Forest fire in Indonesia still high in 2025 despite wetter dry season

or an area larger than three Jakartas, have indications of being burned down between January and August. Almost 100,000 ha were engulfed by fire in July alone, nearly twice the area burned in July 2023 when the country was hit by the El Niño weather phenomenon which resulted in a prolonged, hotter dry season. Of the total figure, around 42 percent, or 80,000 ha, of burned land is located in concession areas linked to oil palm plantations, oil and gas industries and mineral mining. For the analysis, Madani analyzed satellite imageries to monitor hotspots, or areas recorded over having higher temperatures compared to their surroundings. The similar method is also used by the Forestry Ministry to monitor potential forest fire sites for its official wildfire monitoring platform Sipongi, which recorded 6,000 ha less burned land than Madani in the same period. Indonesia typically enters the dry season in April, with the month often marked with increasing rates of forest and land fires ...