Beyond Project Boundaries: Protecting Indonesia’s Forests and Creating Economic Opportunity

ICBA explores how jurisdictional REDD+ can connect forest protection, regional development and international climate finance.

“Forests do not stop at project boundaries. Neither should our efforts to protect them.”

Indonesia’s tropical forests are among the country’s most valuable natural assets, supporting biodiversity, livelihoods, water systems and climate stability. Yet deforestation pressures, fires and competing land uses extend beyond individual projects and concessions. Protecting these landscapes requires governments, industry and communities to work together across those boundaries.

For Rob Raffael Kardinal, Chairman of the Indonesia Carbon Credit & Biodiversity Alliance (ICBA), the challenge is also economic: how can Indonesia better recognise and finance the value of keeping its forests standing?

“As Chairman of ICBA, I see Jurisdictional REDD+ as one of Indonesia’s strategic opportunities to build a sustainable green economy. We have extraordinary tropical forests, yet the economic value of protecting them has not been fully reflected in global financing systems.”

Beyond Individual Projects

Conservation projects across Indonesia have helped protect forests, restore ecosystems and support communities. Their contributions continue to matter, but landscape-wide challenges cannot be managed by individual initiatives alone. Deforestation pressures can shift between areas, while fires and changes in land use can affect neighbouring forests and livelihoods. Forestry, agriculture, plantations, infrastructure and regional planning all influence what happens across these landscapes.

Jurisdictional REDD+ (JREDD+) offers a way to connect these efforts. Rather than assessing forest-related emissions reductions only within separate project areas, it measures performance across a defined territory, such as a province. This broader approach can help align forest management, monitoring and existing conservation work with government priorities. The aim is to strengthen individual initiatives, not replace them, while creating a more consistent basis for measuring progress and identifying where further protection is needed.

The Economic Case for Keeping Forests Standing

Protecting forests requires long-term funding for monitoring, enforcement, restoration, fire prevention and community participation. Yet the value of healthy ecosystems — from biodiversity and water regulation to carbon storage — is not always reflected in economic decisions, particularly when land conversion offers more immediate financial returns.

Through credible accounting and independently verified results, qualifying jurisdictional programmes may attract international climate finance to support forest protection and sustainable development. In this way, measurable conservation outcomes can be linked to funding that sustains forest management and creates benefits for regions and communities.

As Raffael explains:

“Through JREDD+, we can open up access to international investment, strengthen financing for forest fire prevention, and create economic benefits for regional governments and communities.”

Realising this potential requires careful programme design and transparent governance. International finance should support Indonesian priorities, respect community rights and operate through clearly defined arrangements setting out who holds the rights to verified results, who carries which responsibilities and how benefits are shared. Such financing can reward verified environmental outcomes without transferring ownership of forest land. Credible programmes must also account for existing conservation projects, so that the same results are not claimed twice and environmental integrity is protected.

For Raffael, the issue is also how Indonesia’s contribution is valued internationally.

“Indonesia must not simply become a supplier of low-priced carbon credits. We need to build a credible, high-integrity carbon market capable of generating economic value that reflects Indonesia’s genuine contribution to global climate change mitigation.”

Government Leadership Across the Landscape

National climate policy and forestry regulations provide the wider framework, while provincial governments play a key role in connecting forest protection with regional development. Different departments oversee forestry, spatial planning, agriculture, infrastructure and economic priorities. Effective jurisdictional programmes will depend on bringing these responsibilities together, alongside businesses, forest managers and communities.

Indonesia’s recurring forest and peatland fires illustrate why this matters. Prevention, monitoring and land management must extend across concessions and administrative boundaries.

The participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is equally central. Their customary rights, knowledge and livelihoods must be respected, and meaningful involvement in decisions, together with fair arrangements for sharing potential benefits, is essential to building lasting trust.

Early Steps in Southwest Papua and West Papua

ICBA signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Provincial Governments of Southwest Papua on 14 October 2026 and West Papua on 15 October 2026. These mark early steps towards assessing how these approaches could work in each province. The agreements, involving the administrations of Governors Elisa Kambu and Dominggus Mandacan respectively, provide a foundation for discussions around forest conservation, biodiversity protection, jurisdictional carbon potential and future climate finance.

These discussions allow the parties to examine how provincial priorities, existing land uses and community interests might fit within a broader conservation framework. They can also help establish the technical, institutional and regulatory requirements for developing credible programmes.

The agreements establish a framework for cooperation, under which the carbon and biodiversity potential of each province is now being assessed. They are not approved crediting programmes or secured investments. Further technical work, engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, coordination with national authorities and relevant approvals will be needed before any potential programmes advance.

Through these collaborations, ICBA aims to connect government institutions, technical expertise, conservation organisations and international partners to support the development of responsible approaches to forest protection. Experience from the process may also provide useful lessons for other forest-rich provinces considering similar approaches.

A Shared Path Forward

Indonesia is well placed to bring forest protection and economic development closer together. Success will depend on credible environmental standards, capable institutions, responsible investment and meaningful benefits for the people who help protect these landscapes. Jurisdictional REDD+ offers one potential pathway towards achieving this, supported by coordinated government leadership and long-term cooperation.

As Raffael puts it:

“My vision is to make forest protection one of Indonesia’s economic strengths, where government, businesses and communities benefit from successfully protecting our forests for future generations.”

Indonesia’s next chapter of forest protection will be shaped by what happens beyond individual project boundaries: how effectively institutions work together, how communities participate, and whether protecting forests can create lasting environmental and economic value.

Indonesia Carbon Credit & Biodiversity Alliance (ICBA) supports stakeholder collaboration, knowledge-sharing and the development of credible approaches to carbon markets and biodiversity conservation in Indonesia.