Using only wooden sticks, Cindy Amanda Putri, 21 agrees, and Sonia Anggraini, 20 agrees, poked into the black soil to make sure the peat forest still held water. Water seepage on the skin of the stick indicates that the peat forest still holds water even in the middle of the peak of the dry season.

However, Cindy and Sonia cannot hide the anxiety on their faces because they are worried that the drought will not subside. The potential for fire is always there, if the water in the forest dries up. Even though the peat protection forest houses many peat domes with a depth of more than three meters, it is still vulnerable to fire.

"We are ants fighting elephants. The company's canals suck up water during the dry season," said Cindy.

The women's awareness to protect the Sungai Buluh peat protection forest grew because of the trauma of the fire six years ago. The drought made women suffer. The haze has claimed newborns, even those who die prematurely before they have a name.

The Jambi Provincial Disaster Management Agency released the area of land and forest fires in Jambi at 550.33 hectares. Several areas of Jambi are experiencing haze. The total number of patients with acute respiratory infections reached 18,939.

“The incident makes us always worried, so at least three times a week we patrols to check the water reserves of peat forests,” said Cindy.

The focal point of their patrols is in the ecotourism area that almost cuts through the forest. Peat forest ecotourism is not for the public, but special interest tourism, for example for students, researchers and environmentalists.

Revenue from ecotourism, said Sonia, Treasurer of Pematang Rahim Village Forest Ecotourism, is very fluctuating. The entrance fee is only Rp5,000 per person, but income from guides and lodging is set aside for maintenance and patrol costs.

The cost of installing canal blocks is around Rp60 million per unit. Sonia and her group encourage companies to build canal blocks.

"We can't afford to build canal blocks. We encourage the company. After all, they own the canals," said Sonia.

By installing bulkheads in canals that are included in the Pematang Rahim Village Forest area, water leakage can be controlled. That way, despite the long dry season, there will be no water crisis.

The Sungai Buluh peat protection forest covers 17,476 hectares in Mendahara Ulu sub-district, East Tanjung Jabung district, Jambi. It is located in the peat hydrology unit (KHG) of the Batanghari-Mendahara River.

It is important to keep the peat forest from burning. Not only does it save the earth from global warming, but it also protects the biodiversity that lives in peat forests.

Within this area, endemic trees of high conservation value live. Punak (tetrameristra glabra), meranti (shorea), kempas (koompassia malaccensis), rengas (gluta rengas) and jelutung rawa (dyera polyphylla), ramin (gonystylus bancanus), medang (sizygium lacypalum), berumbung (adina minutiflora), and mersawa (anisoptera costata).

With the potential of these endemic trees, the women were involved in developing 381 foster trees. Each tree generates Rp200,000 per year.

Sungai Buluh peat protection forest is also home to a variety of protected fauna such as clouded leopards, sun bears, tapirs, otters, root tigers, pangolins and eagles, as well as the Malay forest cekak.

In addition, the Sungai Buluh peat protection forest supports the community's economy through social forestry schemes, such as the 1,185-hectare Pematang Rahim Village Forest, the 5,500-hectare Sinar Wajo Village Forest and the 2,200-hectare Sungai Beras Village Forest.

Meanwhile, companies surrounding the Sungai Buluh peat protection forest have larger concession areas. PT Wira Karya Sakti covers 23,993 hectares, PT Mendahara Agro Jaya Industri, a subsidiary of state-owned PTPN VI, covers 3,231.95 hectares, PT Kaswari Unggul covers 10,500 hectares and PT Indonusa Agro Mulya covers 10,670 hectares.

Canalization by companies threatens the water crisis and fires in Sungai Buluh peat protection forest. Most companies do not comply with peat restoration regulations by maintaining a water table of 40 centimeters and installing canal blocks so that water management in peatlands can be adjusted to seasonal conditions.

Cindy said that when hands are unable to ‘revive’ dead trees, then stop cutting down trees and draining the water that brings the flames.

"Maybe the land we protect is small. Just a grain of sand in the middle of the desert, compared to the company. But we will still protect the forest," Cindy says hopefully.

Mariyati, 40 agrees, with Cindy's words. For her, the drought in the peatland is very painful for residents, especially women.

“One month of drought is like a year,” she said.

According to her, women are hit twice as hard as men during the dry season. When the season is without rain, the well is dry. So women will walk 2 to 3 kilometers to fetch water, because men in the fire season are more in the forest, helping to put out fires. Meanwhile, women are at home taking care of the children and have to work in the garden.

"If you don't take care of the garden, it doesn't produce. So women take on the husband's role," Mariyati said.