Using Data Tools to Optimize Indonesia’s Land Resources

The briefing explores how natural capital assessment (NCA) can help Indonesia resolve tensions between short-term economic gains and long-term environmental and social health. It highlights a 'window of opportunity' created by legal developments, such as Law No. 32/2009 and Constitutional Court ruling MK45, and the need for low-carbon development. The text details the principles of NCA—relevance, credibility, and legitimacy—and reviews technical tools like WRI's Suitability Mapper, which identified 3.3 million hectares of potentially suitable degraded land for oil palm in Central Kalimantan. It concludes that technical data alone is insufficient without the political will and commitment of local decision-makers to integrate these findings into spatial planning.

• Indonesia faces increasing pressure on land resources driven by the Economic Masterplan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Economic growth (MP3EI), which envisions USD 450bn of investment over 15 years, and Ministry of Agriculture goals to nearly double crude palm oil production by 2020.
• Several legal and policy developments in Indonesia provide an opportunity to shift land use practices, including Law No. 32/2009 regarding strategic environmental assessments, Constitutional Court ruling No. 45/PUU-IX/2011 (MK45) on land authority, and BAPPENAS-led low carbon development efforts (RAN-GRK and RAD-GRK).
• Natural Capital Assessment (NCA) is a landscape-scale process that uses biophysical and social data to identify and weigh the benefits of different land use options, aiming to create zones for protection or production that align with development goals.
• Effective NCA must adhere to three core principles: it must be relevant (answering decision-maker priorities), credible (meeting scientific and local knowledge standards), and legitimate (transparent and owned by users).
• The World Resources Institute's (WRI) Oil Palm Suitability Mapper identified 3.3 million hectares of degraded lands in Central Kalimantan that could potentially meet provincial development goals for an additional 2.5 million hectares of oil palm without clearing new forests.
• Case studies in East Kalimantan demonstrate that high-quality technical data and scientific research are ineffective if local decision-makers lack the political will to incorporate them into spatial planning, as seen when a district ignored CIFOR's ecological data to approve oil palm developments in sensitive areas.

APA

Benami, E., & Wilkinson, J. (2013). Using Data Tools to Optimize Indonesia’s Land Resources. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Using-Data-Tools-to-Optimize-Indonesia’s-Land-Resources-An-Overview-of-Natural-Capital-Assessment.pdf

Chicago

Benami, Elinor, and Jane Wilkinson. Using Data Tools to Optimize Indonesia’s Land Resources. Climate Policy Initiative, 2013. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Using-Data-Tools-to-Optimize-Indonesia’s-Land-Resources-An-Overview-of-Natural-Capital-Assessment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Benami |first1=Elinor |last2=Wilkinson |first2=Jane |title=Using Data Tools to Optimize Indonesia’s Land Resources |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=April 2013 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Using-Data-Tools-to-Optimize-Indonesia’s-Land-Resources-An-Overview-of-Natural-Capital-Assessment.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{benami2013using, author = {Benami, Elinor and Wilkinson, Jane}, title = {{Using Data Tools to Optimize Indonesia’s Land Resources}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2013}, month = apr, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Using-Data-Tools-to-Optimize-Indonesia’s-Land-Resources-An-Overview-of-Natural-Capital-Assessment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }