By: Bintang Aditya Pratama
Young Writer

Grade 9 - Al Lathif Islamic International School

Forest and land fires (Karhutla) are a recurring environmental crisis in Indonesia, especially during the dry season and El Niño events. Common narratives often position extreme climate conditions as the primary cause of this disaster. However, the impact goes far beyond air pollution that threatens public health and disrupts children's education. It also affects people's livelihoods and tarnishes Indonesia's credibility in the eyes of the international community in terms of environmental management. This condition raises a crucial question: why does this recurring crisis seem so difficult to stop?

In 2026, Indonesia has once again experienced a surge in forest and land fires, particularly in Kalimantan, which contains millions of hectares of peatland. According to data from the Central Kalimantan Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) as of 30 August 2026, there were 49,551 hotspots and 2,222 forest and land fire incidents, with a burned area of 6,358.71 hectares in Central Kalimantan. Although this scale has not matched the mega-disasters of 1997–1998 or 2015, the recurring pattern of fires in the same geographic areas shows that Karhutla is not merely a natural disaster, but also a manifestation of unresolved land-management problems.

ECOLOGICAL ROOT CAUSE: DRAINAGE CANALS AND PEATLAND DEGRADATION

Most people would think that the problem lies in the dry season and El Niño, while others argue that land is deliberately burned to clear it for agricultural or plantation activities. Yet, not enough attention is given to the condition of the land itself.

Soil plays a fundamental role in storing water and maintaining soil structure, organic matter, porosity, groundwater levels, and vegetation cover. When these natural functions are disrupted, the land becomes highly vulnerable to drying and fire during the dry season.

This is particularly important because Kalimantan contains approximately 4.5 million hectares of peatland. Peatlands are naturally wet ecosystems because they store large amounts of water. When their water table remains sufficiently high, peatlands are much less vulnerable to fire. However, extensive drainage canals constructed for land development and other activities can disrupt peatland hydrology, lower the water table, and accelerate drying. As a result, peat becomes highly vulnerable to fire and allows flames to spread more easily across the landscape.

This condition has therefore become one of the important factors contributing to peatland drying and fire. Drainage changes the natural hydrological system of peatland, creating a cycle in which dry peat becomes easier to burn, while repeated fires further damage the ecosystem and make future recovery more difficult.

Once this happens, the challenge is not only to restore the land, but also to provide safe habitats for wildlife whose natural spaces have been converted or destroyed by fire.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DILEMMA AND WEAK LAW ENFORCEMENT

Although El Niño has a strong influence on increasing fire risk, it is not sufficient to explain why fires keep occurring in the same regions. Weather determines when land becomes dry and vulnerable to fire, but land and peatland management largely determine how far and how widely the fire can spread.

Even as the Government works hard through ground and aerial firefighting and weather modification, law enforcement must remain a priority. The Government must ensure that concession holders fulfill their responsibility to prevent and manage fires within the areas they control. When companies are proven to have violated regulations or failed to fulfill their responsibilities, firm sanctions must be imposed as a deterrent.

In addition, as a long-term strategy, the Government needs to restore peatland that has already been degraded and dried out to reduce the risk of recurring fires. The Government can also work with institutions and organizations that have expertise in ecological restoration and peatland management.

However, peatland restoration in Kalimantan often faces a socio-economic dilemma. For years, peatland has been used for agriculture, plantations, and other economic activities that provide livelihoods for local communities.

This creates a difficult choice. If communities are asked to stop using peatland for their livelihoods, what alternatives will they have to meet their daily needs?

Therefore, peatland protection should not simply mean asking communities to abandon their livelihoods. The Government needs to provide alternative economic opportunities, technical assistance, and community-based management schemes so that environmental protection does not come at the expense of people's livelihoods.

One possible approach is Social Forestry combined with peat-friendly agricultural practices. Through appropriate community-based management, local communities can gain legal access to manage land while maintaining the hydrological function of peatlands. Commodities suitable for wet peatland conditions, such as sago, jelutung, and purun reed, can provide alternative sources of income while supporting peatland conservation.

In this way, peatland restoration does not have to become a conflict between environmental protection and community welfare. Both can be pursued together if the Government provides realistic economic alternatives and involves local communities in managing their own environment.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, stopping forest and land fires cannot be achieved through firefighting alone. Prevention must begin long before the fire starts through serious law enforcement, adequate funding for peatland restoration, better peatland management, and meaningful community involvement.

The Government also needs a clear and consistent commitment from the country's highest leadership to ensure that policies for preventing and managing forest and land fires are implemented continuously, not only when the fires have already become a national concern.

If every year we only focus on putting out the fire while leaving the degraded land that makes the fire easier to spread untouched, the same problem will continue to return.

The author hopes that Indonesians will not merely stand by, but will take part in protecting forests and peatlands from unsustainable exploitation. Protecting these ecosystems is not only about preventing fires today, but also about ensuring that the land, communities, and wildlife that depend on them still have a future.