Toxic smoke from persistent forest and land fires across Indonesia led to an estimated 3,560 deaths during September, according to a report published Thursday by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Helsinki-based think tank.
The findings indicate that the monthly casualty count tied to short-term exposure to fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, doubled from August figures. Researchers determined that approximately 57.8 million people in the Southeast Asian nation of roughly 290 million breathed air rated unhealthy to hazardous during September.
Exposure to PM2.5 is especially hazardous because the microscopic particles can penetrate deep into human lung tissue and enter the bloodstream. The World Health Organization links elevated concentrations to severe respiratory conditions, cardiovascular illness and premature death. Nationwide, Indonesian health authorities have logged more than 330,000 cases of acute respiratory infection.
Deadly pollution spikes across the archipelago
Most of the fatalities linked to the wildfire haze were concentrated on Sumatra, Java, eastern provinces and the Indonesian section of Borneo, known as Kalimantan. During September, overall particulate exposure exceeded the WHO annual threshold by more than seven times across the country, climbing to 10 times the benchmark in Sumatra and 24 times in Kalimantan.
The study also examined mortality resulting from standard urban and industrial contamination, such as power plants, vehicular traffic and trash burning. Those non-fire sources were linked to an additional 1,750 fatalities in September, pushing the total monthly pollution death toll to 5,310.
On densely populated Java, where the capital city of Jakarta is situated, non-fire emissions accounted for between 73 percent and 80 percent of pollution-related fatalities, totaling 1,530 deaths. The research group emphasized that standard urban emissions represent a health crisis comparable in severity to seasonal forest fires.
Criticism mounts amid regional haze
Months of severe drought exacerbated by the El Nino weather pattern have created ideal conditions for blazes to spread rapidly. Data from the deforestation tracking initiative Nusantara Atlas suggests that fires destroyed more than 1.9 million hectares through September, a total the Indonesian government has neither confirmed nor denied.
Environmental researchers attribute much of the burning to slash-and-burn methods utilized by agricultural, logging and mining enterprises to clear land cheaply. Thick smoke has drifted across international borders, deteriorating air quality in Malaysia, Singapore, East Timor and the Philippines while straining regional relations.
“Indonesia should be able to prepare for what is going to happen. The fact that we are not prepared at all is purely a matter of lacking the will,” said Agus Sari, chief executive of the consultancy Landscape Indonesia, in the CREA report.
Sari criticized the government for what he termed a “predictable and avoidable” emergency, arguing that budget reductions had weakened the capacity of the BNPB national disaster management agency.
Government response and policy debate
Indonesian officials defended their mitigation efforts on Wednesday, stating that authorities had mobilized more than 72,000 personnel for firefighting and cloud-seeding missions. The government also reported dispatching more than 2,100 doctors and healthcare workers into severely affected communities alongside the distribution of 5.3 million protective face masks.
The research center recommended that officials pivot away from reactive emergency suppression toward the long-term rewetting and restoration of vulnerable drained peatlands. The organization also urged authorities to impose tighter industrial emissions rules on Java and aggressively enforce existing bans against illegal agricultural burning, though officials have not yet indicated whether policy adjustments will be adopted.
