10 Most Fire-Prone Peatland Hydrological Areas in 2023

Pantau Gambut has mapped several Peat Hydrological Units (PHUs) with a high-risk category of experiencing forest and land fires (karhutla) in 2023.

Generally, peat areas totaling 16.4 million hectares in Indonesia are susceptible to fire. Of this area, 3.8 million hectares are categorized as high risk, and 12.6 million hectares are categorized as medium risk.

Proportionally, South Papua has the highest number of vulnerable PHUs in the high-risk category. 97% of the total 1,421 hectares of the Ifuleki Bian-Sungai Dalik River PHU area are at a high-risk level.

Second is the Kedupan-Sungai Layah River, East Kalimantan, with a 96% vulnerability proportion. Third is the Siriwo River, Central Papua, with a 94% proportion.

The proportion calculation is an analysis of the division of the area of each vulnerability class based on the area of its reference, in this case, the PHU. For example, if there is a PHU with an area of 100 hectares and 80 hectares are high-risk, then the proportion is 80% (80/100).

"This proportion calculation is necessary to see the percentage of each vulnerability class in one PHU area," wrote researcher Almi Ramadhi from Pantau Gambut in his report received by Databoks.

The research methodology of this document was carried out in several stages. First, data collection and determination of sub-variable scores. Second, regression for determining the weight of significant variables and data models. Third, vulnerability analysis.

Almi used a 2015-2019 dataset to determine the weight and score model over 5 years. Additionally, a 2020 dataset was used to conduct vulnerability analysis.

Below are the 10 PHU areas with the highest karhutla vulnerability in 2023:

1. Sungai Ifuleki Bian-Sungai Dalik PHU, South Papua
Total land: 1,421 hectares
High risk: 1,374 hectares
Proportion: 97%

2. Sungai Kedupan-Sungai Layah PHU, East Kalimantan
Total land: 10,542 hectares
High risk: 10,070 hectares
Proportion: 96%

3. Sungai Siriwo PHU, Central Papua
Total land: 812 hectares
High risk: 765 hectares
Proportion: 94%

4. Sungai Beberi-Sungai Way Mesuji PHU, South Sumatra
Total land: 8,639 hectares
High risk: 7,665 hectares
Proportion: 89%

5. Sungai Ifileki Bian-Sungai Lekiage Sentuf PHU, South Papua
Total land: 6,950 hectares
High risk: 6,150 hectares
Proportion: 88%

6. Sungai Ifuleki Onam-Sungai Lekiage Wagini PHU, South Papua
Total land: 268 hectares
High risk: 237 hectares
Proportion: 88%

7. Sungai Alekikos Bakian-Sungai Ifuleki Bian PHU, South Papua
Total land: 2,133 hectares
High risk: 1,873 hectares
Proportion: 88%

8. Sungai Tandatuan-Sungai Beberi PHU, South Sumatra-Lampung
Total land: 8,707 hectares
High risk: 7,638 hectares
Proportion: 88%

9. Sungai Ajari-Sungai Kubai PHU, Central Papua
Total land: 1,494 hectares
High risk: 1,307 hectares
Proportion: 87%

10. Sungai Sangku-Bah Kambang PHU, West Sumatra
Total land: 4,853 hectares
High risk: 4,035 hectares
Proportion: 83%

(Also read: 10 Deadliest Forest Fires in History)