Indonesian fires burnt 1.6mil hectares of land this year

Slash-and-burn clearing by some palm oil growers is often blamed for the fires, which can then spread rapidly, especially during dry weather.

Fires in Indonesia that spread a smoky haze over Southeast Asia this year burned at least 1.6 million hectares of mostly degraded land and carbon-rich peatlands, data from a respected research group showed on Monday.

Southeast Asia has suffered for years from smoke caused by fires in Indonesia, raising health and environmental concerns, but this year's were the worst since 2015 when 2.6 million hectares were burned.