Wildfires could last till early-Nov. 2026, warns Indonesia forestry minister
Fires in Indonesia are behind the transboundary haze experienced in Singapore and Malaysia.
Indonesia's forestry minister, Raja Juli Antoni, has cautioned that the country could face wildfires until early November 2026, as reported by Reuters. This warning comes amid the most severe wildfires the nation has experienced in over a decade. The primary reason for the prolonged fire season is attributed to the delayed onset of the rainy season, exacerbated by the influence of El Niño-linked dry weather patterns.
The islands of Borneo and Sumatra have suffered the most severe consequences, experiencing raging fires over recent weeks.
Raja Juli has urged all individuals, farmers, and corporations to refrain from utilizing fire, particularly during this intense El Niño period. The ecological disaster has resulted in transboundary haze, affecting neighboring countries Singapore and Malaysia. On September 16, the National Environment Agency updated its haze outlook, indicating that many air quality stations in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, West Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan were reporting unhealthy to hazardous levels of air pollution.
As of the time of this report, Singapore's 24-hour air quality forecast was listed as moderate to low unhealthy, while Malaysia's deputy prime minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is scheduled to visit Jakarta from September 17 to 20, plans to formally address the transboundary haze issue. He emphasized that diplomatic efforts, in conjunction with technical initiatives involving officials from neighboring countries and Malaysian states, will be necessary to tackle the problem.
Written by urgent.news from Mothership's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
