Government reactivates forest-fire coordination desk for 2026-2027
Six provinces are flagged as high-risk, including Riau, Sumatera Selatan, and three provinces in Kalimantan.
The government has reactivated the Forest and Land Fire Control Coordination Desk to prepare for potential forest and land fires in 2026 and 2027 amid the threat of El Nino. The decision was announced by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Djamari Chaniago at a special coordination meeting on forest-fire control at the Manggala Wanabakti building in Jakarta on Thursday. The government has mapped six provinces as facing higher risk: Riau, Jambi, Sumatera Selatan, Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Tengah, and Kalimantan Selatan. The desk is being reactivated to make interagency coordination more effective and avoid overlap. Agencies involved include BNPB, Polri, TNI, the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and regional governments.