BNPB: 98 Percent of Peatland Fires Extinguished

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) says around 98 percent of peatland fires in six priority provinces across Sumatra and Kalimantan have been extinguished through ground and aerial operations.

BNPB Head, Suharyanto said during a limited meeting on the latest developments in natural disaster management that joint operations had extinguished 71,069.65 hectares of peatland fires out of a total 72,009.10 hectares burned across the six provinces.

"We have successfully extinguished 71,069.65 hectares across the six provinces as of today. This is the total area of peatland that has been burned in the six provinces. Peatlands are particularly difficult to extinguish," Suharyanto said on Monday, September 7, 2026.

The largest burned area was recorded in West Kalimantan at 38,310.86 hectares, followed by Riau with 15,738.92 hectares and South Kalimantan with 8,019.63 hectares. Meanwhile, Central Kalimantan recorded 7,634.46 hectares, South Sumatra 1,926.23 hectares, and Jambi 379 hectares.

BNPB said the burned areas include concession land as well as community-owned land and forest areas. The data were obtained through a multilayered monitoring process, beginning with the identification of hotspots using satellite data by the Ministry of Forestry together with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG).

High-confidence hotspots were then verified through aerial patrols using helicopters and ground patrols to determine whether the hotspots were actual fires or originated from other heat sources. Areas confirmed to have been burned were subsequently targeted through ground and aerial firefighting operations.

"We identified the areas that were actually burned. Those areas were then extinguished through ground and aerial operations," Suharyanto said.

With 71,069.65 hectares already extinguished, around 939.45 hectares remain targeted for firefighting efforts. BNPB continues to conduct firefighting operations while maintaining heightened vigilance, as new hotspots may still emerge and previously extinguished fires can reignite due to the characteristics of peatland.