Sumatra, Indonesia

Sumatra is one of Indonesia's largest islands and is home to roughly a quarter of the nation's population. The island is also a global hotspot for biodiversity, and is home to the world's last remaining Sumatran tigers, elephants, and rhinos. Its natural environment provides fertile land for agriculture and lush forests that sustain native species and local communities. Abundant natural resources support the production of palm oil, paper, and coffee, as well as provide clean water and sequester massive amounts of carbon in forests and peatlands.

In spite of its plentiful natural assets, Sumatra faces grave environmental challenges. The island has lost nearly half its forest cover in recent decades, causing a major reduction in carbon stock and other sources of Indonesia's natural capital. Though economic development has brought many benefits to the people of Sumatra, it has been accompanied by degraded water quality, massive greenhouse gas emissions, and increased erosion. Logging activities, deforestation, and land conversion to industrial plantations have depleted resources critical to wildlife and human well-being.

Local partners invited to map environmental services for land use plans on Sumatra

WWF-Indonesia has been invited to contribute to the land-use planning process in several provinces and districts on Sumatra (Aceh, Jambi, Lampung, Riau, West Sumatra) by modeling environmental services under current and alternative future land use scenarios. This has the potential to inform decisions relating to extractive industry projects – such as paper, pulp and palm oil, which can lead to deforestation, significant degradation of environmental services, and loss of biodiversity in Indonesia's conservation priority areas. Mapping and valuing environmental services can provide incentives to manage conservation priority areas sustainably and to restore degraded habitats.

The resulting maps and analyses will be used as government-sanctioned land-use planning tools, and may also be used for advocacy, outreach to the public and media, and to identify districts within these provinces that offer potential for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs.

Many areas that were zoned for conservation under the new national land use plan had previously been designated as concessions for timber, pulp, palm oil and other economic uses, and these concessions are often in effect for many years to come, regardless of any recent conservation designation, thus there is a strong need for incentives to prevent these concessions from being put into use, which is where PES could be relevant. Water and carbon are the key services, along with haze (from forest fire) reduction.

Historic commitment to conservation on Sumatra

In Indonesia, district and provincial spatial plans specify where timber harvest, plantation expansion, infrastructure development, and conservation should take place. In 2010, the 10 governors of Sumatra made an island-wide commitment to conduct ecosystem-based spatial planning, which supports sustainable development and conservation. The plan addresses environmental, climate, and livelihood concerns and also identifies critical areas for biodiversity and peatland conservation. Six national government agencies and a forum of NGOs developed an ecosystem vision for Sumatra as an alternative to the existing government spatial plans. World Wildlife Fund used the Natural Capital Project's InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) software to inform the new plan by modeling climate storage and sequestraion, water quality and quantity, and habitat quality for biodiversty in priority areas on the island of Sumatra. InVEST also identified tradeoffs and synergies among multiple services and economic activites.

A Green Vision for Sumatra

The Indonesian government selected 19 districts and six main watersheds to initiate programs aimed to restore the delivery of ecosystem services. Using InVEST software, habitat for tigers and multiple ecosystem services were assessed for the region, including carbon storage, water yield, erosion control and avoided nutrient pollution. Spatial and economic analyses of these areas informed conservation management objectives for provincial and district planners.

In February 2012, the Natural Capital Project and WWF published a new report, the first of its kind, which uses ecosystem services information from InVEST to make recommendations for sustainable land use planning and prioritizing incentives for ecosystem service provision in central Sumatra. A Green Vision for Sumatra was led by Dr. Nirmal Bhagabati. The report demonstrates how spatial and economic analyses of ecosystem services and wildlife habitat can support provincial and district planning in Indonesia.

By assessing the benefits from nature that the people of Sumatra manage and depend on, the report identifies the full costs and benefits of alternative future development trajectories. Its results are drawn from comparison of Sumatra's landscape in 2008 with a possible business-as-usual future and an "Ecosystem Vision for Sumatra." The report includes summary includes detailed methods for InVEST users, as well as policy recommendations for the Indonesian government and international agencies, such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

The report has been translated into Bahasa and is now being shared with provincial and district land-use planners. The results are informing a strategic environmental assessment for the region.

Results

• Developed framework for ecosystem-based spatial plan: InVEST maps and associated analyses have informed spatial planning decisions in several provinces in Sumatra, such as Jambi, and a Strategic Environmental Assessment for the region.
• Identified alternatives for land management: Our research offers practical options to safeguard natural capital. Analyses also provide planners with information they need to target districts for conservation and development activities.
• Provided clear-cut guidance for decision makers: Our results suggest that implementing the Sumatra Vision will result in higher carbon stocks, reduced sedimentation, cleaner water, and greatly enhanced habitat quality. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) recently signed a Compact Agreement with the Indonesian government to fund $600 million for projects for sustainable development and offsetting carbon emissions. The MCC recommend in their call for proposals that ecosystem service assessments, such as the one conducted with InVEST, be used to guide priorities for the first investments.
• Received public support for the Sumatra Ecosystem Vision, which has been endorsed by the Indonesian Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Forestry, and Ministry of Home Affairs.

Publications

A Green Vision for Sumatra: Using ecosystem services information to make recommendations for sustainable land use planning at the provice and district level [Summary] [Full PDF] [Bahssa Translation]

Nirmal Bhagabati, Thomas Barano, Marc Conte, Driss Ennaanay, Oki Hadian, Emily McKenzie, Nasser Olwero, Amy Rosenthal, Suparmoko, Aurelie Shapiro, Heather Tallis, and Stacie Wolny

February 2012

Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeos Application in RIMBA Integrated Ecosystem Area, Sumatra, Indonesia Factsheet

Save Sumatra (2010)

Integrating Ecosystem Services into Spatial Planning in Sumatra, Indonesia

Thomas Barano, Emily McKenzie, Nirmal Bhagabati, Marc Conte, Driss Ennaanay, Oki Hadian, Nasser Olwero, Heather Tallis, Stacie Wolny, Ginny Ng

TEEBcase (2010)

Download from www.eea.europa.eu/teeb

Clearing the haze and seeing the forest: A proposal of economic incentives and financial mechanisms to combat deforestation, fires and haze in Indonesia

Iván Darío Valencia

Not Peer-reviewed: Scholarly Paper for Graduate Studies University of Maryland. (August 2009)

A Framework of Incentives: Supporting Implementation of Indonesia's Spatial Plans (Barano and McKenzie 2009)

Links

WWF-Sumatra

WWF-Indonesia

WWF-Borneo and Sumatra

Save Sumatra

Contact

Nirmal Bhagabati

Senior Program Officer

nirmal.bhagabati@wwfus.org