Water Table Collapse Drives Indonesia's Peatland Fires, Researchers Warn

BRIN researcher Dony Rachmanadi said Indonesia's catastrophic peatland fires are a hydrological problem caused by drainage canals from plantations. Nearly 895,000 hectares burned by late August 2026, carbon emissions reached 76.2 megatonnes, and 174,694 acute respiratory infection cases were recorded.

• About 895,000 hectares burned by late August 2026, the most since 2019
• Fires emitted 76.2 megatonnes of carbon by September 7, a third of global fire emissions
• 174,694 respiratory infection cases across seven provinces, including 40,000 children
• Over 1,600 hotspots found inside oil palm concessions in the first half of 2026