Catatan Oktober 2026. Saat panduan ini ditulis, karhutla sedang terjadi di Sumatera, Kalimantan, dan Papua; asapnya sampai ke 26 provinsi serta Malaysia dan Singapura, dan banyak sekolah meliburkan siswa. Gunakan cerita ini untuk membantu anak memahami berita yang mereka lihat, bukan sebagai hiburan. Lihat juga Cara membantu sekarang.
Note, October 2026. As this guide is written, forest and land fires are burning in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua; the smoke has reached 26 provinces as well as Malaysia and Singapore, and many schools have closed. Use this story to help children make sense of the news they are seeing, not as entertainment. See also How to help right now.
SekilasAt a glance
Ceritanya fiksi (desa dan tokohnya karangan), tetapi satwa, tumbuhan, budaya, dongeng, dan fakta kebakaran hutannya nyata. Cocok untuk IPAS (makhluk hidup, ekosistem, keragaman budaya), Bahasa Indonesia (menceritakan kembali), dan kegiatan kokurikuler bertema lingkungan.
The story is fiction (the village and characters are invented), but the animals, plants, culture, folktales and the facts about forest fires are real. Fits science and social studies (living things, ecosystems, cultural diversity), language lessons (retelling) and environmental projects.
Tujuan belajarLearning goals
Setelah bermain dan berdiskusi, anak dapat:
After playing and talking it over, children can:
- Menyebutkan minimal 3 satwa atau tumbuhan khas Kalimantan dan satu fakta tentang masing-masing (misalnya bekantan, pesut Mahakam, orangutan, anggrek hitam).
- Menjelaskan dengan kata-kata sendiri kenapa hutan menjaga air (hutan seperti spons, gambut, air terjun).
- Menceritakan apa itu karhutla (kebakaran hutan dan lahan), kenapa gambut yang kering mudah terbakar, dan dampaknya bagi manusia dan satwa.
- Mengenal kearifan Dayak Kenyah dan Melayu Kutai: rumah lamin, sape, tana ulen, adat berburu secukupnya, dan dongeng (Pesut Mahakam, Batang Garing, Bukit Tangkiling).
- Menuliskan satu tindakan nyata yang bisa ia lakukan, walau tinggal jauh dari Kalimantan.
- Name at least 3 animals or plants of Borneo and one fact about each (e.g. proboscis monkey, Mahakam river dolphin, orangutan, black orchid).
- Explain in their own words why forests keep water (forest as a sponge, peat, the waterfall).
- Describe what forest and land fires are, why dried-out peat burns so easily, and how the smoke affects people and animals.
- Recognise the wisdom of the Dayak Kenyah and Kutai Malay peoples: the longhouse, the sape, protected forest (tana ulen), hunting only what you need, and folktales (the Mahakam dolphin, Batang Garing, Tangkiling Hill).
- Write down one real action they can take, even living far from Borneo.
Alur kegiatanLesson flow
Pertanyaan diskusiDiscussion questions
| Ingat | Recall | Hewan apa yang hidungnya besar dan hanya ada di Kalimantan? Kenapa pesut harus muncul ke permukaan? | Which animal has a big nose and lives only in Borneo? Why does the river dolphin have to come up to the surface? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pahami | Understand | Kenapa air terjun tetap mengalir saat kemarau? Kenapa kunang-kunang jadi tanda sungai yang sehat? | Why does the waterfall keep flowing in the dry season? Why are fireflies a sign of a healthy river? |
| Hubungkan | Connect | Asap dari Kalimantan bisa sampai ke kota lain, bahkan negara lain. Apa hubungannya hutan di sana dengan udara dan air di kota kita? | Smoke from Borneo can reach other cities, even other countries. How are forests there connected to the air and water where we live? |
| Rasakan | Feel | Bagaimana perasaanmu saat langit di game berubah oranye? Apa yang membuatmu merasa ada harapan? | How did you feel when the sky in the game turned orange? What gave you hope? |
| Bertindak | Act | Pak Jalung bilang hutan itu titipan anak cucu kita. Apa satu hal yang bisa kamu lakukan minggu ini? | Pak Jalung says the forest is on loan from our grandchildren. What is one thing you can do this week? |
Membicarakan kebakaran hutan dengan anakTalking with children about forest fires
- Jujur tapi tidak menakutkan. Sebagian besar karhutla terjadi karena lahan sengaja dibakar untuk membuka kebun, lalu api lepas ke gambut yang sudah dikeringkan. Itu keputusan orang dewasa, bukan salah anak.
