Indonesia strengthens early detection to tackle forest fires

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Forestry said strengthening early detection and rapid response is key to reducing the impact of forest and land fires on communities and economic activities.

“So fires can be handled before they spread, and their impact on communities, health, the environment, economic activities, and transportation can be reduced,” Head of the Ministry’s Public Relations and Foreign Cooperation Bureau Ristianto Pribadi said here on Friday.

Pribadi said the ministry has been strengthening its control center, which is integrated with the Jaga Rimba Decision Support System, to enable early detection and rapid response to forest and land fires.

“We are also enhancing the readiness of Forest Business Utilization Permit (PBPH) holders, maintaining peatland hydrological conditions and water availability, and consistently carrying out compliance evaluations and law enforcement,” he said.

He added that the ministry also cooperates with relevant stakeholders, including the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), regional disaster management agencies (BPBD), the military, police, local governments, communities, and businesses.

According to him, the measures include patrols and early detection, hotspot verification through ground checks, ground-based firefighting, and efforts to contain fire spread.

“In addition, there is thorough cooling until fires are fully extinguished, aerial patrols, water bombing, and Weather Modification Operations (OMC) in areas and at times that meet meteorological requirements,” Pribadi said.

The government has deployed 53 aircraft in six priority provinces, comprising 19 aircraft for aerial patrols and support for weather modification operations, and 34 aircraft for water bombing.

He also stressed that September is a highly critical period, so operations will focus on regions with concentrated hotspots and active fire incidents.

“Especially West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, without reducing readiness in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, South Kalimantan, and other fire-prone regions,” he said.