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Freedom251 › Blog › biodiversity

Damaged and drained, Indonesia’s peatlands go up in smoke in 2026

By Freedom251 Team · · 5 min read

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Indonesia’s 2026 fires show how drainage and land conversion can turn peatlands into long-burning sources of smoke. Canals lower the water table, drought dries the accumulated organic soil, and fires can smolder underground for weeks. The resulting haze carries fine particles across national borders, while the fires damage health and wildlife and release globally significant amounts of carbon.

What are peatlands?

Peatlands form when dead plants and other organic matter accumulate faster than they decompose. Waterlogged conditions slow decomposition, allowing thick layers of carbon-rich material to build up over centuries or longer. The AFP report describes peatlands as important stores of carbon, habitats for diverse species and natural systems that help contain floods.

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Pantau Gambut estimates that Indonesia has 24.2 million hectares of peatland. Its 2026 assessment puts 16.4 million hectares of that area in degraded condition and vulnerable to fire. Those figures are estimates attributed to Pantau Gambut through the AFP report, not an independently audited national inventory.

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Globally, peatlands cover about 3% of land and hold roughly one-third of the world’s soil carbon—about twice the amount stored in forests—according to figures reported by AFP. The report did not provide the underlying global dataset, so these values should be treated as attributed estimates.

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Why are they burning?

Drainage lowers the natural fire barrier

Industrial-scale timber, pulp and paper, rice and palm-oil cultivation has been associated with drainage canals in Indonesian peatlands. Canals move water toward rivers or the sea, lowering the water table. Peat that was previously saturated becomes dry enough to ignite and to carry fire below the surface.

Pantau Gambut research cited by AFP reports about 285,000 kilometres of canal networks. PetaBencana.id’s 2026 account says dry weather combines with land that has already been cleared or drained to raise fire risk.

Drought turns vulnerability into ignition

Severe drought, including conditions associated with strong El Niño years, removes more moisture from peat and vegetation. PetaBencana.id reported a 167% year-on-year increase in fire hotspots by mid-July 2026. That is a nationwide, mid-July comparison made by the organisation, not a final annual fire tally and not proof that every hotspot was a peat fire.

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Why peat fires persist underground

Unlike a short-lived grass or surface fire, a peat fire can burn slowly through thick underground layers. It may be difficult to detect, can continue smoldering for weeks and may reignite after crews extinguish visible flames. This hidden combustion helps explain why rain or surface firefighting does not always end the problem: the water table must be restored and the smoldering peat fully saturated.

Why does peat smoke create such persistent haze?

Peat combustion produces dense smoke containing PM2.5 and other pollutants, including formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia, according to the AFP report. PM2.5 particles are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs. The report attributes to the World Health Organization the finding that exposure is associated with increased illness and death.

Wind can carry this smoke far beyond the burn area. The 2026 report describes haze reaching Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. Because underground peat can keep emitting smoke after surface flames disappear, air quality may remain poor for days or weeks and can worsen again when buried hotspots reach the surface.

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What are the impacts?

Public health

The Indonesian health ministry attributed more than 170,000 acute respiratory-infection treatments to August and September 2026. This is a ministry-reported treatment total for that period, relayed by AFP; it is not presented as a complete count of all smoke-related illness or as an independently verified causal estimate.

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People with asthma, chronic lung disease, heart conditions, children and older adults are generally more vulnerable to particle pollution. During haze episodes, local authorities’ air-quality readings and health advisories are more useful for immediate decisions than a national fire count, because exposure varies by location and wind.

Biodiversity and habitats

Fire destroys peat-swamp vegetation and the habitat it supports. AFP reports damage to areas used by endangered species including orangutans and Sumatran rhinos. Repeated burning can simplify ecosystems, dry them further and make recovery harder, even where a fire eventually goes out.

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Climate emissions

By 6 October 2026, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service estimated that Indonesian wildfires had emitted 140.5 megatonnes of carbon, about 13% of the global wildfire total for that year at that date. It is a dated monitoring estimate, not a final 2026 total. Drained peat can release carbon both through fire and through ongoing oxidation while it remains dry.

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What is being done?

Reported restoration measures

The government has reported a moratorium on new permits to clear 66 million hectares designated as primary forest and peatland. In a statement the prior year, it said 4.16 million hectares had been rewetted, 45,000 canal barriers built and native species replanted. Those are reported implementation figures, not independently audited evidence that fires or hotspots have fallen across all treated areas.

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Rewetting raises water levels; canal blocks slow drainage; native planting can help recover vegetation. Effective programs also need maintenance, fire detection and arrangements for people whose livelihoods depend on the land. The available reporting does not provide a controlled comparison showing that one intervention is superior in every setting.

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Disagreement over outcomes

Greenpeace forest campaigner Belgis Habiba said: “Today, some of the peat hydrological units that have received major restoration efforts… have experienced fires and have some of the highest hotspot counts.” She also asked: “Does managing in this context serve as a pretext for the state to grant new concessions on peatlands?” These are an activist’s criticisms, not a settled evaluation of every restoration project.

Activists and experts cited by AFP call for revoking extractive concessions, rewetting peat and planting native species while blocking canals. Their proposals address both the physical conditions that allow fire and the land-use permissions that can recreate those conditions. The reports do not establish how many concessions would be affected or what alternative livelihoods would be provided.

A new management agency

Indonesia announced a National Peatland and Mangrove Management agency in September 2026 to replace a body whose mandate expired in 2024. At the time of the report, its legal remit, budget, staffing and operational arrangements were still being worked out, and the forestry ministry had not replied to AFP’s request for comment. The announcement therefore signals an intended institutional change, not proof that the new agency was fully functioning.

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What should readers take from the 2026 fires?

The immediate smoke problem is a land-and-water problem as much as a firefighting problem. Drained peat dries; drought increases ignition risk; underground combustion prolongs emissions; and haze crosses borders. Government restoration numbers show activity, while recurring fires and hotspot concentrations cited by critics show why implementation and outcomes remain contested. Reliable progress would need to be measured not only by kilometres of canals blocked or hectares rewetted, but also by sustained water levels, fewer fires and hotspots, protected habitats and workable local land-use arrangements.

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biodiversityclimatehazeIndonesiapeatlandsPublic Healthwildfires

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