Mapped burn patterns and new plantings
Rectangular and elongated burn patterns, rather than a random distribution, helped investigators identify suspected deliberate clearing, according to Myrna Asnawati Safitri, OIKN's deputy for environment and natural resources. Speaking in Balikpapan on Saturday, she said officers also found young oil palms and banana trees planted at several burned sites.
"This tactic of cutting down vegetation before setting it ablaze has become a common and recurring method," Myrna said.
Bukit Soeharto Grand Forest Park, known as Tahura, accounted for approximately 900 to 1,000 hectares of the burned area within the designated capital zone in East Kalimantan. About 500 hectares were in corporate concessions; the remaining affected land belonged to communities.
The park was already facing extensive encroachment. OIKN's 2026 mapping showed that encroachers or legal entities had illegally occupied about 23,556 hectares, or 36 percent of its 64,814.98 hectares, Liputan6.com reported. In late September, the authority conducted an enforcement operation in Bukit Tengkorak, Sepaku, where at least 420 hectares had burned.
Separately, OIKN Head Basuki Hadimuljono said on October 31, 2026, that only about 34 percent of the roughly 64,000-hectare park remained forest, according to detikKalimantan.
Company sanctions and police inquiry
OIKN began tracking satellite hotspots in early August and followed up with ground inspections that confirmed fires within PT AJP's concessions. The palm oil company's entire concession area is inside the capital territory. The authority imposed an initial administrative sanction known as government coercion.
Myrna described an escalating enforcement process: written warnings, followed by government coercion requiring land restoration, with business permits subject to suspension or revocation if companies fail to comply.
Jurisdiction extends beyond OIKN for dozens of other companies whose concessions cross into Kutai Kartanegara Regency. The authority has referred those cases to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) for joint enforcement.
OIKN has also coordinated with law enforcement concerning individuals identified in the field. The police investigation remains underway.
Alongside enforcement, the authority is increasing field supervision and requiring every concession holder to improve fire response systems throughout its operating area.
Construction unaffected, authority says
Basuki said on October 21, 2026, that the fires had not disrupted development of Nusantara (IKN), because the affected parts of Bukit Soeharto were far from the construction zone, ANTARA News reported.
Ground crews were sufficient to fight the fires, and weather modification was unnecessary, he said. That day, the Air Quality Index in the IKN area reached between 100 and 130 before dropping below 100.
Fires and enforcement across Indonesia
The Nusantara fires occurred during a national fire season that burned nearly two million hectares. Deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas attributed the scale of the burning to a strong El Nino cycle and drought, according to The Jakarta Post (AFP). The Indonesian government announced administrative sanctions against dozens of companies and criminal proceedings against 125 individuals and corporations.
Environmental group WALHI used NASA fire data to map hotspots classified as "high confidence" across Indonesia and said about half were within concessions. Its October 2026 report ranked 40 timber and palm oil concessions by the number of hotspots detected.
Singapore also issued "preventative measure notices" to 10 companies under its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act. The notices urged the companies to extinguish fires on their land, prevent burning and provide action plans. Failure to comply could lead to legal action, including fines.
Replanting burned areas
OIKN is pursuing large-scale reforestation of burned land with endemic trees, aiming to restore water-related ecological functions and protect the region's biodiversity.
As part of rehabilitation work, 1,000 tree seedlings were planted on October 31, 2026, at Kilometer 47 in Bukit Merdeka, along the Samarinda-Balikpapan road, Metro TV News reported. The planting included balangeran, bangkirai, tengkawang, kapur, gaharu, nyamplung, meranti and durian.
