South Kalimantan Forestry Service Distributes Firefighting Facilities to Forest Management Units and Sultan Adam Nature Reserve to Anticipate Forest and Land Fires

Banjarbaru (ANTARA) - The Forestry Service (Dishut) of South Kalimantan Province (Kalsel) has distributed facilities and infrastructure (sarpras) for controlling forest and land fires (karhutla) to the Forest Management Unit (KPH) and Sultan Adam Nature Reserve (Tahura) to face the 2026 dry season, which is predicted to be longer and drier.

The Head of the Protection and Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystems Division (PKSDAE) of Dishut Kalsel, Rudiono Herlambang, in Banjarbaru on Thursday, stated that this strengthening of preparedness involves the Head of KPH, the Head of Tahura Sultan Adam, and technical staff for forest control and protection.

Rudiono conveyed that the main focus this year is to strengthen early prevention efforts, particularly in vulnerable areas such as Ring 1 of the Airport, protected forests, and Tahura Sultan Adam, taking into account the potential influence of the El Nino phenomenon.

“With predictions of a longer and drier dry season, all units must prioritise prevention and rapid field response,” said Rudiono.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Forest and Land Fire Control Section of Dishut Kalsel, Bambang Marwanto, emphasised that karhutla handling must be carried out in an integrated manner through cross-sectoral synergy. The formation of task forces at the district/city level is considered important to clarify the command flow and accelerate field responses.

“The command flow must be clear so that handling is not hindered by coordination,” he said.

He stressed the importance of the role of KPH in strengthening routine patrols, socialisation to the community, and early detection in vulnerable areas.

Dishut Kalsel emphasised that all distributed sarpras must be optimised by field officers to strengthen prevention efforts and rapid handling of karhutla during the 2026 dry season in South Kalimantan.