Peatland, Mangrove Management Agency Head Affirms Commitment to Combat Forest Fires, Restore Peatland Ecosystems

Following his inauguration by President Prabowo Subianto at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday (10/15), the newly-inaugurated Head of the National Peatland and Mangrove Management Agency (BPGMN) Satyawan Pudyatmoko affirmed that the agency under his leadership will focus on peatland management, particularly to combat land and forest fires during dry seasons.

He said that peatland fires, which frequently occur during extreme dry seasons, particularly during El Niño seasons, must be addressed to prevent them from disrupting communities’ livelihoods and harming public health.

Satyawan stated that President Prabowo’s directives serve as the foundation for BPGMN to strengthen peatland management and reduce the risk of fires.

“The President has directed us to manage peatlands through BPGMN, so that when extreme dry seasons occur, as what we are experiencing now, fires can be minimized and prevented from disrupting people’s lives or harming public health,” he said.

In addition to peatland management, the agency is also responsible to protect mangrove ecosystems, reduce deforestation, and restore peatland and mangrove ecosystems affected by fires or other forms of degradation. These restoration efforts aim to rehabilitate ecosystems and restore their proper functioning.

Satyawan stated that scientific and technological support, including modeling to assess drought conditions and mapping fire risks, is essential to implementing ecosystem restoration. BPGMN will also involve experts from various fields, including from hydrology, peatland revegetation, socioeconomic studies, and mangrove management.

“We have also been given a target to achieve the goals during a limited time frame. At least, we hope to see a gradual decline in fires, so that fires in those areas will not reoccur. We will also map around 500 Peat Hydrological Units (KHG),” he said.

In the meantime, Deputy Head of the National Peatland and Mangrove Management Agency Sriyanto underscored the importance of interagency collaboration in tackling forest and land fires. He noted that as one of several agencies involved in fire prevention, BPGMN expects stronger coordination between relevant agencies.

According to him, early detection and identification of potential problems is crucial and must be followed up with correlation analysis and projections to determine appropriate response measures. In that case, he added, peatland water level is one of the key indicators that need to be monitored to anticipate fire risks.

“We must be able to detect and identify all existing problems, then conduct correlation analysis and ultimately develop projections. I have seen that some countries can already predict such conditions. Once the peatland water level is identified, for example, we must take immediate action if it falls below 40 centimeters,” he said. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (RAS/TM)