TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Wildfires often sweep across Riau, with the region recording over 1,000 hectares razed by the fires since the beginning of 2025.
In July 2025, the prolonged dry season has exacerbated the fires in the province with the largest peatland area in Sumatra. The Riau Provincial Government and the central government are working together to prevent the fire from spreading even further.
Ministry of Environment Seals Sealment Palm Oil Plantations
The Ministry of Environment has taken concrete action to handle wildfires by supervising multiple palm oil plantations to prevent fires. "Every palm oil permit holder must ensure fire is not blazing on its land," he said, as quoted from Antara, July 26, 2025.
The ministry has sealed the palm oil plantations owned by four companies with plantation concession permits and Forest Utilization Business Permits. The plantations owned by PT Adei Crumb Rubber, PT Multi Gambut Industri, PT Tunggal Mitra Plantation, and PT Sumatera Riang Lestari were sealed after the discovery of hotspots within their plantations.
The companies, Rizal said, were sealed because the companies were deemed unable to prevent the fires from occurring. "The entire operations of the factories have been stopped as an environmental security measure," he said, adding that the ministry also collects evidence to support legal action against companies that failed to maintain their plantations.
BMKG Runs Weather Modification
The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) also took part in handling wildfires in Riau. Quoting BMKG's website, BMKG Chief Dwikorita Karnawati explained, "The Riau region, particularly in the third ten-day period of July, is predicted to experience low rainfall, below 20 mm."
This low volume of rainfall will trigger more cases of wildfires, even until next August. Therefore, BMKG and the local government are conducting a Weather Modification Operation, or cloud seeding. "We target a significant increase in peat water table levels of at least 40 cm to suppress the potential for fires," said Deputy of Weather Modification Division at BMKG Tri Handoko Seto.
So far, BMKG has been conducting weather modification to handle wildfires since July 21, 2025, utilizing a total of 15,600 kilograms of seeding material in 17 cloud seeding sorties.
Editor’s Choice: BMKG to Run Weather Modification in Jakarta as Rainfall Persists for Early July
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