Reducing Indonesia wildfires will be challenging as El Niño peaks this month, minister warns

A firefighter sprays water in an attempt to extinguish a wildfire near the Palembang-Indralaya toll road in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra province, Indonesia, August 28, 2026. REUTERS

JAKARTA, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Efforts to reduce the wildfires ablaze across Indonesia will be challenging as the El Niño weather phenomenon will peak this month, Raja Juli ​Antoni, the country’s forestry minister, said on Tuesday, adding that ‌the devastation was largely man-made.

• For weeks Indonesia has intensified efforts to contain haze from forest and land fires across six provinces in Borneo and ​Sumatra islands after smoke triggered respiratory illnesses and forced thousands ​of schools to move classes online, including in neighbouring Malaysia.
• The “super-El Niño” ⁠weather conditions exacerbate the fires, causing drought.
• Hot spots have been reduced across ​Kalimantan and Sumatra by the end of August, Raja Juli said.
• “Our problems ​are not over. September is the peak of El Niño,” he said. “September is the main fight for us.”
• Wildfires burned about 200,000 hectares (494,210 acres) of land from January ​to July, ministry data showed, increasing from 107,465 burned hectares from ​January to June.
• Raja Juli said the fires were largely deliberately set, either by individuals ‌or ⁠corporations.
• The ministry has given fines to six forestry permit holders for their alleged roles, adding a criminal probe was possible.
• Satellite imaging has revealed that a total of 42 companies hold concessions with high wildfire potential, Rizal ​Irawan, a senior ​official at the ⁠country’s Environment Ministry, said on Monday.
• Authorities have modified the weather to trigger rain and “water bombed” areas to contain ​the hot spots and mitigate the fires, Raja Juli ​said.
• The ⁠Philippines’ environmental bureau said haze blanketed Manila on Tuesday, pushing air quality to “very unhealthy” and “acutely unhealthy” levels in some areas.
• The air quality in six areas ⁠in ​Malaysia’s state of Sarawak reached hazardous levels ​on Tuesday, data from Malaysia’s environmental department showed.

Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Additional reporting by Ashley ​Tang in Kuala Lumpur; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Christian Schmollinger