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Indonesia braces for forest, land fires ahead of dry season
Various ministries have been intensifying efforts to mitigate and prevent forest and land fires as most parts of the country are expected to enter the dry season soon.
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High-risk zone: Members of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) work on Feb. 15 at the scene of a fire at a peatland forest converted into oil palm plantations in Meulaboh, Aceh. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
W
ith some regions already seeing their land engulfed by wildfires, the government is intensifying efforts to mitigate the risk of forest and land fires as the country is expected to shift to the dry season in the coming weeks.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recently forecasted that most regions across the country will enter the dry season between April and June, with its peak expected to fall in August, exacerbating the risk of wildfire.
As the nation transitions to the dry season, the Forestry Ministry has recorded 163 wildfire incidents in several provinces that burned more than 3,200 hectares (ha) of land and forest, totaling an area the size as Macao, within the first five months of the year according to data from the ministry’s official wildfire monitoring platform SiPongi.
Authorities have been using satellite imagery to monitor hotspots, or areas recorded as having higher temperatures compared to their surroundings. While hotspots are not necessarily wildfires, they may be indications of a potential fire, thus detecting them may help authorities in preventing forest and land fires.
As of Wednesday, the ministry recorded at least 195 hotspots detected nationwide since the beginning of the year, according to Thomas Nifinluri, the forest and land fire control director at the Forestry Ministry.
“[The ministry] is checking the hotspots on the ground for verification,” Thomas told The Jakarta Post.
With the dry season approaching, he added that the ministry has been pushing several prevention measures, including joint patrols with military and police officers and regular fire monitoring.
