Indonesia has blamed peatland degradation by past food‑estate projects for its worst wildfire season in 11 years. Understanding this link helps explain why the country is facing such severe haze and health problems.

An El Niño‑driven drought dried the forest floor, making the land highly flammable. In Central Kalimantan the air‑quality index rose to nearly 1,600, far above the hazardous level of 300.

Deputy food minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq explained that massive drainage carried out for food‑estate projects in the 1990s fundamentally altered the natural properties of peat in Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra. This drainage reduced water tables and left the peat vulnerable to fire.

According to the peatland protection group Pantau Gambut, 16 million of Indonesia’s 24 million hectares of peatland are now more fire‑prone because of ecosystem damage. A 2024 Pantau Gambut study added that only 3 % of peatland damaged between 2015 and 2019 has been restored, while 54 % has been turned into monoculture plantations, mainly oil palm.

The government plans to drill wells to rewet the peatlands and to improve water‑canal management, hoping these actions will lower fire risk. The situation shows how past land‑use decisions can create long‑lasting environmental and health crises.