The wildfires choking Indonesia, sparking regional haze
For weeks, Indonesia has been battling fires that have burned vast swaths of forest and peat ecosystems, causing toxic haze to blanket parts of the country, Malaysia and Singapore.
Indonesia is grappling with devastating wildfires and haze that have spread across the country, as well as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore. The fires, exacerbated by the strong El Niño weather phenomenon, have burned an estimated 896,000 hectares of land, according to satellite monitoring. This is significantly larger than the area affected during the same period last year and nearly five times the size of Greater London.
South Papua province, on the country's easternmost island, has been the most severely impacted, with over 168,000 hectares burned. The haze has resulted in numerous health issues, with respiratory illness cases surpassing 170,000 in affected Indonesian provinces. The fires have also had a devastating impact on wildlife, with 100 animals, including 53 orangutans, rescued from the blazes.
The situation has prompted criminal charges, license suspensions, and a presidential order to establish a new agency dedicated to tackling fires in peat ecosystems.
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