Jakarta, October 13, 2026 — President Prabowo Subianto on Monday ordered the mobilization of additional resources to combat forest and land fires, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan, calling the response a top government priority.
During a hybrid limited meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Prabowo praised local administrations, the National Police and regional military commands for their efforts to tackle the fires, adding that he was ready to provide all necessary resources to accelerate firefighting operations.
“Should there be any need, anything that requires immediate attention, please do not hesitate to tell us,” Prabowo said. “This [the forest and land fires] is a top priority for us. We must resolve it immediately,” he added.
Forest and land fires have ravaged parts of Indonesia, particularly across six provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan, over the past three months.
The government has been working around the clock to extinguish the fires, but efforts have faced severe challenges as many blazes occur on peatlands, where fires spread beneath the surface. A prolonged dry season has further complicated firefighting efforts by drying up local water sources.
According to data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) as of Oct 12, fires have affected 129,899 hectares of peatland, of which 129,260 hectares have been extinguished through joint efforts involving volunteers, local administrations, communities and government agencies.
With firefighting efforts a top priority, Prabowo also ordered an increase in the number of forest rangers to 70,000 to protect forests from environmental threats, including fires. He also called for stronger grassroots prevention measures to prevent similar cases from happening in the future.
“We must step in to combat and prevent the fire in the most massive way possible,” he added.
BNPB head Suharyanto, who also attended the meeting, said the firefighting task force had been working tirelessly through both ground and aerial operations in six priority provinces: Riau, South Sumatra, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.
However, he identified Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan as the main operational priorities, noting that fires in remote areas had made it difficult for the task force to reach affected locations.
In Central Kalimantan, the government is paying particular attention to fires approaching Tanjung Puting National Park, renowned as the world’s largest orangutan habitat and conservation area. As of Oct 12, fires had burned 513.89 hectares within the park, Suharyanto said.
“Even though it does not sit on peatlands, we put so much effort into fighting the fires in Tanjung Puting,” he said.
Suharyanto added that the government, with support from regional military commands, had deployed additional personnel for ground firefighting operations in both provinces. However, aerial firefighting operations—including water bombing and weather modification—had been temporarily postponed as smoke haze had reduced visibility for aircraft.
Despite the challenges, Suharyanto said the government remained committed to deploying all available resources to contain the fires.
“We will work hard, mobilize everything we have while waiting for the rainy season to come, which we expect to begin this month,” he said.
