President Prabowo, Experts, Academics Discuss Peatland Management, Forest Fire Prevention

President Prabowo Subianto Thursday (09/24) held a discussion on effective peatland management and comprehensive preventive measures to tackle forest and land fires, with a number of experts and academics, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

Head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Teuku Faisal Fathani said that during the meeting, President Prabowo paid close attention to various views and inputs from experts from several universities and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

“We discussed many issues. We also listened to inputs from experts from several universities and the National Research and Innovation Agency,” he told the media after the meeting.

According to him, the discussion focused on three main issues, namely: measures to tackle fires, management and preservation of peatland ecosystems, and selection of suitable crops and plant varieties for cultivation in peatland areas.

The discussion also dealt with the efforts to immediately strengthen the measures already implemented in the field, including optimizing the Ground Task Force (Satgas Darat) to tackle fires directly. It also covered firefighting techniques such as shallow drilling to find water sources which can then be pumped using portable pumps.

“For now, we need to strengthen the capacity of Satgas Darat which can directly tackle forest and land fires in affected areas. Several approaches and techniques were discussed, including shallow drilling to find water sources which can then be pumped using portable pumps to extinguish fires within a radius of approximately 200 meters from the drilling point,” Faisal said.

He also mentioned that communities around the affected areas play an important role. The discussion also included the efforts to strengthen the community fire-awareness groups to help suppress fires and prevent fires from occurring in the areas where the communities live.

On that occasion, experts emphasized the importance of maintaining peatland moisture in order to prevent the fires. Peatland surfaces should remain covered with vegetation to prevent excessive evaporation, which can dry out the peat and make it more susceptible to fire.

“The key is to maintain the peatland water level, so as not to fall more than 40 centimeters below the ground surface. This technique is expected to keep the peat sufficiently saturated and moist so that it is less susceptible to fire,” he added.

The efforts will be strengthened by preserving the peatland ecosystems and their underground water reserves. In addition, weather modification operations can also be used when cloud conditions are conducive. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (RAS/TM)