Using Data Tools to Optimize Indonesia’s Land Resources

This briefing by the Climate Policy Initiative explores the use of Natural Capital Assessment (NCA) to optimize land resource allocation in Indonesia. It argues that by integrating social, biophysical, and economic data into spatial planning, Indonesia can meet economic growth targets while reducing deforestation and community conflict.

• Indonesia faces intensifying 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.
• A 'window of opportunity' exists to reform Indonesian land use through legal frameworks such as Law No. 32/2009, which introduces strategic environmental assessments, and Constitutional Court ruling No. 45/PUU-IX/2011 (MK45), which requires local authorities and the Ministry of Forestry to determine land availability by the end of 2014.
• Natural Capital Assessment (NCA) is a landscape-scale process that identifies and weighs the benefits of different land use options by overlaying data on community locations, agronomic potential, and environmental quality to create zones for protection or production.
• Effective NCA must adhere to three core principles derived from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: it must be relevant (fitting decision-maker priorities and timeframes), credible (meeting scientific rigor and including validated local knowledge), and legitimate (transparent and owned by users).
• The World Resources Institute (WRI) and Sekala developed a 'Suitability Mapper' for Kalimantan that identified 3.3 million hectares of degraded lands potentially suitable for sustainable oil palm production in Central Kalimantan, which could help meet provincial goals for an additional 2.5 million hectares without clearing new forests.
• Case studies demonstrate that technical data alone is insufficient for land-use change; in Malinau, East Kalimantan, a 2002 land use plan ignored extensive ecological and social data provided by CIFOR, resulting in oil palm developments on ecologically sensitive areas.
• Various technical tools support NCA, including InVEST (used in Kalimantan and central Sumatra for biodiversity and carbon storage), MarXAN with Zones (used in Berau district, East Kalimantan for conservation targets), and the LUWES framework for low-emission development.

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} }