Indonesia
Society
Thick smoke rises from a forest and land fire on Tuesday in Tumbang Nusa village, Pulang Pisau regency, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Central Kalimantan provincial government has declared a forest and land fire emergency through Oct. 31. As of Monday, fires had burned 1,715.14 hectares across 907 incidents in the province. (Antara/Auliya Rahman)
Indonesia may be heading toward its worst wildfire season in years as fire activity surges ahead of peak burning months, fueled by a prolonged dry spell expected to intensify under a strong El Niño.Government data and independent analysis show that burned areas and fire hot spots have surpassed levels recorded during the same period in 2019, when Indonesia suffered one of its most destructive fire seasons in recent history.
According to the Forestry Ministry's Sipongi wildfire monitoring platform, around 107,000 hectares of land and forest, an area nearly twice the size of Jakarta, burned nationwide in the first half of the year. The figure is 120 percent higher than during the same period in 2019.
