Neglecting Peatlands Restoration, Threat of Forest and Land Fires (Karhutla) Emerges Again

To prevent and address the forest and land fires (Karhutla) and correct government policies and actions, Pantau Gambut released a study titled "Vulnerability to Forest and Land Fires in 2023 in the Peatland Hydrological Unit (KHG) Areas of Indonesia" on March 2, 2023. The study was conducted on the Peatland Hydrological Unity (KHG) areas to identify the distribution of risk areas prone to fires. Interestingly, some areas that were supposed to have been restored two decades ago were among the areas vulnerable to fires.

Some important notes from Almi Ramadhi's statement as a researcher of this publication:

1. The peatland area with a total area of 16.4 million hectares in Indonesia is vulnerable to fires, with an area of 3.8 million hectares categorised as high-risk and 12.6 million hectares classified as medium risk.
2. In proportion, the South Papua province has the most vulnerable KHG areas. Of the total 1,421 hectares of the KHG area from Ifuleki Bian River to Dalik River, 97% are in the high-risk category.
3. In terms of area, Central Kalimantan province is the most vulnerable, with a total area of more than 1.13 million hectares spread over 13 KHGs. The peatland area at risk in Central Kalimantan could exceed 1.13 million hectares because the researchers set a threshold limit of 20,000 hectares.
4. The former PLG (Peatland Development Project) of one million hectares during the Soeharto era is still in the high risk category, and some of the former PLG is now part of the Food Estate project.
5. Pantau Gambut detected the emergence of 1,275 hotspots, indicating forest and land fires, over four weeks from January to February 2023. Of note, 381 hotspots were located in high-risk areas, and 520 hotspots were in medium-risk areas.