Jakarta – The environmental organisation Jikalahari on Friday, February 27, has issued a sharp critique of the Riau Provincial Government, labelling its recent declaration of a forest and land fire (karhutla) emergency status as a superficial measure that fails to address the root causes of the annual crisis. While the Ministry of Forestry (MoF) has mobilised hundreds of personnel to combat active blazes, Jikalahari warns that without structural reform, Riau’s new “green” initiatives are at risk of failure.
“A habit, not a breakthrough”
Jikalahari stated that the emergency status declared by Acting Governor SF Hariyanto on February 13 merely follows the “habits” of previous administrations. Arpiyan Sargita, Deputy Coordinator of Jikalahari, argued that the government remains preoccupied with extinguishing fires while ignoring the underlying issues of damaged peatland hydrology and lack of oversight in high-risk corporate concessions.
Jikalahari’s analysis of satellite data from January to February 23, 2026, revealed 1,023 hotspots across Riau, with 176 of these located within corporate concessions. This includes 43 points in industrial forest plantations (HTI) and 133 in palm oil concessions.
Specific fire incidents were identified in Bengkalis Regency, with approximately 174 hectares burned in Desa Damai and Kelubuk. Within corporate areas, fires were detected in the concessions of PT Satria Perkasa Agung (approximately 26 hectares) and PT Sumatera Riang Lestari (SRL) (approximately 13 hectares inside the concession out of a 78-hectare fire area).
Jikalahari emphasised that these fires directly threaten the GREEN for Riau Initiative (G4RI). Arpiyan warned that “emissions from one season of karhutla can erase years of progress in green programs,” rendering carbon trading and emission reduction targets unreachable without strict law enforcement and peatland restoration.
MoF: Intensive response
On the front lines, the Ministry of Forestry reported that a joint task force—including Manggala Agni, BNPB, TNI, and Polri—is working intensively to localise fires and prevent a smoke haze disaster from reaching residential areas.
As of mid-February, 160 Manggala Agni personnel have been deployed for active firefighting, with another 80 personnel stationed for early detection and patrolling. Reinforcements have been mobilised from various regions, including Jambi, to support efforts in Dumai, Bengkalis, and Pelalawan.
Ferdian Krisnanto, an official from the Ministry’s Directorate General of Law Enforcement, highlighted the extreme challenges facing ground teams. He said the region has seen almost no rain for 20 days. The affected areas are vulnerable peatlands where groundwater levels have dropped to minus 90 cm, making the dry vegetation highly flammable. Many fires are suspected to have originated from uncontrolled land clearing using fire, exacerbated by strong winds.
Firefighting vs. policy
To combat the drought, the government has launched Weather Modification Operations, seeding one ton of salt over Siak and Pekanbaru to induce rain. The current emergency status is slated to remain in effect until November 30, 2026.
However, Jikalahari maintains that technology and firefighting are not enough. They are calling for the full implementation of Regional Regulation (Perda) No. 1 of 2019, which mandates peatland re-zoning by reviewing and restructuring all peatland management licenses; mandatory biennial audits of a company’s fire prevention infrastructure, with results made public and strict Supervision with the government making evaluations of corporate readiness every six months involving NGOs and academics.
“The Acting Governor must not stop at declaring an emergency,” Arpiyan concluded. “He must have the courage to perform compliance audits and evaluate the corporations involved in these fires, something his predecessors never did”. (nsh)
Banner photo: Jikalahari
