The Guardian ·
The women saving Borneo: battling fire, patriarchy and super El Niño on Indonesia’s peatland frontlines
Fire threatens Kalimantan’s rainforests. On the peatland frontlines, a group of local mothers is defending their community
Irma puts on her heavy rubber boots as she prepares for a volunteer firefighting shift in her village of Sungai Putri, on the Indonesian side of Borneo island.
Dressed in full safety gear she heads into fire zones on her motorbike, the air thick with toxic smoke.
The 39-year-old is a member of the Power of Mama, Indonesia’s first-ever all female firefighting team, formed to protect one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet.