TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Forestry Ministry has recorded 4,449 hotspots in Riau Province from January 1 to July 20, 2025. Deputy Minister of Forestry, Sulaiman Umar Siddiq, has urged everyone to remain vigilant to prevent the spread of forest and land fires.
"The current climate and weather conditions in Riau Province require our collective attention," he said in a written statement on Monday, July 21, 2025.
The hotspot data is recorded through the Forestry Ministry's Forest and Land Fire Monitoring System (SiPongi). During the specified period, the highest number of hotspots was observed in Rokan Hilir Regency (1,767 hotspots), followed by Rokan Hulu (1,114 hotspots), and Dumai (333 hotspots). Notably, this month alone has seen 3,031 recorded hotspots.
Affected Areas and Land Types
Meanwhile, forest and land fires in Riau during the January-May 2025 period affected an area of 751.08 hectares. The vast majority, 695.72 hectares (96.23 percent), were peatland, while 55.37 hectares (7.37 percent) were mineral land.
Based on land cover, 16.45 hectares (2.19 percent) were forested areas, and 734.63 hectares (97.81 percent) were non-forested areas. Considering land function, 14.22 percent of the affected area was within designated forest areas, and 85.78 percent was in other land use areas (APL).
"Synergy, collaboration, and solid cooperation from all stakeholders are key to controlling forest and land fires in Indonesia," Sulaiman emphasized.
Response and Weather Modification Efforts
Indications of smoke from spreading fires in Rokan Hilir Regency have been detected since July 19. The ongoing dry season poses a significant risk of transboundary smoke, with prevailing wind directions from the southeast or southwest towards the northwest or northeast.
Sulaiman also mentioned that weather modification operations have been carried out by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), and private partners. Operations conducted from July 21-27 have involved 14 flights dispersing 12,600 kilograms of NaCl to induce rain.
These actions will continue, with weather modification efforts extending beyond Riau to include South Sumatra, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and East Kalimantan.
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