires in the concession area could be caused intentionally for industrial purposes.

The Forestry Ministry acknowledged that most of the fires were human-caused but said the total number of fires from January to August was down 25% compared to the same period in 2023, when more than 1.1 million hectares were destroyed.

Thomas Nifinluri, director of the ministry's Forest and Land Fire Control Department, said authorities had sealed dozens of companies in West Kalimantan, Riau and South Sumatra on suspicion of burning land, stressing a zero-tolerance policy against violators.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts that many areas in Indonesia will experience wet conditions until April 2026.

However, the agency warned that the risk of forest fires remains high during the transition period from September to November, especially in East and West Nusa Tenggara and some areas of Sumatra. — VNA/VNS