KLHK Detects 492 Hotspots in Indonesia, Most in West Kalimantan (Monday, March 16, 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 that 492 hotspots have been detected in Indonesia. This number of hotspots has decreased by 219 points compared to the previous period.

The data is the result of imagery from Terra/Aqua, SNPP, and NOAA satellites accessed on Monday (March 16, 2026) at 11:47 WIB. Of the 492 detected hotspots, 27 have a high hotspot confidence level, 443 are medium-scale, and 22 are low-scale.

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

(Read: Data on the Number of Flooded Houses Due to Natural Disasters in Indonesia in 2014-2014)

The most detected hotspots are in West Kalimantan, with 213 points. East Kalimantan ranks second with 56 hotspots, and Riau is third with 31 hotspots.

25 hotspots were detected in Bengkulu, followed by South Sulawesi with 25 hotspots, while Central Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan have 22 and 15 detected hotspots respectively.

A hotspot is a coordinate point in an area with a higher surface temperature than its surroundings, and it does 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 that satellite remote sensing hotspot detection data remains the most effective way to monitor forest and land fires over large areas.

(Read: Number of Natural Disaster Incidents in Java Island Provinces 2020-2024)