Basic Info

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Nominee Information

Institutional Information

Member State Indonesia
Institution Name Ministry of Environment and Forestry
Institution Type Ministry
Ministry Type Ministry of the Environment
Administrative Level National
Name of initiative SiPongi - Forest and Land Fire Monitoring System
Projects Operational Years 7
Website of Institution http://sipongi.menlhk.go.id/

Question 1: About the Initiative

Is this a public sector initiative? Yes

Question 2: Categories

Is the initiative relevant to one of the UNPSA categories? Category 2: Enhancing the effectiveness of public institutions to reach the SDGs
UNPSACriteria
NoItems

Question 3: Sustainable Development Goals

Is the initiative relevant to any of the 17 SDG(s)? Yes
If you answered yes above, please specify which SDG is the most relevant to the initiative. (hold Ctrl to select multiple)
Goal 13: Climate Action
Goal 15: Life on Land
Which target(s) within the SDGs specified above is the initiative relevant to? (hold Ctrl to select multiple)
13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
15.2 By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally

Question 4: Implementation Date

Has the initiative been implemented for two or more years Yes
Please provide date of implemenation (dd/MM/yyyy) 01 Jan 2015

Question 5: Partners

Has the United Nations or any UN agencies been involved in this initiative? No
Which UN agency was involved? (hold Ctrl to select multiple)
Please provide details

Question 6: Previous Participation

1. Has the initiative submitted an application for consideration in the past 3 years (2017-2019)? Yes
If Yes, enter year 18-Nov-2020

Question 7: UNPSA Awards

Has the initiative already won a UNPS Award? No

Question 8: Other Awards

Has the initiative won other Public Service Awards? Yes
If yes, please specify name, organisation and year. Top 15 Special Categories Public Service Awards.2021 Top 99 and Top 45 Public Service Award 2019

Question 9: How did you learn about UNPSA?

How did you learn about UNPSA? GOVERNMENT

Question 10: Validation Consent

I give consent to contact relevant persons and entities to inquire about the initiative for validation purpose. Yes

Nomination form

Questions/Answers

Question 1

Please briefly describe the initiative, what issue or challenge it aims to address and specify its objectives (300 words maximum)
Forest and land fires in Indonesia have become a serious problem in recent decades, causing economic and environmental losses, disruptions to health, transportation, and socio-cultural activities, as well as affecting Indonesia's relations with neighboring countries. This experience shows the importance of improving the forest and land fires management, including managing data and information. Previously, hotspots data were issued by different of institutions, causing confusion and uncoordinated effort. Another problem is that the processing and dissemination of hotspot is conducted manually and depends on the operator. This affects the response and performance of field personnel, which consequently limits and slows down the process, with a dissemination time of 1 day and a response time of approximately 2-3 days. To overcome the situation, Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) developed an innovation, namely SiPongi, to improve the forest and land fire monitoring; encourage the participation of stakeholders from national, provincial and regencies/city, including the community, with the principles of gender equality; integrated data and information; and provide accurate data and information for the operationalization of forest and land fire control activities for prevention, suppression and post-fire efforts including law enforcement. SiPongi increases response time to just 1 day and improves the coordination in handling forest and land fires. This innovation combines early warning and detection data such as Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS), hotspots (Terra, Aqua, SNPP, NOAA and Landsat 8), air pollutant information, peat water level and many more. This system is equipped with android and IOS based applications, supported by social media and SMS blast to make it easily accessible to the wider community. As a system provided by the forest and land fire data custodian, SiPongi becomes the main source for law enforcement on forest and land fire in Indonesia.

Question 2

Please explain how the initiative is linked to the selected category (100 words maximum)
SiPongi as a forest and land fire monitoring system increased effectiveness and performance of forest and land fire management in Indonesia, which can reduce the impacts of forest and land fire disaster. This system consists of website, mobile application, SMS Blast, and social media, integrated with field data, in line with Indonesia’s One Data/ One Map Policy. SiPongi provides near real time data and information for top management officers, field personnel, and community to immediately respond to fires, minimize damage, shorten responses times, develops strategies for prevention, suppression, increase awareness, and community resilience in controlling forest and land fire.

