Rain in Indonesia has helped with firefighting efforts in the forests and plantations of Kalimantan and Sumatra, but new hotspots have emerged in Papua.
A villager tries to extinguish a peatland fire on the outskirts of Palangkaraya city, Central Kalimantan on October 26, 2015. Photo: AFP / Bay ISMOYO
The Strait Times reported satellites had picked up 158 hot spots across Indonesia, with Papua having the highest number
Papua had 93 hotspots, East Java 17 and West Nusa Tenggara 11 hotspots.
In a statement Indonesia's Disaster Management Agency, said fires incresaed in Papua from 2015, mainly due to massive forest clearance to make way for plantations.
It said the hot spots were located in hard-to-reach areas and a lack of equipment and personnel had complicated fire-fighting efforts.
In 2015, it was estimated over 355,000 hectares of forests and plantations in Papua burned, an area about five times the size of Singapore.
