Recent Active Fires under El Niño Conditions in Kalimantan, Indonesia

Analysis of the most recent 10-year periods (2002 to 2011) of MODIS hotspots data (fires) and precipitation in Palangkaraya and Pontianak was carried out to identify seasonal and spatial fire occurrence in Kalimantan under El Niño conditions, and to asses future forest condition in Kalimantan. Most data was tallied every 10-day to analyze seasonal and spatial fire occurrence. Seasonal and spatial analysis results for severe fire years, namely 2006 and 2009, under El Niño conditions were as follows: the severest fire incidents for whole Kalimantan occurred in October in 2006 under the driest conditions in both Palangkaraya and Pontianak. The severest fires for the Mega Rice Project (MRP) area and its vicinity occurred in late September in 2009 under the driest conditions for Palangkaraya. Fire activities in the last 10-year in south Central Kalimantan were severe than other areas in Kalimantan. This may be explained by different dry conditions of peat. Namely, the peat in the southern part of Central Kalimantan could become dryer under the relatively longer dry season (about 3-month) compared with other areas (dry season in West Kalimantan is only 2/3-month). One of spatial analysis results clearly showed a so-called a fire belt shape arising from severe fires that occurred mainly on the southern coastal peatlands from West to Central Kalimantan in mid October in 2006.