Riau Police Step Up Forest Fire Prevention in Biosphere Reserve Due to Thick Peat
Riau Police, together with the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the Riau Provincial Government, are tightening supervision of forest and land fires (karhutla). One of the areas under close watch is the wildlife reserve within the Giam Siak Kecil Biosphere Reserve, which is highly vulnerable due to its thick peat.
This was conveyed by Riau Police Chief Inspector General Herry Heryawan during a Coordination Meeting on Forest and Land Fire Control in Riau Province held at the Riau Police Headquarters in Pekanbaru. Also present at the meeting were Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni, Acting Governor of Riau SF Hariyanto, Commander of Regional Military Command XIX/Tuanku Tambusai Major General Agus Hadi Waluyo, along with senior officials from Riau Police and the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda).
Inspector General Herry Heryawan stated that, based on monitoring from the Lancang Kuning Dashboard, the number of hotspots in Riau Province totalled 161 points, predominantly in the medium category. The main concentrations are in Pelalawan Regency and Indragiri Hilir Regency.
From this data, his team is particularly wary of the wildlife reserve area within the Giam Siak Kecil Biosphere Reserve, which has land characteristics of swamp with thick peat.
“The additional area that we need to strictly anticipate is the Giam Siak Kecil Biosphere Reserve Wildlife Reserve, which has very thick peat swamp,” said Inspector General Herry on Friday (28/8/2026).
The Police Chief said that his team, together with Regional Military Command XIX/Tuanku Tambusai, the Riau Provincial Government and all ranks, remain committed to promoting collaboration in efforts to handle forest and land fires. Beyond firefighting efforts, this commitment is carried out from pre-disaster through to post-disaster stages.
“We at Riau Police, together with the Regional Military Commander, the Governor, and all ranks, have committed to strengthening mutual cooperation well in advance, from pre-disaster, joint firefighting, to post-disaster,” he added.
Riau Police are also fully committed to law enforcement efforts. Throughout 2025 up to August 2026, Riau Police reported handling 98 police reports and naming 110 suspects, with a total burned land area of 1,369.9 hectares.
“Specifically in 2026, there are 37 police reports and 40 suspects (all individuals) with a land area of 904.07 hectares, where all the motives were clearing land for oil palm plantations,” he revealed.
Following up on the directive of President Prabowo Subianto and the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 1 of 2026, Riau Police have currently gathered 113 palm oil and industrial timber plantation (HTI) companies to strengthen active corporate participation in forest and land fire prevention and handling efforts.
“As a form of permanent prevention and to break the chain of forest and land fire crimes, we launched a best practice in the form of installing 513 lifetime law enforcement warning signs at crime scenes to prevent land reuse or replanting,” he added.
Forest and land fire handling is being strengthened through digitalisation. Riau Police have transformed the Lancang Kuning Dashboard into the Green Policing Dashboard, the result of collaboration with the University of Riau.
This Green Policing Dashboard not only displays real-time data on the distribution of hotspots and fire points in Riau Province, but is also integrated with restoration efforts in line with Green Policing.
“We have transformed the Lancang Kuning Dashboard into the Green Policing Dashboard in collaboration with the University of Riau to monitor restoration efforts, with a target of planting 1 million trees by district police ranks by December. Currently, we have also deployed hundreds of personnel to vulnerable points (Pelalawan, Rimbo Panjang, Siak, and Indragiri Hilir) and are providing health services, trauma healing, and mask distribution for affected communities,” he concluded.