According to data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), the estimated area of forest and land fires (karhutla) in Indonesia from January to August 2023 reached 267,935.59 hectares (ha).
This area is more than three thousand times the size of the Monas (National Monument), which is only 80 ha.
The following is a list of the 10 provinces with the largest estimated area of forest and land fires from January to August 2023:
1. West Kalimantan: 54,402 ha
2. East Nusa Tenggara: 50,396 ha
3. West Nusa Tenggara: 26,453 ha
4. South Kalimantan: 24,588 ha
5. South Papua: 22,121 ha
6. East Java: 18,780 ha
7. Central Kalimantan: 18,058 ha
8. Maluku: 9,312 ha
9. Central Java: 5,376 ha
10. West Java: 4,641 ha
Cumulatively, the national area of forest and land fires from January to August 2023 has exceeded the total for the whole of 2022. This means that the intensity of fires this year is higher than last year.
From January to August 2023, Indonesian forest and land fires emitted 32.9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), also higher than the 23.5 million tons of CO2e emitted throughout 2022.
According to findings from the non-profit organization Madani Berkelanjutan, from January to August 2023, forest and land fires occurred most frequently in areas of human activity, namely Other Land Use (APL) and Production Forests.
APL refers to areas outside state forest areas designated for development outside the forestry sector.
Production Forests are state forest areas whose main function is to produce forest products, both to meet the needs of the general public and for the needs of development, industry, and export.
In response to this situation, Madani Berkelanjutan provided several recommendations to the Indonesian government, ranging from increasing efforts to prevent and mitigate karhutla in vulnerable areas, prioritizing fire suppression in burned peatland areas, to halting the granting of industrial permits in natural forest areas and peatland ecosystems.
"Karhutla also threatens Indonesia's commitment to reducing emissions, as enshrined in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and FOLU Net Sink 2030 documents. The government's target of zero karhutla by 2030 is facing a major challenge," they said.