The forest fires in Kalimantan are not caused by traditional farmers, but by corporate activities and large-scale land clearing by companies.
PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan, August 24, 2026. Forest and land fires in Kalimantan, particularly in West Kalimantan, should not be casually attributed to traditional Dayak farmers. The locations of fires reviewed by President Prabowo Subianto are not simply traditional farming plots belonging to indigenous communities.
According to local community representatives, many of the fire locations are in areas associated with palm oil companies rather than land cultivated by traditional farmers.
The distinction is fundamental. Dayak people are not newcomers to Borneo. They are among the indigenous peoples whose ancestors have inhabited, cultivated, protected, and developed the island for generations. Their relationship with the land predates the modern administrative boundaries, plantations, and corporate concessions that now cover large parts of Borneo.
Dayak Farmers Are Being Blamed Without Evidence
“To make it seem as if traditional farmers are responsible for these fires is cruel and has no basis,” said St. Masiun, a senior official of the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN), on August 24, 2026.
For Masiun, accusations against traditional farmers cannot be separated from the larger history of indigenous land rights. When fires occur, the first responsibility of the authorities should be to establish the facts: where the fire started, who controls the land, what activities take place there, and what caused the fire.
Blaming Dayak farmers simply because they practice traditional agriculture reverses the burden of proof. The people who have lived with the forest for generations are suddenly portrayed as a threat to the forest, while large-scale land use deserves equally rigorous scrutiny.
That is why the issue is not merely about forest fires. It is also about who gets to define the meaning of land ownership, who is considered legitimate on ancestral territory, and who is too easily turned into a suspect.
Ancestral Land Is Not a Crime Scene
Jaffray, a member of the West Kalimantan Provincial Legislative Council, strongly rejected any assumption that Dayak people are responsible for the recent forest fires.
“For thousands of years, our ancestors practiced farming and planted rice, corn, and vegetables. There has never been a precedent of forest fires like those occurring in recent years,” he said.
Traditional farming is deeply embedded in Dayak civilization. It is not simply an economic activity. It is part of a cultural system connecting people, land, forest, food, community, and ancestral memory.
For generations, Dayak farmers have opened fields, planted rice, harvested food, and allowed land to recover. Their agricultural knowledge developed through long experience with the ecology of Borneo. To reduce this entire civilization to the label of “forest burner” is not only historically inaccurate. It also risks criminalizing an indigenous way of life.
The irony is difficult to ignore. A people whose ancestors have lived on Borneo for centuries can be questioned about their right to cultivate ancestral land, while the expansion of commercial plantations can be discussed primarily in terms of investment and economic development.
Regional Regulation No. 1 of 2022 Protects Traditional Farmers
West Kalimantan Regional Regulation No. 1 of 2022 provides legal space for traditional farmers to cultivate their land through responsible and environmentally sound practices.
Jaffray strongly rejected calls to repeal the regulation simply because of the current controversy over forest and land fires.
“It cannot be done that way. It would disregard history and the process through which laws and regional regulations themselves are established,” he said.
The regulation, in this context, is more than an administrative document. It represents recognition that traditional communities have a legitimate place within the legal and social landscape of West Kalimantan.
Repealing such protection because of assumptions about forest fires would create a dangerous precedent. Indigenous farmers could once again find themselves caught between two worlds: their ancestral relationship with the land on one side and a modern legal system that may regard their traditional practices with suspicion on the other.
The proper response to forest fires is therefore not to criminalize an entire community. It is to investigate each fire based on evidence and hold the actual perpetrators accountable.
When Indigenous Rights Are Treated as Criminal Acts
There is now discussion about repealing the regulation. Indigenous communities, however, have indicated that they will resist such a move through various lawful means.
Their position is understandable. For the Dayak, the question is not merely whether a regulation should remain on the books. The deeper question is whether indigenous people can continue to exist as legitimate communities on the land of their ancestors.
Borneo is not an empty space waiting to be claimed by modern institutions. It is a homeland with a long human history. Dayak communities have built their social systems, agricultural traditions, customary laws, and cultural identities within that landscape.
That history should matter when public policy is formulated.
If the government is serious about stopping forest fires, then every case should be investigated transparently. Land ownership, concessions, land use, fire points, corporate activities, and traditional farming practices must be examined separately. Responsibility should follow evidence.
What should not happen is the collective criminalization of Dayak farmers.
For too long, indigenous communities have often had to prove that they belong on land where their ancestors already lived. Their traditional practices are questioned, while the transformation of vast areas of Borneo is frequently described in the language of development.
The Dayak perspective turns that narrative upside down. They are not outsiders in Borneo. They are indigenous people whose civilization is inseparable from the land.
Therefore, protecting the forest must not become an excuse for marginalizing its traditional inhabitants. Environmental protection and indigenous rights should stand together.
The real question is simple: "Who controls the land where the fires occur, and what actually caused them?"
The answer must come from evidence, not stereotypes. And if the evidence points elsewhere, the Dayak people should not be made the scapegoat for a crisis they did not create.
