Indonesia Battles Severe Wildfires Threatening New Capital Nusantara

The Southeast Asian nation is battling what officials call its most intense wildfire season in 11 years. Nearly 202,000 hectares (499,000 acres) of forest and peatland have been razed nationwide from January to June, according to Sipongi, the Indonesian forest ministry’s monitoring platform. Sipongi data shows more than 14,000 hotspots were recorded between August 1 and September 9 – up from 1,033 over the same period last year.

Fires have been detected across more than 400 hectares of the land earmarked for Nusantara in East Kalimantan, which is surrounded by some of the hardest-hit areas provinces.

Nusantara sits on 252,000 hectares of land, only a quarter of which will host governmental offices, civil service housing and commercial infrastructure.

The fires near the site drew direct intervention from President Prabowo Subianto, who instructed officials on Monday to deploy assets to stop the spread. These included water-dropping drones and the use of the country’s first aircraft carrier, the Giuseppe Garibaldi. The ship was donated by Italy and is set to arrive on September 17, the Indonesian Navy said on Tuesday, as cited by state news agency Antara .

Buffer zone blazes

Myrna Asnawati Safitri, the deputy for environment and natural resources at the Nusantara Capital City Authority (OIKN), said that fires were confined to the surrounding development area, roughly 35km (22 miles) from the main construction zone.

“There are currently no hotspots or fires detected in the core governmental area. Air quality has been generally good since July,” Myrna said.