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

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

An independent report by the environmental group Madani Berkelanjutan revealed that from January to August, at least 218,000 hectares of forests and land were destroyed by fire – an area three times the size of Jakarta.

Of this, about 42 per cent (some 80,000 hectares) is located within concession zones for palm oil plantations, oil and gas operations, and mineral extraction.

In July alone, nearly 100,000 hectares went up in flames, almost double the figure recorded in the same month of 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 accompanied by frequent rainfall. Thus, the high rate of burning shows that human activity is the main driver, especially in industrial concession areas.

Madani used satellite imagery to identify fire hotspots, a method also applied by the Forestry Ministry’s Sipongi monitoring system. Data from the ministry differed by only around 6,000 ha compared to Madani’s figures.

Meanwhile, environmental group Pantau Gambut reported that in July alone, 23,600 ha of peatlands were burned, concentrated in West Kalimantan and Riau – regions where peatlands have been drained for palm oil plantations and are highly flammable when dry.

Analyst Juma Maulana from Pantau Gambut suggested that most of the fires in concession areas were likely deliberately set for industrial purposes.

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

Thomas Nifinluri, the ministry’s Director of Forest and Land Fire Control, said authorities had sealed dozens of companies in West Kalimantan, Riau, and South Sumatra for suspected land burning, stressing a policy of zero tolerance for violators.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) forecast that many regions of Indonesia will experience wet conditions until April 2026.

However, it warned that the risk of forest fires remains high during the seasonal transition between September and November, particularly in East and West Nusa Tenggara and parts of Sumatra. — VNA/VNS