Indonesia braces itself for wildfire, drought ahead of longer dry season

Some areas are expected to experience a dry season lasting 10 months. Read more at straitstimes.com.

JAKARTA – Several wildfire-prone regions in Sumatra and Kalimantan have issued fire alerts as the weather agency predicts the dry season starting later in March will bring even less rainfall and drier weather that can lead to crop failures and increase the risk of severe drought.

The Central Kalimantan provincial administration declared on March 9 a 90-day wildfire alert, with its disaster mitigation agency strengthening surveillance and vigilance to mitigate fires in the heavily-forested province.

Similar warnings have been issued for several regencies in North Sumatra and West Kalimantan after fire hotspots were detected in the past few days.

North Sumatra’s neighbouring province Riau has already issued a 10-month alert in mid-February following rising temperatures and less rainfall intensity that had caused more than 1,000ha of area engulfed by fire since the beginning of 2026 as the province transitioned to the dry season.

According to the latest forecast by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), most regions in Indonesia will enter the dry season between late March and May, with its peak expected to fall in August, including in parts of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java.

The season is expected to be longer than the normal average recorded in the last 30 years, those living in Java, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) will experience the dry season for around 10 months.