Question 3

a. Please specify which SDGs and target(s) the initiative supports and describe concretely how the initiative has contributed to their implementation (200 words maximum)
SiPongi innovation is in line with SDG target number 13 Climate Action (indicators 13.1.2 and 13.1.3). SiPongi strengthens the resilience and adaptive capacity of the community to the disasters of forest and land fires in accordance with the objectives of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. SiPongi reaches 514 regencies/cities in Indonesia through SMS blasts, and have been visited by 900 thousand users on websites, android applications, and social media. Sipongi system aligns with target indicator 13.2.2, by improving the response time and the synergy of stakeholders which contribute to a 88,59% reduction in the burnt area in November 2021 (300.613 ha) compared to the 2015 baseline (2.6 million ha). This improvement has an impact on reducing Indonesia's GHG emissions, thereby the Government received funding from the Result-based Payment mechanism for REDD+ amounting to USD 103.8 million. SiPongi also aligns with the SDG No. 15 Life On Land (indicator 15.2.1), progress towards sustainable forest management by accelerating the flow of information on forest and land fires, thereby increasing personnel speed response which can reduce damage to Indonesia's forest covering an area of 94.1 million ha which supports 25,863 villages around forests, equivalent to 9.2 million households.
b. Please describe what makes the initiative sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms (100 words maximum)
Forest and land fire control is listed in Indonesia's medium-term development plan 2020-2024 as a priority in the environment and disaster management sector. Therefore, the MoEF as data custodian of forest and land fire allocates budget to implement the long term program. SiPongi has an interactive system which accommodates input from the public regarding data and information needs as well as keeping up with dynamic trends in technology and society. SiPongi has been accessed by more than 1 million user through its website, mobile application, and social media, and has reached 514 regencies/cities in Indonesia (SMS blast for remote area)

Question 4

a. Please explain how the initiative has addressed a significant shortfall in governance, public administration or public service within the context of a given country or region. (200 words maximum)
SiPongi emerged due to the lack of systematic provision of data and information, resulting in slow responses. SiPongi settled this issue by improving the response time to just 1 day and the coordination of forest and land fires in Indonesia. SiPongi synchronizes the fire monitoring system in collaboration with stakeholders by sharing roles in providing data and information. The MoEF provides burnt areas, forest and land fire emissions, air pollution and others. National Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN) provides hotspot data and satellite imagery. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) provides weather and climate information. The Peat and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) provide peat water level and The National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB) acts as the coordinator in disaster management, while other stakeholders (local government, private sector, Manggala Agni, and the community can participate in delivering information on fires) This collaborative initiative increase the efficiency which is an important aspect in reducing the extent of forest and land fires in Indonesia. Currently, with the mobile application, Sipongi is easier to use and access. SiPongi is playing an important role as a national reference for data and information on forest and land fires in Indonesia.
b. Please describe how your initiative addresses gender inequality in the country context. (100 words maximum)
SiPongi innovation is designed, developed and accessible with the principles of gender equality. All genders are given equal opportunities in every process of development, managing the system and public to acces the system. There are 10 women in the Forest and Land Fire Command Center and 83 women in Manggala Agni Responses Team. One of SiPongi innovators is a woman and even today, she is entrusted with the responsibility for operational management and development of SIPONGI. This can be an inspiration for Indonesian women to take part and contribute optimally to their respective fields of work.
c. Please describe who the target group(s) were, and explain how the initiative improved outcomes for these target groups. (200 words maximum)
Main target groups of SiPongi are field personnel and communities, especially those affected by forest and land fire disaster. The forest areas support 25,863 villages around the forest, involving 9.2 million households. Through this system, the global community is spared from climate change effects, one of which caused by forest and land fires, by preserving Indonesia's forests that covering of 94.1 million ha or 50.1% land area of Indonesia and one of largest forest in the world. SiPongi also targets ministries/national institutions; local governments; forestry plantation/mining companies; army, police and others. SiPongi strenghtens collaborative partnerships for forest and land fire control among stakeholders in Indonesia so that the efforts to prevent and control forest and land fires after the 2015 fire crisis are well-planned and coordinated. This system is essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the beginning, experts distressed that the COVID-19 pandemic acould be worse if a fire broke out and caused respiratory problems. Sipongi system improves response time and synergy of stakeholders contributed to a 88,59% burnt area reduction in November 2021 (300.613 ha) compared to the 2015 baseline (2.6 million ha). So that a deadly duet of forest and land fires and Covid 19 does not occur.

Question 5

a. Please describe how the initiative was implemented including key developments and steps, monitoring and evaluation activities, and the chronology. (300 words)
Sipongi is implemented in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) on early warning and detection. Data information from stakeholders are processed automatically by providing data attributes then published in the website and related stakeholders. We will also conduct an analysis of the potential for fires predicted to be more severe. This analysis is based on hotspots, Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS), regional conditions and many more. We send warning to the field personnel to conduct a ground check and report the results directly through the reporting feature in the SiPongi opsroom. Then, the SiPongi operator performs a potential hazard analysis based on the report. The SMS blast (early warning) will be launched in certain area affected by the fire, such as Sub-district or villages. Instruction will be released to avoid the affected areas and follow officer's directions. Everyone within the radius of the area will receive SMS within 15 minutes. The process will be repeated several time. We also communicate intensively with field personnel to ensure that all residents stay away from the areas. One example of the application of SIPONGI took place on 4 August 2021. Information has been received about severe fires starting to affect residential areas in Arisan Jaya Village, Pamulutan District, Ogan Ilir, South Sumatera. This information was followed up by sending SMS blasts in the affected areas and contacting field officers to monitor the process of suppression and evacuating (if necessary). The situation was reported regularly to the Command Post which informed to the stakeholder about further plans and actions. Self-monitoring and evaluation are carried out periodically regarding effectiveness. External monitoring and evaluation is carried out through the Government Internal Control System (SPIP) to see its effectiveness and in line with the policy of the Directorate General of Climate Change implementing ISO 9001-2015.
b. Please clearly explain the obstacles encountered and how they were overcome. (100 words)
In the beginning, SiPongi promoted through exhibitions, technical guidance, coordination between institutions, and social media. Nowaday, SiPongi has been accessed by more than 1 million user through website, mobile application, and social media. Inaccuracies in hotspots occurred with LAPAN due to changes in the algorithm and transfer system. This was then resolved through coordination and agreement renewal with LAPAN. We have difficulties disseminating information to remote area. This is solved by establishing a collaboration with the Ministry of of Communication and Informatics to launch SMS Blast for early warning of forest and land fires disasters to 514 regencies/cities across Indonesia.

Question 6

a. Please explain in what ways the initiative is innovative in the context of your country or region. (100 words maximum)
SiPongi changed data processing from manual to automated, and improved response time from 3 days to 1 day, contributing to 88,59% reduction of burnt area in Indonesia compared to baseline 2015. Collaboration with other institutions enables the synchronization of data and information into an integrated and efficient system. The uniqueness of Sipongi is its dual interfaces (Internal Interface and Public Interface). Internal Interface can be accessed by personnel from top management to field personnel who can shorten the command system, while the public interface is open for public access throughout Indonesia. Currently hotspot data is synchronized every 30 minutes/ near-real-time.
b. Please describe, if relevant, how the initiative drew inspiration from successful initiatives in other regions, countries and localities. (100 words maximum)
SiPongi is inspired by the NASA website that displays hotspot data. However, we have gone further by displaying more specific information up to the village level and equipped with resource information, forecasting, forecastinng, reporting from stakeholders and the community and personnel. As the official information system managed by the forest and forest fire data custodian, SiPongi is the main reference for monitoring and analysis of forest and land fire management activities such as prevention (cloud seedling, patrol, campaign and many more), suppresion, post-fire analysis including rehabilitation and law enforcement.
c. If emerging and frontier technologies were used, please state how those were integrated into the initiative and/or how the initiative embraced digital government. (100 words maximum)
This innovation changes data proccessing from manual to automated. The data is near real time, updated every 30 minutes, and minimizes human error. Information can be immediately responded by field personnel, accelerating the command system, digital archiving to be analyzed immediately, and enables interactive public participation. This system brings positive changes to the efficiency of forest and land fire control, minimizing environmental damage due to forest and land fires. Collaboration for data integration in the corridor of one data policy is also fulfilled, which increase effectiveness due to the division of roles and obligations to provide different data.

Question 7

a. Has the initiative been transferred and/or adapted to other contexts (e.g. other cities, countries or regions) to your organization’s knowledge? If yes, please explain where and how. (200 words maximum)
SiPongi innovation’s ideas, systems and technology are tranferable. There are several applications that have adopted the idea of SiPongi to facilitate coordination of forest and land fire control in local level, especially in areas prone to forest and land fires. The idea of this innovation has inspired the emergence of similar innovations in Indonesia such as Asap Digital in monitoring hotspot and monitoring fires using CCTV . The early warning system on land fire in plantation area developed by the Directorate General of Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture (Sikarla) adopted the early warning and early detection system and also pattern. There are some other system with different purposes but with the same idea within the MoEF for monitoring of Toxic Hazardous Materials that try to adopted the SiPongi idea. The innovators of SiPongi frequently became speakers, consultants, and reviewers for the development and improvement of warning systems and other early detection owned by stakeholders; such as LAPAN which provide hotspot data; the Ina-FDRS (Fire Danger Rating System) application developed by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT). In addition, SiPongi has received offers to be integrated with other applications (FIRECAST, 2017 and FORMS, 2020).
b. If not yet transferred/adapted to other contexts, please describe the potential for transferability. (200 words maximum)
Already explained.(see above).

Question 8

a. What specific resources (i.e. financial, human or others) were used to implement the initiative? (100 words maximum)
SiPongi is developed and maintained using the Ministry of Environment and Forestry budget. For daily operations, there are 8 core personnel with qualifications, such as mapping, administration, and web management, while system and hardware maintenance is done by third parties. There are 32 people in the command centre with daily schedule arrangements. Hotspot data sources are acquired from LAPAN and NASA, Weather Data and FDRS from BMKG, pollutant index from Directorate of Air Pollution Control, Emission from the Directorate of Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The SMS blast, an early fire disaster warning, is supported by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.
b. Please explain what makes the initiative sustainable over time, in financial and institutional terms. (100 words maximum)
Controlling forest and land fires is a National Priority stated in the National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) and the Government of Indonesia's strategic plan (RENSTRA) on improving the quality of the environment. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry as data custodian of forest and land fires (The Head of the Geospatial Information Agency Decree Number 38 of 2021 concerning Thematic Geospatial Information) provides data and information through SiPongi system. Sipongi become main reference reaching 514 regencies/cities in Indonesia through SMS blasts and has been accessed by more than 1 million user through website, mobile application, and social media.

Question 9

a. Was the initiative formally evaluated either internally or externally?
Yes
b. Please describe how it was evaluated and by whom? (100 words maximum)
Internally, SiPongi management office regularly evaluates the performance, disturbances, reviews, trends and technological developments and collect community input which are then followed up with improvements. Every three months, The Government Internal Control System (SPIP) evaluates the significant risks that hinders the implementation of activities with indicators of resources and effectiveness. Officially SiPongi is evaluated externally by Inspectorate of the MoEF in terms of efficiency of activities and budget use. Directorate General of Climate Change, which has ISO 9001-2015, evaluates the implementation with reference to the customer focus, leadership, engagement of people, process approach, improvement, decision making, and relationship management.
c. Please describe the indicators and tools used (100 words maximum)
The indicators include reduced disruption (warnings sent to managers if system errors); number of users, reachable area, increasing the number of follow-up feedback/reviews; response time, collaboration with other institution, recognition from the public and stakeholders. We also evaluate performance, disturbances, reviews, and technological developments, listen to community input, and follow up with improvements regularly. We evaluate the significant risks that hinders the implementation of activities (resources and effectiveness) using The Government Internal Control System (SPIP). The ISO 9001-2015 implemented is related to Costumer approach focus, leadership, engagement of people, process approach, improvement, decision making, and relationship management.
d. What were the main findings of the evaluation (e.g. adequacy of resources mobilized for the initiative, quality of implementation and challenges faced, main outcomes, sustainability of the initiative, impacts) and how this information is being used to inform the initiative’s implementation. (200 words maximum)
The evaluation results include lack of human resources, need of system improvement and development, system’s popularity and the effectiveness as well as budget requirements. Based on those, we try to improve the system by conducting training for the personnel, embed new features, perform regular system maintenance and development, revitalize hardware, adjust the SOP, ensure the budgeting allocation and many more. The main outcomes of SiPongi are the change in pattern of forest and land fires monitoring in Indonesia from manually to automation, the simplification and integration of data and information from stakeholders as well as the improvement of response time and access to the public. SiPongi managed by the forest and land fire custodian has been widely recognized. This is shown by more than 1 million users have accessed the website and social media. SiPongi also facilitates the delivery of information and early warning of the dangers of forest and land fires and can be an education tool for raising public awareness. Furthermore, SiPongi is proven to have an important role in improving the response time from 3 days to 1 day, contributing to 88.59% reduction of burnt area in November 2021 (300,613 ha) compared to 2015 (2.6 million Ha).

