Toxic wildfire haze spreads across South East Asia as ‘super’ El Niño intensifies

Many of the ongoing fires have been burning across Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo since mid-July – underpinned by a so-called Super El Niño that is exacerbating drought conditions.

Citing research reports, Prof Bambang told the BBC that this year's El Niño could burn an area as large as 11 million hectares – putting it on par with one of Indonesia's worst wildfire seasons, which happened from 1997 to 1998.

Unlike traditional practices, which are small-scale, community-managed, and closely monitored, fires linked to large-scale land development can be far more difficult to control and can cause environmental and public health impacts on a much larger scale.