Rules and Roles in the Political Economy of Peatland Fires in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Peatland fires in Indonesia represent a critical socio-ecological system failure, generating transboundary haze, biodiversity loss, and severe human health impacts. In Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan, the persistence of fires illustrates the tensions between protection and production in the local political economy. On the one hand, peatlands are legally designated for conservation under national regulations and regional initiatives, such as Regulation No. 48/2023 on peatland fire prevention. On the other hand, they remain under sustained pressure from the expansion of palm oil, transmigration schemes, and local livelihood needs. This study applies a political economy (stakes) and political ecology (status-power) lens to analyze why peatland fires persist despite formal regulations. The research draws on multi-source evidence on rules and roles, including policy documents, spatial data on hotspots and burned areas, interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders, and a political economy-ecology analysis (PEEA) of governance gaps. Findings demonstrate that peatland fires are not merely ecological events but outcomes of hybrid access mechanisms, incoherent governance, and structural inequalities. Corporations exploit the 'non-forest' (Area Penggunaan Lain, APL) status and regulatory ambiguities to expand their plantations. At the same time, smallholders and transmigrants rely on burning due to limited resources and a lack of affordable alternatives. Three interrelated drivers underpin these dynamics: (1) inconsistent multi-level governance and weak enforcement capacity; (2) the clash between instrumental values of production and relational values of conservation; and (3) global market demand reinforcing local vulnerabilities. These conditions create what local actors describe as "legal but illegal, illegal but legal.'' Understanding peatland fires within a political economy-ecology framework can advance debates on fire governance in tropical peatlands, highlighting the need for integrated, multi-stakeholder approaches that reconcile protection with production imperatives in Indonesia and beyond

Corporate governance · Enforcement · Environmental governance · Exploit · Livelihood · Peat · Political ecology · Politics · Fire effects on ecosystems · Oil Palm Production and Sustainability · Wetland Management and Conservation