Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia is stepping up cloud-seeding operations to combat a wildfire season that experts warn could become one of the country’s most severe in years, as a strong El Niño drives prolonged dry conditions.
On Borneo island, home to pristine rainforests and protected wildlife, wildfires are spreading rapidly. The Indonesian Government said more than 100,000 hectares had burned during the first six months of the year. Independent analysis by digital mapping platform Nusantara Atlas put the burned area at more than 285,000 hectares through July – over four times the size of Jakarta.
In response, Indonesia is expanding the use of cloud seeding, a technique that disperses substances such as silver iodide, salt and other particles into clouds to trigger rainfall. The method is rarely used worldwide as a direct response to wildfires.
Meteorologist Safillah Anggie Wahyuni said weather modification does not create clouds but instead works by exploiting existing clouds that have the potential to produce rain.
According to the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the country carried out 252 weather-modification operations between 2021 and August 2026, compared with just 85 during the previous decade. While most operations have been conducted to address flooding, an increasing number are now being deployed to extinguish fires or rewet highly flammable peatlands.
Indonesia first used cloud seeding in 1977 to replenish a reservoir. The government said dozens of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are on standby for weather-modification operations nationwide.
Alongside cloud seeding, Indonesia is also rewetting peatlands, using satellites to monitor fire hotspots and stepping up ground patrols./.
