Indonesia is currently grappling with its most severe wildfire season in ten years, prompting international concern and on-the-ground reporting. Liza Tambunan, a correspondent for the BBC, traveled to central Kalimantan to investigate the environmental crisis firsthand. The region has been blanketed by a dense, toxic haze that poses a severe threat to public health.
Millions of residents in the affected Indonesian provinces are struggling to breathe clean air as visibility plummets. The hazardous smoke has not remained localized, crossing international borders and impacting neighboring nations such as Malaysia and Singapore. Governments in the region have issued health warnings and distributed protective gear to mitigate the effects of the prolonged pollution.
The primary driver behind the crisis is the nature of the terrain where the blazes are occurring. Central Kalimantan contains vast expanses of peatland, which is essentially ancient, waterlogged organic matter composed of decayed vegetation. When these wetlands are drained for agricultural development, the peat dries out and transforms into an extremely flammable fuel source.
Unlike standard forest fires that burn primarily on the surface, peat fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish. The flames burrow deep underground into layers of accumulated organic material that have built up over thousands of years. These subterranean fires can smolder for weeks or even months, hidden beneath the surface and largely immune to conventional firefighting efforts.
As these underground deposits burn, they release massive quantities of carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere. This process not only exacerbates global climate change but also produces the thick, acrid smoke that is currently choking Southeast Asia. Experts emphasize that restoring degraded peatlands through rewetting initiatives is essential to preventing similar environmental disasters in the future.
Reporting based on coverage first published by BBC News. Read the original report at BBC News.
