Academia
Fire mitigation succeeds when risk is viewed as a shared responsibility. No single actor can tackle the threat of fire alone.
An aerial view shows a fire burning shrubs on peatland in Cot Seumeureng village, Samatiga district, West Aceh, Aceh, on July 19, 2026. (Antara/Syifa Yulinnas)
As climate experts warn of a prolonged El Niño that could potentially continue into early 2027, Indonesia once again faces a classic and daunting threat: forest and land fires. A prolonged El Niño will severely test Indonesia’s ecological resilience.The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reports that the surge in hot spots has already entered the red zone. West Kalimantan recorded the nation’s most severe escalation with 1,083 hot spots burning thousands of hectares of land.
The socioeconomic and health impacts will not be confined to Indonesia but will also spread to neighboring countries, as this will heighten the risk of transboundary haze and spark an ecological crisis in the region.
