Anticipating Forest and Land Fires, South Kalimantan BPBD Prepares to Wet Peatlands

The Provincial Government of South Kalimantan has begun taking mitigation steps against the threat of forest and land fires (karhutla) and drought in anticipation of a more extreme dry season influenced by El Niño. One of the karhutla mitigation measures is the wetting of peatlands.

“Based on BMKG predictions, the extreme dry season influenced by El Niño will start occurring this April. For that reason, we have taken steps to mitigate the threats of drought and karhutla,” said the Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of South Kalimantan, Roni Eka Saputra, on Wednesday (1/4).

The mitigation steps taken include issuing a circular on preparedness for drought and karhutla to BPBDs across all regencies/cities, coordination and training for disaster personnel and equipment for handling disasters, up to activating patrols in karhutla-prone areas. “At the end of March, we conducted coordination and training for disaster personnel across South Kalimantan in Banjar Regency,” Roni stated.

Karhutla patrols are prioritised in karhutla-prone areas, especially peatland areas in ring one around Syamsudin Noor Airport in Banjarbaru. Satellite imagery shows hot spots (red status) appearing in several areas.

“We are ready to carry out peatland wetting as in previous years, but currently, the condition of most peatlands around the airport is still quite wet with a water table height of 40 centimetres,” he said. If the peat areas dry out, irrigation water gates upstream of the Riam Kanan reservoir will be opened to wet the canals and peatland areas.

So far, this strategy has been deemed quite effective in minimising karhutla. Another step, if necessary, is weather modification operations (OMC) in collaboration with BNPB or BMKG.

Furthermore, Roni urged farmer communities and corporations not to carry out land burning for land clearing during the dry season. Meanwhile, to face drought, the public is also asked to prepare by providing water tanks or wells.

BPBD will soon coordinate actions for wetting peatlands, especially in priority areas (ring one) around Syamsudin Noor International Airport in Banjarbaru.

Peatland wetting for prevention, up to water bombing and weather modification for karhutla handling.