Jakarta. The Environment Ministry is preparing to deploy weather modification technology to accelerate rainfall over forest areas affected by wildfires in several provinces across Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said the technology is designed to speed up the formation of rain clouds to help extinguish multiple fire hotspots scattered throughout the regions. According to Hanif, peatlands, once drained, lose their ability to retain water, making them highly susceptible to burning during the dry season.

“Technically, these lands won’t catch fire unless they are deliberately set ablaze, so they must be properly protected,” Hanif said on Tuesday.

The weather modification operations will be carried out in coordination with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), and the Environment Ministry.

Hanif added that the government has identified seven potential cloud formation zones suitable for artificial rain operations.

The initiative also aims to reduce health risks from haze caused by the fires. Air quality in several affected areas has already reached hazardous levels, Hanif said.

“We will continue cloud seeding operations until the situation is under control. Once natural rainfall begins, we’ll adjust our cloud targeting accordingly,” he added.

Earlier, BMKG issued an early warning about a heightened wildfire risk across various parts of Indonesia, particularly during the August 1–11, 2025 period. As of Aug. 1, satellite monitoring by BMKG detected 33 high-confidence hotspots, most of them located in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

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