Prabowo Says Human Activity Is Behind Forest and Land Fires, Orders Investigation

President Prabowo Subianto has said that forest and land fires in Indonesia are not caused solely by natural factors, and that there are suspicions of human involvement.

“Brothers and sisters, our field investigations have found that forest and land fires are not purely natural. There is human involvement, and in my view we must address this carefully and thoroughly,” Prabowo said during a briefing at a Cabinet meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (21 October 2026).

He said several companies may also have been involved in the fires, and called on the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office and relevant ministries to investigate fully.

“I ask the police, the prosecutors and the Ministry of Forestry, with support from the military and intelligence services, to investigate, because it turns out that many companies are also responsible,” he said.

Prabowo also referred to reports from members of the public who had caught individuals deliberately setting fires. He described land burning as “environmental terrorism” that must not be taken lightly.

“People have also caught various individuals deliberately setting fires. We can regard this as environmental terrorism. It is a crime against humanity, because what they are doing endangers the health of millions of our people,” he said.

Prabowo said the government would take firm action against those who deliberately set fires and revoke the permits of companies found to have violated the law.

“We must not take this lightly. We will now tackle it on a massive scale, and we will also investigate it thoroughly. This time, I am sorry, we can no longer act as if it were business as usual,” he said.

“If the evidence is clear, we will act; we will revoke all permits held by companies that have violated the law. And, for certain countries that like to insult the Indonesian nation, in due course we will expose the companies,” Prabowo added.