2026 Indonesia wildfires
Wildfires in Indonesia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 Indonesia wildfires refers to a series of severe wildfires that occurred in Indonesia during 2026. Data from Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, cited by Reuters, showed that 107,465 hectares (265,552 acres) of land were affected by fires from January through June 2026, an increase of 110% compared with the same period in 2023, when El Niño last affected Indonesia.[1] This figure was updated on August 18, with Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni stating that 202,000 hectares of forests and land had burned across Indonesia.[2]
_under_thick_smoke_haze,_August_2026.jpg)
It is later identified that Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan as priority provinces for fire prevention and response. Fires were also reported in other parts of Indonesia, including Java, Papua, and the Lesser Sunda Islands. According to data from the Ministry of Forestry's Sipongi system as of 20 August 2026, the following are the ten provinces with the largest areas affected by forest and land fires:[3]
| Province | Area (in hectares) |
|---|---|
| West Kalimantan | 38,310.86 |
| South Papua | 25,838.53 |
| East Nusa Tenggara | 19,565.16 |
| West Nusa Tenggara | 17,406.46 |
| Riau | 15,738.92 |
| Maluku | 14,677.00 |
| East Java | 10,835.28 |
| East Kalimantan | 8,019.63 |
| South Kalimantan | 7,634.46 |
| Riau Islands | 5,760.90 |
Cause
In general, human activity has been identified as a major reason behind these fires. The developing Godzilla El Niño and the dry season are believed to not directly causes the fires but rather may act as catalysts by reducing rainfall, thus drying vegetation and peatlands. Large-scale forest clearing for plantation and mining activities is believed to have left the land extremely dry and prone to fire. The use of fire for land clearence is often considered the most efficient method, but in practice it causes the greatest economic and environmental losses.[2]
Another plantation malpractice, involving the construction of drainage canals, is the main cause peatlands, that naturally retain water, to dry out. This makes underground smoldering fires difficult to extinguish and creates the potential for recurring fires over the long term. Illegal logging, which damages vegetation cover and further dries out the soil, combined with prolonged dry seasons, can significantly increase the risk of fires.[4]
Human activities that involved open fire in peatland, mostly land clearing for agricultural or mining purposes, are suspected to be the main driven factor of the wildfires. This made worst by the dry season caused by the developing 2026–2027 El Niño event.[2] This deforestation method is considered to be the most efficient even though it possessed to most economic and environmental risks.[5] Furthermore, drainage canal for palm oil plantation forces the water-storing wet peatland to be dried up. This increases risk of recurring fire in the long run as the subsurface fire from burning peat ember is notoriously hard to extinguish.[5]
Walhi (The Indonesian Forum for the Environment) reported that 74% of the hotspots in Kalimantan were located within corporate concession areas, specifically 10,739 hotspots in oil palm plantation Right to Cultivate (HGU) areas, 7,880 hotspots in mining concessions, and 6,905 hotspots in Forest Utilization Business Permits (PBPH) areas.[4] Meanwhile, National Geographic Indonesia reported that the conflict of interest between business and political entities causes land fires to recur continuously, making the issue difficult to resolved comprehensively.[6]
The Indonesia Ministry of Environment announced that it was investigating 19 unnamed companies linked to the wildfires, of a total of 42 that hold concessions with high wildfire potential.[7]
Papua
As per 20 August 2026, 25,838.53 hectares of land has been burned in South Papua.[3] Massive land clearing for National Strategic Projects, that includes food estate, palm oil plantation, and mining, is criticized to be the driving factor of wildfires in Papua.[8][9][10]
Kalimantan
In July 2026, 200 fire spots is confirmed in 12 regencies in West Kalimantan that burned 28,680.47 hectares of land.[11]
East Kalimantan recorded 1,287.9 hectares of land burned per 11 August from 218 individual events.[12]
South Kalimantan recorded 3,387 hectares of land burned per 11 August.[13]
In 17 August, Central Kalimantan reported 3,657 hectares of forest and land burned spread across 570 hotspots.[14][15]
Lesser Sunda Islands
West Nusa Tenggara reported 8,895.43 hectares affected by wildfires per 20 July.[16]
Sulawesi
Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency classified fire risk in Central Sulawesi at mid to very high risk along 9–15 August period.[17]
Java
Central Java reported 166 instances of wildfires that affected 306 hectares coverage along 2026.[18]
On 3 August, wildfires detected at Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The fire was burning for several days and burned 1,120 hectares of land.[19] The government announced that the fire was only fully extinguished on 14 August, while the national park was opened to the public again on 20 August.[20]
Sumatra
Across January to August, wildfires swept 15,477 hectares of land in Riau. The vast majority of land burned was peatland.[21]
South Sumatra reported 1,382.4 hectares of land burned from January to April.[22]
Jambi reported 619.75 hectares of land affected by wildfires per 16 August.
On 25–26 January, 2,685.43 hectares of protected conservation area was burned in Way Kambas National Park jungle and rehabilitation zone. The wildfires was recurring until July in at least 20 fire spots.[23]
