East Kalimantan province is preparing to host Indonesia’s future capital city (Nusantara), following the decision to move it from Jakarta. It is intended as a sustainable and smart city, and expected to drive the country’s new economic vision for 2045. With a current population of 3.8 million (expected to rise to 4.8 million in 2030), the province is addressing pressing environmental issues in its agricultural and forest sector through multi-stakeholder governance, collaboration to advance shared sustainability goals and optimize multiple social, economic, and environmental objectives across economic sectors and land uses.
East Kalimantan is also the first province in Indonesia to engage in a jurisdictional-scale emission reduction program through the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).
Green Growth Compact:
The Green Growth Compact Initiative was established in 2016 with the aim to support East Kalimantan on carbon emissions reduction and green development through collaboration among companies, government agencies, communities, and NGOs. It is a voluntary initiative led by the Regional Council for Climate Change (DDPI) of East Kalimantan to implement green development in the province, such as the rehabilitation of mangrove forests in the Mahakam Delta, development of community-based forest and/or land fire preventions, development of village programs to prevent deforestation and to promote alternative sustainable livelihoods for local communities.
Through the initiative, the mangrove forests in the Mahakam Delta are being restored, after more than 50% of the mangrove ecosystem was degraded by unsustainable fishing, land clearing for ponds, and aquaculture basins. The project included collaboration between the forestry agency, environmental agency, forest management unit (FMU) of Mahakam Watershed, the Faculty of Agriculture and Fishery of Mulawarman University and local NGOs. The aim of the project is to reinstate the mangrove ecosystem by planting in the degraded areas, and to support local economic development via sustainable fishing practices, land use planning and management, and environmental awareness across the communities.
Mangrove Planting
Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)
East Kalimantan was selected as pilot province for FCPF in May 2015 and started its readiness phase in 2016. They completed the program’s Emission Reduction Project Document (ERPD) and Emission Reduction Payment Agreement (ERPA) in 2019.
Implementation, verification, and payment periods for the program were set for the years 2020-2024, and in 2022 the province conducted its first evaluation and verification for their performance in the period of July 2019 – December 2020, assessing an estimated emission reduction of 30.8-million-ton CO2e, beyond the expected 22 million ton CO2. In November 2022, the World Bank disbursed an advance payment of US$ 20.9 million, amounting to 13.5% of the total value of agreed payment from the World Bank.
Regulating and Monitoring Sustainable Agriculture Practices in East Kalimantan
In 2018, East Kalimantan enacted Regulation No 7/2018, aimed at guiding the sustainable agriculture practice of companies sourcing from or operating in the province, specifically to address deforestation and forest degradation drivers such as land conversion into plantations (removing natural forests to meet other land needs1. The enactment of this regulation was propelled by the Sustainable Development Declaration, made in 2017 and signed by the governor at the time, as well as all the regencies of East Kalimantan. Under this regulation, agricultural companies are prohibited from expanding their plantations in forest and peatland areas. In addition, companies are encouraged to develop and operationalize technical groups and task forces to address plantation fire incidents, support in mapping the protected forest areaand building a database system for land use management, research and development, monitoring and supervision of the agricultural processes, and tenurial conflict management. Plantation and agricultural companies must abide by this law inciting them to participate in climate mitigation and adaptation action by conducting and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and participating in multi-stakeholder forums for communication and collaboration on sustainable agriculture across the province.
The regulation emphasizes the private sector’s role in the management of high conservation value (HCV) areas and the prevention of fires on the plantation areas as well as development of climate change mitigation actions. The Government of East Kalimantan, with the province’s plantation agency, monitor businesses on their progress and adherence to the regulation. Together they have established a monitoring system requiring all companies working on agricultural plantations to report their activities on the land which is additionally verified through satellite imaging. So far, these monitoring techniques have protected 640,000 hectares of natural forest in the plantation area and 50,000 hectares of peatlands area.
Indonesia’s Future Capital: Planning for a Sustainable and Smart Forest City:
The future capital city of Indonesia, Nusantara, is designed as a sustainable and smart forest city expected to drive Indonesia’s new economic vision to 2045. The concept of a smart forest city is to develop the new capital in a way that prohibits any development in conservation areas, and prioritises green open spaces, green mobility, and connectivity. This concept is expected to help offset/reduce potential emissions generated by conversion of forested area in other land functions for the new capital.
Its creation is under the control of the national government, but East Kalimantan province plays a crucial role in the development of the new capital city as it oversees the management of protected forest area, capacity building activities of the community, and protecting its bay and coast during the construction plans as well as acknowledging and managing indigenous populations’ claims over land where the new capital city will be built. At COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, the Government of Indonesia, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) unveiled a scoping study mapping out the route for the country’s future capital city to become carbon neutral in line with the country’s nationally determined contributions (NDC); achieving net zero by 2060 (with emissions reduction targets of 31.89% unconditionally and 43.20% conditionally by 2030). This scoping study will outline crucial actions to support Nusantara achieve its net zero commitments. In the urban zones, this includes prioritizing low-carbon materials for construction, providing easier access to public transportation, and prioritizing renewable energy sources. In the land areas, this includes protecting the forest areas around the capital city and restoring and protecting areas of high conservation value (HCV) such as water catchment zones and biodiversity corridors allowing animals to travel from one area of native forest to another. 2
East Kalimantan has shown immense progress and commitment to climate action through regulation and multi-stakeholder governance of its sustainable agriculture practices and protection of its forest areas. It has also taken this unique opportunity of the development of a new capital city within its province as a chance to develop a city which is a thriving, sustainable and one that protects its natural environment.
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1Forest conversion | WWF (panda.org)
2ADB, Indonesia Launch Study to Help Future Capital to Be Carbon Neutral | Asian Development Bank