Indonesia forest fires: Here's why parts of the country are witnessing blood-red skies

Representative Image

Images and videos doing the rounds on social media show a blood-red sky blanketing the Indonesian province of Jambi – a sight so unbelievably eerie, one might ask, "Is this an Instagram filter?"

Forests across parts of Indonesia have been ablaze since July, sending out a thick, toxic haze through the island country and its neighbours including Malaysia, Singapore and the island countries of Borneo and Sumatra.

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Although forest fires are almost a yearly affair in the region, this time, the problem has hit the nation on a scale much greater than usual. The last time the fires in the Southeast Asian region got this bad was in 2015, with Indonesia alone bearing nearly $16 billion in losses, The Washington Post reported.

As per a report by CNN, the ongoing fires have already incinerated over 3,28,000 hectares of rich land across Indonesia. That’s almost the size of the Indian state of Goa. The issue is a persistent problem during the country’s dry season (June to October).

In 2015, El Nino had exacerbated the dry season, which led to one of the worst forest fire seasons in Indonesia that year.

What is causing these fires?

These fires are partly due to the existing dry weather conditions and phenomena like El Nino.

However, it is important to note that man-made activities, such as the existing slash-and-burn land clearing method adopted in the region, are a major trigger of forest fires, and the situation is compounded by dry weather and El Nino. Slash-and-burn method is similar to the practice of ‘Jhum’ or shifting cultivation prevalent in parts of northeast India.

In fact, a report by Quartz states that nearly 80 percent of these fires are started to clear land for palm oil plantations. After all, Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil, having supplied nearly 56 percent of the world’s palm oil last year.

Affected areas

Data from Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency has identified nearly 3,000 hotspots in Indonesia in mid-September, with Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo island called Kalimantan, accounting for more than two-thirds.

Borneo island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Haze from the raging fires has moved towards the neighbouring countries of Malaysia, Singapore and Sumatra. The monsoon winds are now starting to blow the haze towards The Philippines.

Impact of the fires

According to Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management, the fires have forced evacuation of hundreds of residents and led to the deployment of more than 9,000 personnel to battle the flames, CNN reported. Several flights were also cancelled in the region, with the thick smog blurring the vision.

Firefighters try to extinguish forest fires at Sebangau National Park area in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia.

An Al Jazeera report added that the smog from the fires is also affecting endangered orangutans on the Borneo island. Dozens of the young apes at rescue centres are contracting respiratory infections, as per the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.

Meanwhile, UNICEF has said that about 10 million people under 18, almost a fourth of them being children under 5 years of age, are at risk due to the resultant air pollution.

These Southeast Asian tropical forests, much like the Amazon rainforests, act as carbon sinks, storing vast amounts of carbon in the soil and trees. Their destruction manifests in the form of increased levels of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in the air. Over the years, such fires have reduced the island country’s once-extensive tree cover.

According to the Global Forest Watch database, 16 percent of tree cover in Indonesia was lost between 2001 and 2018, releasing almost 10.5 gigatons of CO2 into the air.

Source: Global Forest Watch

What is the government doing to mitigate the situation?

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, following his visit to one of the worst-affected areas earlier this month, said that the government has made every effort to tackle the problem. He added that nearly 6,000 troops had been sent to hotspots to help put out fires, Al Jazeera reported.

Taking a tough line, the government has assured criminal charges would be pursued against palm oil companies, which have indulged in burning the forest in recent weeks. Officials have told Quartz that they have arrested nearly 200 people in connection with the fires.