Ministry of Environment and Forestry Detects 711 Hotspots in Indonesia, Most in West Kalimantan (Sunday, March 15, 2026)

Based on the SiPongi forest and land fire monitoring system of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), monitoring over the last 24 hours shows 711 hotspots detected in Indonesia. This number is an increase of 61 hotspots compared to the previous period.

The data is the result of imagery from Terra/Aqua, SNPP, and NOAA satellites accessed on Sunday (March 15, 2026) at 11:47 WIB. Of the 711 detected hotspots, 32 have a high confidence level, 594 are medium-scale, and 85 are low-scale.

Hotspot confidence levels are divided into 3 scales: low scale ranges from 0 - 29, medium scale from 30 - 79, and high scale from 80 - 100. The higher the hotspot confidence level, the greater the likelihood of forest and land fires occurring in a particular area.

(Read: Indonesia Has the Most Active Volcanoes in the World)

The most hotspots were detected in West Kalimantan, with 333. Central Kalimantan ranks second with 85 hotspots, and Riau third with 78.

36 hotspots were detected in East Kalimantan, followed by the Riau Islands with 24, and North Maluku and South Sulawesi with 20 and 19 respectively.

Hotspots are coordinate points in an area with a higher surface temperature than the surrounding area, and do not represent the number of forest and land fire incidents.

However, a large number of clustered hotspots in an area indicates the occurrence of forest and land fires. This means satellite remote sensing hotspot data remains the most effective tool for monitoring forest and land fires across large areas.

(Read: Volcanic Eruption Trends in Recent Years)