To Prevent Forest and Land Fires, Forestry Minister Emphasises Weather Modification Operation to Wet Peatlands

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni has emphasised preventive efforts in handling forest and land fires (karhutla) during the dry season, one of which involves rewetting peatlands. “This OMC is not only carried out when forest fires occur, but also as a preventive measure where we conduct rewetting or moistening, particularly of peatlands where the groundwater level has already decreased,” said Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni during a press conference in Jakarta on Monday. Rewetting peatlands using Weather Modification Operations (OMC) is a preventive effort to raise groundwater levels and moisten peat to prevent forest and land fires. Rewetting is conducted through OMC utilising scientific data from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). BMKG itself predicts that this year’s dry season will start earlier and last longer, beginning in April or May, with its peak in August. “We will enter the dry season starting in April or May, peaking in August, and then ending in September or early October,” said Head of BMKG Teuku Faisal Fathani. He added that BMKG continues to monitor weather forecasts to predict when Weather Modification Operations for rewetting peatlands can be carried out. “We are trying to conduct rewetting when we still have clouds that can be seeded with seeding materials, so that the resulting rain can moisten the peatlands, thereby maximising our efforts to suppress the potential for forest and land fires,” said Teuku Faisal Fathani. To prevent forest and land fires in areas prone to karhutla during the dry season, the Ministry of Forestry collaborates with BMKG, the National Police (Polri), the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), and other related ministries and agencies.