Indonesia has granted Malaysia official permission to conduct cloud seeding operations in its airspace along their shared border to combat haze, Malaysian officials confirmed on August 26 [1, 2, 3]. "Indonesia has given Malaysian agencies official permission to enter its airspace to conduct cloud seeding operations," Malaysian Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup said [1].
Malaysia’s National Disaster Management Agency and Meteorological Department are preparing schedules for coordinated cloud seeding missions with the Indonesian military to help reduce haze pollution in border areas [1, 4, 2, 3]. The preparations come as wildfire smoke from Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kalimantan provinces has spread to Malaysia, causing unhealthy air quality and school closures [1, 4, 3].
Sarawak state in Malaysia, which borders Indonesian Kalimantan on Borneo island, has been worst affected, with several districts recording unhealthy air pollution index (API) levels. As of August 26, 16 areas across Malaysia reported unhealthy API readings [1, 4].
Indonesia has suffered extensive forest and land fires this year, with about 285,000 hectares (704,000 acres) of peatland and forest burned so far in 2026, exposing millions to smoke [3]. El Nino and dry weather conditions have intensified fire risks. Indonesian authorities are conducting ground and aerial firefighting efforts, including water bombing and weather modification where feasible [3].
Berton Panjaitan, head of Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency communications center, said the situation is serious but under active control. He noted firefighting operations include water bombing, aerial patrols, and weather modification [3].
Both Malaysia and Indonesia are ramping up firefighting and fire prevention programs in the weeks leading up to Malaysia’s National Day on August 31 and Malaysia Day on September 16, events that will be held in Kuching, Sarawak [1, 2]. Minister Kurup emphasized that these measures are critical to improving air quality ahead of the celebrations [2].
Malaysia’s next steps involve finalizing the cloud seeding schedules to coordinate with Indonesian military operations, aiming to deploy in coming days to alleviate haze conditions in border regions [1, 4, 2].
