Their ordeal reflects a wider crisis. As October 20, 2026, approaches\n- the second anniversary of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice\nPresident Gibran Rakabuming Raka\u2019s administration - Indonesia is still\nbattling fires nationwide.<\/p>\n
Six provinces remain priorities: Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan,\nSouth Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Jambi and Riau, where dry conditions\nand combustible peat have made firefighting especially difficult.<\/p>\n
In Riau alone, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB)\nrecorded 2,713.26 hectares burned between January 1 and March 24, 2026,\nin nearly three months of fires.<\/p>\n
BNPB data dated March 25 showed the burned area expanding at several\nstrategic locations, an early sign of the challenge that would continue\nthrough the dry season.<\/p>\n
BNPB data cited by the National Development Planning Ministry showed\nthat 72,009.10 hectares had burned in the six priority provinces as of\nSeptember 8, 2026.<\/p>\n
Of that total, 71,274.29 hectares had been extinguished, while about\n734.81 hectares remained alight and under active firefighting efforts,\nBNPB figures showed.<\/p>\n
Those figures can shift because peat fires are notoriously difficult\nto contain: flames may smolder underground and reappear after crews\nbelieve the fire has been put out.<\/p>\n
The government has deployed more than 60,000 joint personnel for\nground operations, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said, with\nparticular focus on Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra alongside\naerial firefighting.<\/p>\n
Smoke has crossed national borders, affecting Malaysia and Singapore.\nBoth neighboring countries have expressed sympathy as Indonesia\nstruggles to contain fires that have disrupted life at home and across\nthe region.<\/p>\n
Japan, though far from the burning areas, has also supported the\nresponse, deploying several military assets to help conduct aerial\nfirefighting operations in Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The fires are not confined to peatlands. BNPB has also recorded\nsignificant burns in other landscapes, showing how widely the crisis has\nspread beyond the government\u2019s six priority provinces.<\/p>\n
Fires affected 4,458 hectares in the Nusantara capital region, East\nKalimantan; 2.5 hectares on Mount Ijen; 16.5 hectares on Mount Butak in\nEast Java; and 223.5 hectares in Teluk Bintuni, West Papua. All were\nextinguished.<\/p>\n
Affecting people, biodiversity<\/p>\n
The smoke from fires that have persisted for months has disrupted\ndaily life in Indonesian communities, while haze has also affected\npeople in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n
Beyond interrupted routines, the fires carry serious health risks and\nthreaten the basic conditions people need to live, work and attend\nschool safely.<\/p>\n
The flames are also endangering Indonesia\u2019s biodiversity, especially\nthe forests of Kalimantan and Sumatra, where countless species depend on\nintact habitat for food, shelter and movement.<\/p>\n
The Forestry Ministry said it had handled 290 wild animals affected\nby the fires as of October 8, 2026. Of those, 272 were in four provinces\nin Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Orangutans are among the animals affected. Ristianto Pribadi, head of\nthe ministry\u2019s Public Relations and International Cooperation Bureau,\nsaid responses included rescue, relocation to safer habitats,\ntranslocation, treatment and rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
In West Kalimantan, the provincial Natural Resources Conservation\nAgency (BKSDA) and YIARI, a wildlife-rehabilitation foundation, rescued\n46 Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) between August and October 9\nduring the fire season.<\/p>\n
Murlan Dameria Pane, head of the West Kalimantan BKSDA, said pulling\norangutans from burning habitats was only the beginning; the next\nchallenge was ensuring they could survive in safe places.<\/p>\n
Eight rescued orangutans that had been declared healthy began their\nmove on October 9 to Batu Nyambu Protection Forest in Ketapang District,\nwhere more secure habitat could offer a path to recovery.<\/p>\n
The transfer followed evacuation from fire-hit areas, medical\nexaminations and observation, steps intended to establish whether the\nanimals were well enough to return to the wild.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaving wildlife takes more than rescue and translocation; both are\npart of a broader conservation strategy,\u201d Murlan said, emphasizing that\nmoving animals is only one part of protecting them.<\/p>\n
The orangutans came from locations in Ketapang and Kayong Utara\nDistricts. Fires stripped away forest cover and broke connections\nbetween habitat areas, leaving animals isolated in plantations with\nlittle food or room to roam.<\/p>\n
They were found in Pelang Village, Ketapang, on a roughly\n400-square-meter plot surrounded by oil palm plantations - a stark\nillustration of how fires and land conversion can turn fragmented\nhabitat into a trap.<\/p>\n
Such stories are heartbreaking, but they also point to a duty beyond\nwildlife rescue: people living in fire-affected areas must have their\nsafety prioritized by a government entrusted with their mandate through\nelections.<\/p>\n
Major nation with responsibilities<\/p>\n
Indonesia, a major nation with responsibilities to its own people and\nits neighbors, should be better equipped to prevent and contain these\nfires each time the dry season intensifies.<\/p>\n
After decades of recurring fires and successive presidents leading\nthe country under its chosen democratic system, the nation has had ample\ntime to learn from each disaster and address its causes.<\/p>\n
Instead, the fires have again become a regional ASEAN concern just as\nthe Prabowo-Gibran administration approaches its second anniversary.<\/p>\n
In its third year, the government faces renewed pressure to act\nfaster and more effectively.<\/p>\n
*Rahmad Nasution is a journalist at the ANTARA News Agency<\/p>\n
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the\nauthor and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of\nthe ANTARA News Agency.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-faces-wildfire-challenges-ahead-of-prabowos-second-year-1792075821", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }