Forest and Land Fires 'Besiege' Nusantara Capital City, Buffer Zone Blazes Continue to Spread

Forest and land fires (karhutla) in areas surrounding the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) continue to increase, drawing attention to the capital’s buffer zones.

Data from the East Kalimantan Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) up to 24 August 2026 recorded 470 forest and land fire incidents, with a total affected area reaching 1,393.78 hectares.

According to the data, Penajam Paser Utara (PPU) Regency, which is the main location of IKN, recorded 42 fire incidents with an affected area of 41.07 hectares.

Meanwhile, Kutai Kartanegara (Kukar) Regency, part of which also falls within the IKN area, recorded 49 incidents with a much larger affected area of 440.88 hectares.

The fire situation in PPU has also reportedly worsened in recent weeks.

Head of the PPU BPBD, Nurlaila, said the increase in incidents began to be visible from July to August 2026. According to her, the rise in forest and land fires was partly influenced by weather conditions.

“In PPU, from July to August there has indeed been an increase, in line with the weather conditions,” Nurlaila said on Tuesday (25/8), as quoted by Detikcom.

Nurlaila said fire handling is carried out collaboratively, involving various cross-sector elements. Every piece of information about hotspots is also immediately followed up with field checks.

“If a hotspot is detected, a ground check is carried out immediately,” she said.

PPU BPBD has also strengthened the dissemination of information to the public through emergency services. Nurlaila said residents can report incidents through the 112 call centre, the fire brigade, or BPBD so that handling can be carried out more quickly.

To date, she said all forest and land fire incidents in PPU have still been manageable through collaboration.

“Nothing has been unmanageable so far, thank God, everything can still be handled collaboratively,” she said.

Meanwhile, in East Kalimantan, Paser Regency is the area with the highest number of forest and land fire incidents, with 121 incidents covering 294.83 hectares.

Samarinda recorded 80 incidents covering 101.71 hectares, West Kutai 73 incidents covering 349.17 hectares, while Kukar recorded 49 incidents covering 440.88 hectares.

Of the total affected area of 1,393.78 hectares in East Kalimantan, 1,330.23 hectares were land, 32.84 hectares forest, and 30.71 hectares plantations.

In the January–July period, 124 incidents were recorded with an affected area of 232.98 hectares, while throughout August up to 24 August 2026 there were 346 incidents with an affected area of 1,160.80 hectares.

This situation has put the increase in forest and land fires around IKN under the spotlight.

Although no smoke impact has yet been reported in the core IKN area, joint officers continue to monitor and handle fires in the buffer zones and at several points located around the IKN area.