WEST KALIMANTAN — Wildfires in Indonesia are burning within 200 metres of the Rangkong research station. Scientists stated that without intervention or large firebreaks, the fires will reach Cabang Panti in 20 days.

The Rangkong research station is a satellite of the Cabang Panti research station. The Cabang Panti research station is located approximately four miles north of the Rangkong research station in Gunung Palung National Park. More than 2,500 Bornean orangutans are estimated to inhabit Gunung Palung National Park. Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) are classified as critically endangered.

Cheryl Knott has led scientific research on orangutans at Cabang Panti for 32 years. "Orangutans are fleeing from these forests. It’s just horrible," said Knott, professor of biological anthropology at Boston University.

"Five orangutans from our long-term study population were observed fleeing the fire, some only metres from the flames," said Wahyu Susanto, research director for Yayasan Palung. "These are individuals that we have followed and studied for years," he added.

A team of more than 40 people, including field assistants, staff, and local villagers, are fighting the fires near Rangkong research station. Firefighters constructed a firebreak and an improvised sprinkler system using a punctured hose line to saturate the surrounding peat. An orangutan named Sampurna received emergency treatment in the village of Kuala Satong after being rescued from wildfires in West Kalimantan province.

Caitlin O’Connell is the deputy director of the Gunung Palung orangutan conservation programme. "The issue has surpassed any local organisation’s capacity," she said. "We need large-scale water bombing and skilled firefighters." She noted that "the hotspots are everywhere." "I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say that what we thought couldn’t burn could actually completely disappear if we’re looking at these dry conditions going on for months," O’Connell said.

Andrew Marshall ran an ecological research project at Cabang Panti from 2000 to 2020. "[Cabang Panti] protects what has been, until now, one of the only truly ecologically intact tracts of lowland tropical rainforest in Borneo," said Marshall, professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan. "Without long-term, continuously collected field data, we cannot understand how tropical ecosystems are adapting to or suffering from global climate shifts," he added.

"The long-term nature of this database and the detailed nature of the database is unparalleled," said Knott. Research at Cabang Panti established that orangutans give birth once every eight years.

"The orangutans need the forest," said Knott. "If all we have left is the building, what are we studying if the orangutans are all gone, and the food they have is all gone? They can’t survive without that forest." She warned that "you can’t just shove them all together in what remains of the forest." Most of the wildfires were intentionally set to clear land.

An extremely strong El Niño has caused exceptionally hot and dry conditions across Indonesia. Some areas in West Kalimantan province have experienced little to no rainfall for months. Indonesian meteorologists predict an intense fire season persisting through October. Climate forecasts point to a strengthening El Niño.

Why It Matters

The fires threaten not just the station but the ecological integrity required for the study subjects to survive. Local capacity is insufficient to handle the scale of the fire season. The potential loss of the Cabang Panti site would eliminate a critical source of data on how tropical ecosystems respond to climate shifts. The survival of the critically endangered Bornean orangutan population in the park depends on the preservation of this intact lowland rainforest.

What's New

Later reporting confirmed that wildfires in Indonesia have burned within 200 metres of Rangkong research station, a satellite of Cabang Panti research station, which lies about four miles north in Gunung Palung National Park. Additional context indicates that Indonesia faces two critical months ahead as a prolonged dry season heightens the risk of drought and wildfires across the archipelago. During previous El Niño events, rains came too late to douse peatland fires, arriving only after October, when the dry season typically transitions to wet.

West Kalimantan is province of Indonesia. Gunung Palung National Park is national park in Indonesia. Caitlin O Connell is the deputy director of the Gunung Palung orangutan conservation programme.