Indonesia Works with ASEAN Neighbors to Tackle Transboundary Haze

5 hours ago 2

September 5, 2026 | 01:06 pm

South Kalimantan Forestry Agency officials conduct cooling operations after extinguishing a forest and land fire to prevent it from spreading to a protected forest area in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan. ANTARA/HO-South Kalimantan Forestry Agency.

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia ensures efforts to combat the transboundary effects of wildfires through close cooperation with neighboring countries to maintain stable relations in the Southeast Asian region.

Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Vahd Nabyl A. Mulachela said, "Indonesia strives to prioritize cooperation with neighboring countries and maintains good bilateral relations, particularly in addressing environmental issues with transboundary impacts, including haze," Nabyl said in a written statement confirmed in Jakarta on Saturday.

The ministry spokesperson assured that Indonesia has consistently implemented haze management through the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP).

Nabyl noted that the ASEAN Secretariat, as the interim office of the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Transboundary Haze Control (ACC THPC), had declared Alert 3 status at the regional level on August 26, 2026.

Through this status, ASEC instructed all ASEAN countries to submit daily situation reports (SITREP), including haze trajectory maps, and distribute them to all ASEAN member states.

In this regard, Indonesia continues to fulfill its daily reporting obligations and mandatory actions under Alert 3 status according to standard procedures.

These mandatory actions include proactively reporting hotspot data, environmental conditions, indications of haze movement, and forest and land fire mitigation measures to ASEC.

"Regular meetings to discuss the haze and coordinate follow-up actions are also ongoing," he added.

The Indonesian government continues to optimize various strategies to fight wildfires and mitigate their impacts, both domestically and regionally.

According to Sipongi data from the Ministry of Forestry as of September 1, 2026, the number of hotspots in West Kalimantan rose from 273 to 859, Central Kalimantan from 253 to 623, South Sumatra from 20 to 89, South Kalimantan from 22 to 73, Riau remained at 0, and Jambi from 0 to 4 hotspots.

The wildfire haze in Indonesia has also spread to Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and even the Philippines, including the capital, Manila.

Read: How to Keep Children Safe from Wildfire Smoke

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