Ministry of Forestry strengthens forest and land fire operations as national hotspots decline

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) is strengthening its forest and land fire (karhutla) control operations as the number of high-confidence national hotspots has decreased by 400 points to 1,037 points.

Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni stated that the development of hotspots continues to be monitored through the Ministry of Forestry’s Forest and Land Fire Monitoring System (SiPongi), as fire conditions remain dynamic.

“I cannot predict the future, but I must report that as of today, the numbers are continuously decreasing. This figure is very open and transparent; everyone can check it on the Ministry of Forestry’s SiPongi system,” said Raja Juli following a working meeting with Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Based on SiPongi data sourced from NASA Terra/Aqua, SNPP, and NOAA-20 satellites as of Tuesday (15/9) at 21:05 WIB, 1,037 high-confidence hotspots were recorded nationally, a reduction of 400 points compared to the previous day.

Meanwhile, South Sumatra recorded an increase from 116 to 245 hotspots, Jambi rose from nine to 62 points, and Riau recorded 15 points after previously having none.

“So once again, the trend is continuing to decline due to the hard work of our colleagues from Manggala Agni Kemenhut, the TNI, Polri, BPBD, and the Fire Care Community,” said Raja Juli.

The Ministry of Forestry explained that hotspots are indications of surface temperature anomalies detected by satellites and do not immediately signify a single fire event.