- Selalu tutup dengan harapan dan tindakan. Di game, hujan turun, warga menanam bibit, dan setahun kemudian lahan kembali hijau. Pemulihan itu nyata dan sedang dikerjakan banyak orang.
- Tindakan sesuai usia: hemat kertas dan tisu, tidak membuang sampah ke sungai, menanam pohon di sekolah, bercerita kepada keluarga, mendukung produk dan wisata yang menjaga hutan.
- Kalau ada anak dari daerah terdampak asap, beri ruang untuk bercerita. Pengalamannya berharga, jangan dijadikan contoh yang menyedihkan di depan kelas.
- Honest, not frightening. Most forest and land fires start when land is deliberately burned to clear it for plantations, and the fire escapes into drained peat. Those are adult decisions, not children's fault.
- Always close with hope and action. In the game the rain comes, villagers plant seedlings, and a year later the land is green again. Recovery is real and many people are working on it.
- Age-appropriate actions: save paper and tissues, never throw rubbish in rivers, plant trees at school, tell your family, support products and travel that protect forests.
- If a child comes from a haze-affected area, give them room to share. Their experience matters; don't turn it into a sad example in front of the class.
Lembar kerja (bisa dicetak)Worksheets (printable)
1 · Jurnal Alamku1 · My Nature Journal
Nama: ______________________ Kelas: ______Name: ______________________ Class: ______
Gambar satu hewan atau tumbuhan dari Kalimantan yang paling kamu suka.
Draw your favourite animal or plant from Borneo.
Namanya: ______________________ Tinggal di: ______________________Its name: ______________________ Lives in: ______________________
Tiga hal yang aku tahu tentangnya:
Three things I know about it:
2 · Cocokkan!2 · Match them!
Tarik garis dari nama ke fakta yang benar.
Draw a line from each name to the right fact.
Kunci (guru): bekantan-hidung · pesut-lumba-lumba · orangutan-petani · kunang-sungai sehat · gambut-spons · enggang-kesetiaanAnswer key (teacher): proboscis-nose · dolphin-freshwater · orangutan-farmer · fireflies-healthy river · peat-sponge · hornbill-loyalty
3 · Ceritakan kembali3 · Retell the story
Bimo pulang ke Jakarta dan bercerita ke teman-temannya. Tulis ceritamu seolah kamu Bimo: satu hal yang menyenangkan, satu hal yang menyedihkan, dan satu janji.
Bimo goes home to Jakarta and tells his friends. Write it as if you were Bimo: one happy thing, one sad thing, and one promise.
4 · Janji Penjaga Kecil Borneo4 · Little Keeper's Promise
"Hutan ini bukan hanya warisan nenek moyang kita. Ia titipan anak cucu kita, dan harus kita kembalikan utuh." Aku, ______________________, berjanji:
"This forest is not only our ancestors' inheritance. It is on loan from our grandchildren, and we must return it whole." I, ______________________, promise to:
Kenapa karhutla terjadi? (ringkasan dari sumber resmi)Why do the fires happen? (summary from official sources)
- Api dinyalakan manusia. BNPB berulang kali menyatakan sekitar 99% karhutla disebabkan ulah manusia: pembukaan lahan dengan cara dibakar, oleh perorangan maupun di lahan perusahaan. Per akhir September 2026, Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup telah menyegel puluhan perusahaan pemilik konsesi yang lahannya terbakar, dan polisi menetapkan ratusan tersangka.
