Indonesia fires burn 2.88 million hectares in 2026, monitor says

Fires in Indonesia driven partly by a strong El Nino have burned through 2.88 million hectares so far in 2026, according to deforestation monitoring site Nusantara Atlas, which analysed satellite imagery and shared its findings with AFP on November 11.

The burned area is 18 times the size of London and has increased by nearly one million hectares since Nusantara Atlas's last update in September. The figure already exceeds the full-year figure for 2019, previously the worst year on record in the monitor's data.

Satellite data and government figures

Nusantara Atlas data showed Indonesia's cumulative burned area was 895,650 hectares in August and jumped to 1.92 million hectares by the end of September. That surpassed the 1.39 million hectares cumulatively burned at the same point in 2019, a year when fires ultimately scorched 2.63 million hectares of land.

There were 1.15 million fire hotspots across Indonesia as of October 20, according to the Nusantara Atlas fire map.

Indonesia's government has not provided official figures for areas burned since announcing that 202,000 hectares had been razed by the end of July. Forestry Ministry spokesman Ristianto Pribadi told AFP the government was still working on its updated estimates of fire-affected land.

"Updating the data on the size of land and forest fire-affected areas requires in-depth confirmation and verification," said Ristianto.

"At the moment, we cannot yet confirm a schedule for the announcement."

Conservative estimate and causes

The burning detected in analysis through the end of October is a conservative estimate, warned Nusantara Atlas founder David Gaveau, in part because smoke has obscured satellite images. The figure for total burned area is likely to rise further, given that some fires are still burning and as burn scars previously hidden by smoke become visible to satellites in the coming months.

Indonesia experiences fires every dry season, but the blazes in 2026 have been particularly severe in part because of an intense drought caused by the El Nino weather pattern. Experts say the fires are also the result of decades of deforestation and the drying out of peatlands for plantations, making large swathes of land more vulnerable to flames.

The fires have caused devastating local pollution that has sickened hundreds of thousands of people, and sent haze into neighbouring countries, including Malaysia and Singapore.

Why it matters

The 2026 fire season has already surpassed the 2019 record in Nusantara Atlas data, with the total burned area expected to rise as more fires are detected and smoke clears from satellite imagery.

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Sources

• straitstimes.com: Indonesia fires burn 2.88 million hectares | The Straits Times
• thejakartapost.com: Indonesia forest fires burned through nearly 2.9 million hectares - Society - The Jakarta Post
• freemalaysiatoday.com: Indonesia’s fires burned through nearly 2.9 million hectares, says monitor | FMT

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.