Design District Level Natural Capital Assessment Central Kalimantan

This working paper by the Climate Policy Initiative, supported by PILAR and UNPAR, proposes a framework for district-level natural capital assessment in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. It argues that current land valuations underestimate the true value of ecosystem services and are hindered by inconsistent government regulations and data gaps. The paper recommends a pilot assessment in Kotawaringin Timur due to its high concentration of palm oil infrastructure and critical high conservation value areas.

• Current land valuations in Indonesia fail to comprehensively reflect the true value of natural resources and ecosystem services, often due to difficulties in accessing consistent spatial data. Existing studies on business-as-usual scenarios show natural capital value variations ranging from a loss of USD 72 per Ha per year due to deforestation to a gain of USD 91 per Ha per year from timber and agriculture services, while green growth scenarios range from USD 17 to USD 816 Per Ha per year.
• Policy making in Indonesia's land use sector is limited by conflicting and inconsistent regulations between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Forestry regarding the valuation of land, particularly concerning carbon and ecosystem provisioning services.
• The authors recommend Kotawaringin Timur as the pilot site for natural capital assessment because it offers the greatest potential for combining low-emissions palm oil productivity gains with the protection of high conservation value areas. The district has the highest amount of high conservation value area among districts under plantation status (27,502 hectares), yet it has the lowest proportion of such areas under protected status as national reserves and protected forests (2.89% of Central Kalimantan's total).
• Kotawaringin Timur is characterized by severe historical deforestation (1973-2012) and a high concentration of palm oil infrastructure, including 27 palm oil mills (1,585 ton Fresh Fruit Bunches/hour capacity) and 4 palm kernel mills (39.5 ton kernel/hour capacity). Approximately 48,839 hectares of high conservation value areas in the district are at risk of oil palm expansion due to their status as convertible-production forest.
• The proposed natural capital assessment approach integrates geographic information systems (GIS), inventories, participatory methods, and expert opinions. It aims to harmonize guidelines from Ministry of Environment Regulation No. 15/2012 and Ministry of Finance Regulation No. 98/PMK.06/2010 to link land valuation with spatial planning and policymaking.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2016). Design District Level Natural Capital Assessment Central Kalimantan. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/design-district-level-natural-capital-assessment-central-kalimantan/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Design District Level Natural Capital Assessment Central Kalimantan. 2016. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/design-district-level-natural-capital-assessment-central-kalimantan/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Design District Level Natural Capital Assessment Central Kalimantan |date=31 October 2016 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/design-district-level-natural-capital-assessment-central-kalimantan/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2016design, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Design District Level Natural Capital Assessment Central Kalimantan}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2016}, month = oct, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/design-district-level-natural-capital-assessment-central-kalimantan/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }