Five-Kilometer Fire Buffer Zones Now Mandatory: Landholders and Concessionaires Face Expanded Wildfire Prevention Responsibilities

The President has issued the new Instruction No. 11 of 2026 on Strengthening the Enforcement of the Prohibition on Land Clearing by Burning and the Control of Forest and Land Fires (“Instruction 11/2026”). Instruction 11/2026 does not replace Instruction of the President No. 3 of 2020 on Forest and Land Fire Management (“Instruction 3/2020”). Instead, Instruction 3/2020 remains applicable to the extent that it does not conflict with Instruction 11/2026, with its implementation to be maximized based on the newer instruction.[1]