Reuters · October 15, 2026

Indonesia Attributes Peatland Degradation for Its Wildfires; Air Pollution Index Readings Reach Nearly 1,600 in Katingan

• Indonesia's deputy food minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said on Thursday that peatland degradation from past interventions, including a food estate project in the 1990s, was a cause of fires the report describes as the country's most intense wildfire season since 2015, according to the report.
• Hundreds of thousands of people have contracted respiratory illnesses in seven Indonesian provinces, and schools were suspended in East Timor and some states of Malaysia because of haze, according to the report.
• The air pollution index in the Katingan district of Central Kalimantan read nearly 1,600 earlier on Thursday, and the provincial capital Palangka Raya recorded nearly 1,300, above the 300 level described as hazardous, according to the report.
• Peatland protection group Pantau Gambut estimated that 16 million of Indonesia's 24 million hectares of peatland have been made more fire-prone by ecosystem damage, according to the report.
• Hanif said the government aims to drill wells to rewet peatlands and improve water canal management, according to the report.

Figures via Pantau Gambut and statements attributed to Hanif Faisol Nurofiq, as reported. Original headline: "Indonesia blames peatland degradation for raging fires, vows restoration".