Supriyanto Khafid, Jakarta – Forest fire occurred in the valley of Mount Rinjani, as part of the Mount Rinjani National Park (MRNP) on Friday, August 4, 2023. The fire was located around 4-5 hours from Aik Berik, Central Lombok Regency, and adjacent to the trekking entry Joben Titi Batu, East Lombok Regency.

Presently, the fires have been extinguished in 205 hectares of land patch. The forest fire burned grass, weeds, bushes, firs, and other trees.

The three groups of foreign hikers were told to come down after previously entering the trekking route prior to the fires.

Recent observation showed that four more hotspots have been detected on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.

The Head of the MRNP Department Dedy Asriady said that his team is still observing the cause of this forest fire. "We still can't tell the exact trigger," said Dedy to Tempo, on Tuesday evening.

According to the MRNP Forest Ecosystem Controller Budi Soesmardi, three teams coordinated to extinguish the fires, namely Team 3 consisting of eight personnel of MPA Resort Aik Berik, Team 4 of three personnel of MPA Resort Joben, supported by Team 5 with two personnel of MPA Resort Joben.

Team 3 has directly extinguished fires detected in Hotspot 6 and Hotspot 7 (in Mount Tain Manuk, heading towards the valley of Mount Kondo/Sangkareang) at 15:00 p.m.

"Meanwhile the valley located at the west of Koko Lenek is still burning. The fire is moving downwards and we continue to observe the movement," said Budi.

The forest fire has caused the closing of two trekking routes in Mount Rinjani.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1757578/205-hectares-of-lands-lost-to-mount-rinjani-forest-fir