The 2015 Forest and Land Fire Tragedy: Examining the Extent of Land Burned Due to Godzilla El Niño

The government faces a policy dilemma with no truly comfortable options.

The 2015 forest and land fires (karhutla) represent one of the darkest chapters in Indonesia’s environmental history. Triggered by the strong El Niño phenomenon, known as “Godzilla El Niño”, the extreme drought at that time led to an escalation of hotspots that were difficult to control in various regions.

The combination of weather anomalies and drying peatland conditions created massive fires whose impacts were felt even in neighbouring countries. This event triggered a health emergency and significant economic losses for Indonesia.

Based on data compiled from various environmental authorities, the following is a breakdown of the area of land affected during that period:

The impacts were not limited to ecosystem damage but also affected social and economic aspects:

The 2015 tragedy marked a turning point for the Indonesian government to tighten peatland protection regulations and establish the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) to prevent similar disasters in the future.