Flames reach edge of orangutan rehabilitation center, with fire season set to intensify

JAKARTA — A wildfire that reached the edge of an orangutan rehabilitation center in western Borneo is highlighting how Indonesia’s intensifying fire season threatens not just forests and wildlife, but also the conservation work taking place within them.

The fire stopped just short of the facility run by the nonprofit organization YIARI, where more than 60 critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) are undergoing rehabilitation after being rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and habitat loss.

The fire broke out on July 22 about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the center in Sungai Awan Kiri village, Ketapang district, West Kalimantan province.

Thick smoke blanketed the area as nearly 100 personnel from government agencies, the military, police and YIARI fought for hours to stop the flames before they reached the facility.

“The fire reached the boundary of the rehabilitation center’s land,” YIARI CEO Karmele Llano Sánchez told Mongabay.

She said the incident highlighted the importance of being prepared for fires.

“If we had not responded quickly, part of our rehabilitation center might already have been destroyed by the fire,” Llano Sánchez said.

The fires have already begun affecting wild orangutans as well. Earlier in July, authorities and conservationists rescued a male orangutan from farmland near expanding fires in another part of Ketapang.

The close call came just two months after YIARI told Mongabay that an anticipated strong El Niño this year could erase years of orangutan conservation work.

In early March 2026, fires linked to nearby land clearing spread into an orangutan habitat restoration site managed over the past 10 years by YIARI, the government and local communities in Ketapang. At the time, YIARI said it lacked sufficient resources to fully prepare for another major fire season like the devastating 2015 crisis, especially with severe El Niño conditions forecast for later this year.

YIARI immediately activated emergency procedures, including firefighting, water spraying, and intensive monitoring of the orangutans. The organization said all its animals remain safe and continue to be monitored by vets and other staff.

“The safety of the animals undergoing rehabilitation is our highest priority,” YIARI program operations director Argitoe Ranting said in a press release. “Since the fire was detected, our entire team has acted quickly to implement emergency response procedures, ensuring that the orangutans and other animals remain safe while also supporting efforts to control the fire around the area.”

Efendi, the acting head of the Ketapang district fire department, said his team is coordinating with various parties to bring fires under control as quickly as possible.

“We urge the public not to burn land and to report any signs of fire immediately so that they can be addressed at the earliest possible stage,” he said in the press release.

The fire threat to orangutan rehabilitation centers isn’t new.

In 2019, during another particularly severe fire season, fire and smoke forced several orangutan rehabilitation centers across Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo) to suspend rehabilitation activities, prepare evacuation plans, and intensify veterinary care.

Rescuing orangutan

The wild male orangutan rescued from fires in July has been named Wak by the joint team that evacuated him. He had wandered into a fruit plantation in Kuala Tolak village as forest fires closed in. Like the YIARI rehabilitation center, Kuala Tolak lies within Ketapang district, where fires have intensified during the current dry season.

Several orangutans were also rescued from Kuala Tolak village and surrounding areas during the major fires of 2015 and 2019.

According to YIARI, the repeated rescues illustrate how recurring fires continue to affect orangutans in the area, while local residents say expanding land clearing has contributed to the problem.

“This orangutan came out because its habitat has been disturbed,” Kuala Tolak villager Morsali said as quoted in the press release. “There has been a lot of land clearing, and now it’s the dry season, with fires everywhere. It came looking for a safe place to find food and shelter because its habitat is no longer safe.”

YIARI chair Silverius Oscar Unggul said the fires, by forcing orangutans out of the forest and into farms and human settlements, increase conflict with local communities and require rescue and relocation efforts.

“When forests burn and become fragmented, orangutans lose their food and shelter and are eventually forced into people’s plantations,” he said in the press release. “In other words, both orangutans and local communities become victims of the same practice.”

Strong El Niño

The threats to both the rehabilitation center and wild orangutans come as the government’s weather agency, the BMKG, declares the onset of the dry season — one that it forecasts will be intensified by one of the most powerful El Niño events on record; in neighboring Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology says current model projections indicate the developing El Niño could become the strongest since at least 1950.

Llano Sánchez said El Niño is already affecting conditions on the ground in Kalimantan.

“In Ketapang, we haven’t had any rain for over 40 days. And there is no rain predicted for the next coming weeks,” she said. “Right now, West Kalimantan has the highest number of [fire] hotspots. We are surrounded by fire everywhere and there is already a smoke haze.”

Environmental NGO Madani Berkelanjutan estimates nearly 220,000 hectares (about 542,000 acres) of land across Indonesia burned between January and July this year, with West Kalimantan recording the largest burned area of any province, at 50,558 hectares (124,932 acres). Ketapang ranked second among all districts, with roughly 13,000 hectares (32,100 acres) burned.

YIARI has purchased additional firefighting equipment in anticipation of more blazes, but Llano Sánchez said her organization still lacks sufficient personnel and funding for logistics, transportation and field teams if the fires continue to intensify.

Biodiversity under pressure

The fires are also affecting ecosystems beyond orangutan habitat. Madani Berkelanjutan estimates that about 22,200 hectares (54,900 acres) of Indonesia’s burned area this year was within Key Biodiversity Areas — sites considered globally important for biodiversity.

One example is Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park on the island of Java, where a recent wildfire burned 51 hectares (126 acres). Local volunteers said the blaze threatened the habitat of several bird species.

The figures highlight concerns that fires are increasingly affecting landscapes of exceptional biodiversity value.

“The number may seem small,” Yosi Amelia, climate and ecosystem program lead at Madani Berkelanjutan, said at a recent event in Jakarta. “But Key Biodiversity Areas are not ordinary landscapes. They provide habitat for endemic species.”

Banner image: A team of firefighters trying to extinguish fire that broke out on July 22, 2026, about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from YIARI’s orangutan rehabilitation center in Sungai Awan Kiri village, Ketapang district, West Kalimantan province. Image courtesy of YIARI.

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Cite this article

Hans Nicholas Jong (2026). Flames reach edge of orangutan rehabilitation center, with fire season set to intensify. Mongabay Conservation news. DOI: https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325527