- Gambut dikeringkan. Gambut alami basah dan sulit terbakar. Kanal-kanal drainase untuk perkebunan (sawit, akasia) dan proyek lama seperti Proyek Lahan Gambut sejuta hektare di Kalimantan Tengah (1995) membuat gambut kering. PP 57/2016 menyatakan gambut rusak bila muka air turun lebih dari 0,4 m. Gambut kering bisa membara di bawah tanah berminggu-minggu; itulah sumber asap terbesar.
- El Nino memperparah. BMKG mencatat El Nino 2026 sangat kuat dan IOD positif, sehingga kemarau lebih panjang dan kering. El Nino tidak menyalakan api, tetapi membuat api lebih mudah menyebar.
- Peladang tradisional. UU 32/2009 Pasal 69 ayat 2 masih membolehkan pembakaran kecil (maks. 2 ha per keluarga, dengan sekat bakar) sebagai kearifan lokal. Ini diperdebatkan: BNPB meminta aturan daerah serupa ditangguhkan, sementara Walhi menilai penindakan cenderung menyasar peladang adat. Bicarakan dengan anak secara adil: masalah terbesarnya ada pada gambut yang dikeringkan dan pembakaran skala besar.
- People light the fires. Indonesia's disaster agency (BNPB) has repeatedly said about 99% of forest and land fires are caused by people: land cleared by burning, by individuals and on company land. By late September 2026 the Ministry of Environment had sealed off dozens of concession holders whose land burned, and police had named hundreds of suspects.
- Peat is drained. Natural peat is wet and hard to burn. Drainage canals for plantations (oil palm, acacia) and old schemes such as the one-million-hectare Peatland Project in Central Kalimantan (1995) dry it out. Regulation PP 57/2016 counts peat as damaged when its water level drops more than 0.4 m. Dry peat can smoulder underground for weeks, and that is the main source of the haze.
- El Niño makes it worse. BMKG classed the 2026 El Niño as very strong, with a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, so the dry season is longer and drier. El Niño does not light fires, but it helps them spread.
- Traditional farmers. Law 32/2009, Article 69(2), still allows small burns (max. 2 ha per family, with firebreaks) as local wisdom. This is debated: BNPB wants similar regional rules suspended, while Walhi says enforcement tends to target Indigenous farmers. Talk about it fairly with children: the biggest problem is drained peat and large-scale burning.
Fakta dan sumber untuk guruFacts and sources for teachers
- Bekantan (Nasalis larvatus): endemik Kalimantan, status Terancam (IUCN Red List).
- Orangutan Kalimantan (Pongo pygmaeus): Kritis (IUCN Red List). Ancaman utama: hilangnya hutan dan kebakaran.
- Pesut Mahakam (Orcaella brevirostris): populasi Mahakam diperkirakan puluhan ekor; dipantau Yayasan Konservasi RASI.
- Titik panas dan luas karhutla terbaru: SiPongi (Kementerian Kehutanan). Prakiraan El Nino dan kemarau: BMKG. Aturan gambut: PP 57/2016.
- Tanjung Puting dan Camp Leakey: Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting, Orangutan Foundation International.
- Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus): found only in Borneo, Endangered (IUCN Red List).
- Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus): Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List). Main threats: forest loss and fire.
- Mahakam river dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris): the Mahakam population is estimated at only dozens; monitored by the RASI Conservation Foundation.
- Latest fire hotspots and burned area: SiPongi (Ministry of Forestry). El Niño and dry-season outlook: BMKG. Peat regulation: PP 57/2016.
- Tanjung Puting and Camp Leakey: Tanjung Puting National Park, Orangutan Foundation International.
Angka populasi dan luas kebakaran berubah setiap tahun. Sebelum mengajar, cek data terbaru di sumber di atas.
Population numbers and burned areas change every year. Check the latest figures at the sources above before teaching.