Indigenous Activist Highlights Intentional Fires and Water Crisis in Kalimantan

Indigenous activist and filmmaker Kynan Tegar spoke on Mongabay Newscast about the devastating fires that have scorched 48,000 hectares of Kalimantan’s rainforest this year. She says the blazes are deliberately set by agricultural corporations that have leased land for logging, palm‑oil plantations and gold mining since the 1970s. The companies have drained more than 1 million hectares of peatland, a key carbon store, and the fires are now exacerbated by climate change and El Niño. Tegar warns that the resulting loss of freshwater is crippling local and Indigenous communities, who rely on the forest for water. She also released a spoken‑word music video in 2024 to dramatize her community’s struggle.