Trial by Fire Forest Fires and Forestry Policy in Indonesia's Era of Crisis and Reform

But the fires were mostly ignited deliberately by plantation companies and others eager to clear forest land as rapidly and cheaply as possible, no matter what the consequences. This was not a "natural" disaster. Nearly 10 million hectares burned, including parts of 17 protected forest areas, shrouding many towns in darkness at noon and exposing some 20 million people across Southeast Asia to harmful smoke-borne pollutants for months on end. Economic damages from the resultant breakdown of transportation, destruction of crops and timber, precipitous decline in tourism, additional health care costs, and other impacts have been conservatively estimated to have totaled around $10 billion. The toll on Indonesia's rich forest biodiversity is unknown, but is thought to have been extremely high as well.