Question 10

Please describe how the initiative is inscribed in the relevant institutional landscape (for example, how it was situated with respect to relevant government agencies, and how the institutional relationships with those have been operating). (200 words maximum)
Please describe how the initiative is inscribed in the relevant institutional landscape (for example, how is it situated with respect to relevant government agencies, and how the have these institutional relationships been operating). (200 words maximum) Jawaban : In 2016, the agreement resulted from a meeting among institutions agreed that the institution responsible for releasing official data of hotspots and areas of forest and land fires was the Ministry of Environment and Forestry cq the Directorate of Forest and Land Fire Control followed by he Letter of Minister of Environment and Forestry No. S.218/MENLHK/PPI/PPI.4/4/2016 concerning Hotspot Data Synergy on 20 April 2016. In 2019, the Directorate of Forest and Land Fire Control was appointed as a forest and land fire data custodian through the Decree of Head of Geospatial Information Agency Number 27 of 2019 concerning Thematic Geospatial Information Walidata, hence data Sipongi website becomes main reference for government institutions, namely The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Presidential Staff Office, The National Disaster Management Authority and many more. Further coordination and integration of data are proceeded. Collaborations of stakeholders include providing data and information, as well as the facilitation of related Ministries and Institutions (LAPAN, BMKG, Kemenkominfo, and others), and strengthening cooperation regarding the roles of each institution to complement each other and lead to data harmonization in the corridors of one policy map forest and land fires.

Question 11

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, partnerships, and inclusion. Please describe which stakeholders were engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative and how this engagement took place. (200 words maximum)
Collaboration and cooperation among the stakeholder strengthen the Sipongi system. The development of SiPongi system involves the internal Ministry of Environment and Forestry and several stakeholders such as LAPAN, BMKG, BNPB and BIG to get input and collect the availability of data and information on forest and land fires. During the implementation, the Ministry of Environtment and Forestry (MoEF) provides emissions data of forest and land fires as well as air quality, LAPAN contributes hotspot data, BMKG provides weather and climate information, BNPB coordinates disaster management, as well as stakeholders at site level, local government, private sector/permit holders, Manggala Agni which provides field data as well as communities who can participate in delivering information on forest and land fires. Monitoring and evaluation of this system is conducted internally by the system administrators and externally through an audit of the Government Internal Control System to see the effectiveness of the implementation of this system. Administrators also always seek for input from users to improve the system. End users may evaluate the system performance, while reviews can be done on the Google Play Store. This system also open for academic reviews and research.

Question 12

Please describe the key lessons learned, and how your organization plans to improve the initiative. (200 words maximum)
Before the implementation of Sipongi, data processing is inefficient due to semi-manually processing, limited distribution, inaccurate reporting, slow personnel responses and manual data archiving.. With this innovation (SiPongi system), data processing is carried out automatically and dissemination is near real time, making it efficient and effective as well as minimizing human error. Information can be immediately responded by field personnel, speeding up the command system. The leaders can directly monitor performance in the field and digital archives can be analyzed immediately and more interactive. Collaboration and cooperation among institutions and communities are one of the strengths of the SiPongi system. The SiPongi system is an important innovation driving pattern change, accelerating processes and synergizing the key stakeholders in managing forest and land fire in Indonesia. Steps and efforts to control forest and land fires are more compact, planned and coordinated. This extra-coordinated effort was made to be one of the key factors in reducing 88.59% reduction burnt area as November 2021 (300,613 ha) compared to 2015 baseline (2.6 million Ha), which shows the effectiveness of the SiPongi system. The current Sipongi system has the inspiration for a similar system.

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