Warsi: Forest and Land Fires in Jambi Linked to Human Activity

The Communications Manager of the Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI) Warsi, Rudi Syaf, assesses that the fires occurring in Jambi Province are suspected to be linked to human activities, particularly land clearing for plantations.

“Land clearing with fire may be considered cheap and fast, but in the current dry season conditions, the risk is extremely high,” said Rudi. According to him, in extremely dry land conditions, the fire used in the land clearing process has the potential to become difficult to control and subsequently spread to surrounding areas.

The drying of peatlands causes the water content in the soil to decrease, making organic material more flammable. When burning, peat fires can spread beneath the surface and become difficult to detect, meaning management requires greater effort compared to fires on mineral soil surfaces.

He added that analysis of Sentinel-2 satellite imagery conducted by the KKI Warsi geographic information system (GIS) team up to 3 September 2026 shows that the burnt area has reached more than 10,000 hectares. The fires were observed occurring on both peat and mineral soil, spread across nine regencies and cities in Jambi Province.

The largest fire was observed in Sarolangun Regency, covering 2,984 hectares, followed by Tebo at 2,464 hectares, and Batang Hari at 2,338 hectares. Based on analysis and overlaying with land permit maps in Jambi Province, these fires involve 23 palm oil plantations and 11 forest area utilisation business permits (PBPH).

In terms of area function, the largest fires are located in production forest areas, reaching 4,534 hectares, followed by limited production forests at 2,960 hectares, and other use areas covering 2,144 hectares. He detailed that these forest and land fires have also scorched 1,344 hectares of peatland, 87 hectares of which consist of peat with a depth of more than three metres.

Referring to BMKG predictions, which state that the peak of the dry season in Jambi Province will continue until September, the dry conditions pose a potential ongoing risk, and the risk of forest and land fires remains high. “The increasingly dry land conditions make vegetation more flammable and fire has the potential to spread rapidly, especially in areas with a history of fire and vulnerable peatlands,” he concluded.