Indonesia closes parks due to fires

Indonesia has temporarily closed nine national parks to hikers as forest fires add strain to containment efforts. Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni announced the closures on Monday, August 31, to keep firefighting resources focused on six priority provinces: Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan. For the latest on regional impacts, see our standings page.

Raja Juli stated that fires in national parks have required additional support, diverting resources. "Some water-bombing helicopters that should have been prioritised for the six provinces experiencing forest and land fires have also had to be deployed to national parks to conduct firefighting (operations)," he told the Antara news agency. An incident last week saw 170 hikers rescued from Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park due to fires; a separate fire there in August burned around 550 hectares.

Closed and Restricted Parks

The preventive closures affect parks across the archipelago. Limited hiking in designated safe zones is also in effect for four other locations.

The minister did not specify when the closures would end.

Haze and Health Impacts

Fires are burning in Kalimantan and Sumatra. The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre reported "widespread hotspots" and observed moderate to dense transboundary smoke plumes covering parts of Kalimantan, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines on Tuesday.

Air quality has reached hazardous levels. On Tuesday morning, Pontianak in West Kalimantan recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 851, according to IQAir. Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan followed with an AQI of 675. Any reading above 300 is considered hazardous. For more detailed environmental data, check our stats section.

In Malaysia, the Bernama news agency reported six areas in Sarawak recorded hazardous air quality. Serian district had an Air Pollutant Index (API) of 408 and Kuching 407.

Government Response and Health Data

Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono said last week that over 5 million people on Borneo and Sumatra were directly exposed to haze risks. He reported around 13,500 people were treated for respiratory infections in July and August, details of which can be tracked on our injuries page.

The government is prioritizing firefighting in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan.