Jakarta, Sept. 9 -- Indonesia's Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni has called on all parties to remain vigilant despite a declining trend in forest and land fire hotspots across several regions.

"This drop in hotspots should not lead us to believe our job is done," Juli Antoni said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday, stressing the need to promptly track down and extinguish remaining fires before they can spread.

According to him, tackling fires on peatlands poses its own unique set of challenges.

"It may look like there are no flames visible on the surface or sometimes only smoke remains. Even without smoke, underground fires can still reignite when blown by the wind," he explained.

He pointed to fire suppression efforts in Ket...