Forest and Land Fires Surge: Climate Impact or Human Action?

Forest and land fires are spreading across several regions in Indonesia, not only in the Bromo area and Mount Gede. While much attention is focused on fire incidents in national parks, the government is also concentrating its efforts on six provinces: Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan.

Across these six regions, more than 48,000 hectares of land have already been burned, with West Kalimantan accounting for the largest share at nearly 30,000 hectares. The difficulty in controlling the fires in this area is influenced by the land characteristics, which are largely composed of peat. The El Niño phenomenon is also cited as a contributing factor, exacerbating the spread of fires due to hot weather conditions.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has stated that monitoring forest and land fires should not rely solely on identifying hotspots. A forecaster from the Iskandar Meteorology Station in West Kotawaringin, Ayu Istiqomah, explained that the level of land dryness must also be monitored, as it has the potential to generate sources of smoke during hot weather.

Nationally, the government has readied 43 helicopters to support firefighting operations. Another measure being pursued is weather modification to induce artificial rain. However, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Djamari Chaniago noted that this operation faces a significant hurdle: it can only be carried out if rain clouds are present.