Wildfires have burned more than 200,000 hectares in Indonesia since the start of the year, including 95,000 hectares in July alone, and officials and experts warn the worst is still to come.
Smoke from the fires has spread across much of Borneo, including Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan, where conditions have become increasingly difficult.
“It’s hard,” said Yudho Shekti Mustiko, an official at the Forestry Ministry. He warned that the fire season has only just begun and is being intensified this year by the El Niño weather pattern, which is worsening drought conditions.
“We have to hold on, because September and October will be very dry,” he added.
The area already burned is greater than during the previous El Niño episodes in 2019 and 2023, although it has not yet reached the record levels seen in 2015, when millions of hectares were destroyed.
This year’s fires have also blanketed the Malaysian part of Borneo in smoke. In six areas of Sarawak state, residents have been advised to stay indoors because of hazardous air quality.
In Palangkaraya, the mayor has urged people to remain indoors and wear masks. Motorists are also facing extremely poor visibility, even in broad daylight.
Experts say human activity has also played a major role in the scale of the crisis.
“The extent of the fires today is also the legacy of four decades of deforestation, which has turned vast areas into tinderboxes,” said David Gaveau, founder of the deforestation monitoring site Nusantara Atlas.
“Only rain will stop the fires, but that is unlikely before November,” he added.
