A s almost 2m hectares has gone up in smoke in Indonesia’s worst fire season in a decade , enveloping the region in a thick dystopian haze, 33-year-old university researcher Nurul Amalia has grown increasingly exasperated.

“The government claims to be continuously increasing the number of personnel to extinguish it. But we have yet to see any significant progress,” she says.

“People in Kalimantan continue to report toxic air conditions, and now we hear news of firefighters losing their lives,” she adds, of four volunteers killed fighting fires this month.

On Wednesday, Amalia joined hundreds in Jakarta protesting against the government, the second demonstration in a week.…