Tropical peatlands store vast volumes of carbon belowground. Human land uses have led to their degradation, reducing their carbon storage services. Clearing and drainage make peatlands susceptible to surface and belowground fires. Satellites do not readily detect smouldering peat fires, which release globally significant quantities of aerosols and climate-influencing gases. Despite national and international desire to improve management of these fires, few published results exist for in situ tropical peat fire behaviour and associated carbon emissions. We present new field methodology for calculating rates of fire spread within degraded peat (average spread rates, vertical 0.8 cm h⁻¹, horizontal 2.7 cm h⁻¹) and associated peat volume losses (102 m³ ha⁻¹ in August, 754 m³ ha⁻¹ in September) measured at six peat fire sites in Kalimantan, Indonesia, in 2015. Utilizing locally collected bulk density and emission factors, total August and September gas emissions of 27.2 t ha⁻¹ (8.1 tC ha⁻¹) and 200.7 t ha⁻¹ (60.2 tC ha⁻¹) were estimated. We provide much needed, but currently lacking, IPCC Tier 3-level data to improve GHG estimates from tropical peat fires. We demonstrate how calculations of total emission estimates can vary greatly in magnitude (+798% to −26%) depending on environmental conditions, season, peat burn depth methodology, bulk density and emission factors data sources, and assumed versus observed combustion factors. This illustrates the importance of in situ measurements and the need for more refined methods to improve accuracies of GHG estimates from tropical peat fires.

Water management is an important aspect of hydrological restoration and fire prevention in tropical peatland because the availability of water is not well distributed in the dry and rainy seasons. The degraded peatlands with massive canalization are very vulnerable against peat fire especially in the dry season. A pilot project for water management was conducted at Tanjung Leban, Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province with the purpose not only for hydrological restoration but also for fire prevention. In 2013, 2014, and 2015, the big peat fires occurred at Tanjung Leban and many peatland areas in Riau which caused a haze disaster. Peatland restoration and peat fire prevention efforts have been continuously undertaken by Peatland Restoration Agency and stakeholders at Tanjung Leban and many peatland areas in Riau. The rewetting, revegetation, and revitalization of livelihood were the integrated approaches that were carried out to support the peatland restoration. The aim of this research is to monitor the hydrological condition as the impact of rewetting activities using canal blocking at Tanjung Leban. Forty dip wells in four transects and an automatic rainfall record equipment were set up in the research area to monitor the groundwater level (GWL) and the rainfall event as the impact of rewetting activities. The result shows that the rewetting activity using canal blocking has a significant impact on the rewetting effort so that the risk of peat fire can be minimized. The historical evidence shows that the peatland restoration has been improving after the peatland areas were kept in always wet conditions.

Forest fire is one of the environmental problems that often occurs and is considered important so that it becomes a local and global concern. Forest and land fires are an event that often occurs in Indonesian territory, especially on the island of Kalimantan. Climate is one of the natural factors that can support the occurrence of forest fires, because climatic conditions can affect the dryness of surface fuels. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between hotspots and rainfall on forest fires in Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan in the 2017-2021 period. The data used in this study are hotspots using the Terra/Aqua-MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite, administrative area data, and rainfall data. The results showed that the highest rainfall was in March of 393 mm/month and the lowest in September was 70 mm/month. High and low rainfall can indicate hotspots which are one of the factors causing forest and land fires. The highest number of hotspots in Pulang Pisau during the 2017-2021 period occurred in 2019 with 3,424 points and the lowest in 2020 with 2 hotspots. This indicates an increase and decrease in rainfall related to the large number of hotspots. Keywords: rainfall, hotspots, fires, Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan

Forest and land fires (Karhutla) are a phenomenon that often occurs in Indonesia every year. Moreover, there are many changes in land use, such as on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. For example, in Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan. Climatic factors can affect the occurrence of forest and land fires. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between hotspots and rainfall on the occurrence of forest and land fires in Indonesia 2019 to 2020. This study used NASA MODIS hotspot data, administrative maps, and rainfall data from the BMKG. The results of this study indicate that rainfall is very influential on the number of hotspots, if the rainfall is low then the hotspots is high and vice versa. July to November is the dry season in 2019, while 2020 is from August to October. From the results of the P-Value correlation test, only South Kalimantan Province is below the 0.05 limit, which is 0.041. Meanwhile, from the results of the R-Person correlation test, Jambi Province has a positive notation (+). Which means that rainfall has no effect on the number of hotspots in the two provinces. Keywords: correlation, fire, hotspot, modis, precipitation

The recurring issue of forest and land fires, especially during the dry season, poses a persistent challenge in Indonesia. Conventional firefighting efforts using water as the primary extinguishing agent have not proven entirely effective in preventing and reducing the extent of burned areas. This research aims to explore the potential use of gel as an alternative in combating forest and land fires. The research methodology involves preparation, oven testing, burning experiments, as well as observation and evaluation. Various fuel types, including needle leaf litter, broadleaf litter, and understory litter, were examined along with Gel Pack Extinguishing Agent (GPEA) at varying doses (0g/100ml water, 1g/100ml water, 2g/100ml water, and 3g/100ml water). The results indicate significant differences with the highest efficiency observed at a dose of 1g/100ml water for needle leaf litter, 2g/100ml water for broadleaf litter, and 1g/100ml water for understory litter. Keywords: forest and land fires, Gel Pack Extinguishing Agent, extinction

Floods and fires are part of the ecological regime in many wetlands, yet their interconnectedness is poorly explored. Climate extremes, such as droughts and heatwaves, are increasing fire frequency and intensity, while changing rainfall patterns make floods more unpredictable. These events shape wetland physiognomy, species composition, and functioning. Different wetlands experience varying fire exposure; seasonally inundated grasslands burn almost annually, whereas tropical forests rarely catch fire. Some wetlands are more resilient to fire, drought, and floods than others. Communities dependent on wetlands possess ecological knowledge that supports adaptation, enhancing ecosystem resilience. Though often studied separately, floods and fires in wetlands are interrelated. In addition to environmental aspects, social, cultural and associated traditional knowledge dimensions must be included in conservation processes for these environments. A holistic understanding is crucial for conservation. Researchers from sixteen countries propose a new field of study on flood-fire interactions to improve wetland management and sustainability.