South Papua Forest Fires Made a BNPB Priority, Weather Modification Operation Extended

BNPB has made South Papua's forest fires a priority as burned areas fell from 1,742 to 695 hectares. Weather modification has been extended to 5 November, with BMKG urging carefully measured cloud seeding.

Merauke, desabersuara.id – The forest and land fires (karhutla) surrounding South Papua Province have been designated one of the priority areas for response by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). BNPB’s head of disaster data, information and communication, Berton SP Panjaitan, said that as of 1 November 2026 the burned area had fallen from 1,742 hectares to 695 hectares. Even so, firefighting must be stepped up as hundreds of hectares are still not fully extinguished.

Hotspots Concentrated in an Oil Palm Concession

Aerial monitoring by BNPB head Lt. Gen. Kristomei Sianturi and BMKG head Teuku Faisal showed thick smoke still blanketing Merauke Regency. Most of the remaining hotspots are concentrated in the Jago Merah–Tanah Miring cluster and the Okaba area. Satellite and direct observations also revealed that the most dominant concentration of hotspots lies inside the concession of a private oil palm plantation company.

In response, Kristomei stressed the need for stricter prevention. Monitoring of any land clearing by burning will be a top priority to stop the fires from spreading again. Outreach will also target communities in border areas who often clear large farm plots by burning.

Measured Weather Modification Extended

To speed up wetting of the land, the government has extended the Weather Modification Operation (OMC) over South Papua until 5 November 2026. The operation has so far completed 13 sorties, seeding 13,000 kilograms of salt (NaCl) into potential rain clouds. It has begun to show results, with light to moderate rain falling in several districts of Boven Digoel, Mappi, Asmat and Merauke over the past week.

While rain is badly needed, BMKG head Teuku Faisal warned that cloud seeding must be precisely calculated. Artificial rainfall must be carefully controlled so it does not trigger follow-on disasters such as floods, as happened earlier with excessive weather modification in Sumatra. Ground firefighting and field verification remain the front line to make sure every hotspot is truly out.

Editor’s note: This article is summarized from Portal Jatim, Detik News and Kompas.