South Sumatra (Sumsel) Forest and Forestry: Peat Recovery Needs to Go Beyond Emergency Management

GARISBUMI.com – Handling of forest and land fires in South Sumatra (Sumsel) is starting to be directed at preventing and rehabilitating land. However, the direction of the policy still needs to be clarified through recovery targets, treatment locations and implementation schedules so that progress can be measured by the public.

Governor of South Sumatra (Sumsel) Herman Deru together with Minister of the Environment Moh. Jumhur Hidayat visited a number of locations handling forest and land fires in Tulung Selapan District, Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) Regency, Sunday (1/11/2026).

According to information from the South Sumatra (Sumsel) Diskominfo, the visit was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of emergency management as well as finalizing long-term strategies for peat ecosystem restoration.

From blackout to prevention

During the visit, Herman Deru expressed his hope that large-scale fires would not continue to recur. He mentioned prevention and land rehabilitation as the next focus.

"We agree, hopefully 2026 will be the end of massive forest and land fire incidents. In the future, our focus will be prevention and land rehabilitation," said Herman Deru.

This statement is the hope and direction of regional government policy, not a certainty that the threat of forest and land fires has ended. The information submitted does not contain data regarding the current fire conditions, the size of the affected area, or the results of evaluations of emergency management at the locations reviewed.