Once a cost-effective tool used by farmers to clear land, fire is becoming an annual crisis in Indonesia’s peatlands, the Amazon forest and other parts of the world. But whether they’re lit by smallholders, local elites or large corporations, fires can get out of control, destroying forests or creating a toxic haze that can blanket several countries for months.
CIFOR-ICRAF’s approach targets both multi-level policies and grassroots action, through scientific analysis, targeted outreach activities and proactive engagement with everyone from smallholders to ministers.
Fire and haze: Fast facts
Air pollution from fires could cause 36,000
excess deaths each year on average in Indonesia, Malaysia and
Singapore in the coming years. But strategies such as peatland restoration could cut this
mortality by about 66%
