From Smoky skies to Sinking Cities: An Indonesian Environmental Journalist’s Personal Journey Through Her Nation’s Climate Crisis

Indonesia’s environmental challenges stretch across more than 17,000 islands, encompassing the world’s third-largest tropical rainforest and some of the planet’s most intensive resource extraction. But for environmental journalist Sapariah “Arie” Saturi, these sweeping statistics tell a deeply personal story—one written in childhood memories of yellow skies and the acrid smell of peat fires that clung to her clothes long after the smoke cleared.

Growing up along the Kapuas River in West Kalimantan during the 1990s, Saturi witnessed firsthand the environmental cost of Indonesia’s rapid development. Her home region became a battleground where ancient forests and peatlands clashed with the ambitions of logging companies, palm oil giants, and mining operations. Each dry season brought devastating fires that darkened the sky, burned children’s eyes within minutes of stepping outdoors, and created an eerie stillness as thick smoke muffled both sound and color. Without access to protective masks, local children simply endured these harsh conditions as a fact of life.

Now based in Jakarta, Saturi faces different but equally pressing environmental challenges. Indonesia’s capital city continues sinking several inches annually while traffic pollution creates daily health hazards for millions of residents. Her personal journey from the fire-prone peatlands of Kalimantan to the sinking, smog-choked capital reflects the broader environmental story of modern Indonesia—where the human cost of development is measured not just in statistics, but in the air people breathe and the ground shifting beneath their feet.