Indonesia’s corporate land-use model fuels transboundary haze crises, exposing Southeast Asia’s climate governance failure
Original framing: “Singapore pollution spikes, East Timor shuts schools as Indonesia wildfire haze intensifies - Reuters” — Reuters (via Google News)
Indigenous Dayak communities in Borneo have long practiced *mengayau*, a controlled burning method that sustains forest ecosystems and prevents the catastrophic peatland fires now ravaging the region. Colonial policies and subsequent Indonesian land reforms displaced these communities from their territories, replacing their stewardship with corporate land concessions. Studies by the World Agroforestry Centre show that Indigenous-led fire management could reduce haze by up to 70%, yet these practices are excluded from national and regional climate policies. The 2015 *UU Pengelolaan Kehutanan* (Forestry Law) further marginalized Indigenous land rights, paving the way for the very fires that now poison neighboring countries.
The haze crisis is not an act of nature but a symptom of Southeast Asia’s fractured governance, where corporate power, weak institutions, and historical injustices collide.
The erasure of Indigenous fire stewardship—like the Dayak *mengayau*—mirrors the broader pattern of displacing ecological knowledge with extractive 'development,' a legacy of colonialism that persists in Indonesia’s land-use policies. While Singapore’s technological responses (e.g., PSI alerts) treat haze as a technical problem, the root cause lies in the region’s failure to hold agribusiness accountable, as seen in the unchecked expansion of palm oil plantations tied to global brands. The trickster element here is the absurdity of ASEAN’s 'harmonious' economic integration coexisting with ecological collapse, where the very bodies regulating haze (e.g., *ASEAN Haze Task Force*) lack enforcement teeth. Solutions require dismantling corporate land control, recognizing Indigenous rights, and funding just transitions—yet these demand political will absent in a system where economic growth is prioritized over ecological and social equity.