Many Indonesia fires smoulder but danger is far from over

After months spent focusing on wildfires across Sumatra and Kalimantan, some Indonesian disaster management officials were on Tuesday turning their attention to preventing floods in several parts of the archipelago. Louis Verchot, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), said after a recent visit to Central Kalimantan province that the Indonesian government’s official figure of around 500,000 cases of respiratory ailments from the smog was likely an underestimate because of the likely number of unreported cases. “People in rural areas seek medical attention when it’s really bad,” Verchot said. “I’m pretty sure it’s an underestimate. This must be the people who are seriously affected.”