New team trying to stop another year of massive Indonesian wildfires

By Blaise Hope

Indonesian organizations are teaming up for the massive task of preventing forest and ground fires that blanket the region in haze every year during the dry season. Last year, fires in the peatland forest of Sumatra and Kalimantan created an environmental crisis due to an extended drought and El Nino weather conditions.

In Palangkaraya, the Central Kalimantan capital, the haze was so bad schools and businesses closed and thousands suffered respiratory and eye problems. Now, a team funded by the government’s Indonesia Climate Change Trust Fund is working with local communities in Kalimantan, Indonesia’s part of Borneo Island, on how to tackle the problem and benefit from preserving local forests.