Children’s health at risk in south Borneo as El Niño intensifies Indonesia wildfires

BANJARMASIN, Indonesia - In August, the village of Pengayuan in South Kalimantan province, Indonesia, found itself at the heart of an escalating wildfire crisis, with Siti Sarah among those directly impacted. The fires began with a small blaze on August 18, which unexpectedly leaped closer to her home, growing rapidly in an alarming display of fire's relentlessness. "The fire seemed to leap up," Siti recounted, "All of a sudden it was right there — it grew so fast."

Neighbors joined the community's firefighting efforts, with Siti herself contributing by smothering the flames with a piece of wood. Two days later, firefighters were again required to act, extinguishing another blaze within the village grounds. The situation was by no means unique across Indonesia, where community and government firefighters have been working tirelessly since the onset of the main dry season in July.

Many of the resulting blazes have engulfed carbon-rich peatlands in the low-lying deltas and plains of Borneo and Sumatra.

Over the years, Borneo's peatlands have been drained for oil palm plantations to meet the increasing global demand for palm oil. The practice of burning as a cheap means of land clearance often proves disastrous when the flames run rampant across the desiccated peatlands, which become a volatile tinderbox when exacerbated by El Niño-fueled drought. Smoke from the fires casts a thick haze over commuters' daily journeys.