Jakarta – The Authority of the Capital City of the Archipelago (IKN) launched the Biodiversity Management Master Plan in IKN, a strategic step to safeguard the new national capital’s development in line with Jakarta’s environmental conservation, Tuesday, March 26.
The head of the IKN Authority, Bambang Susantono, emphasized that the construction of the capital city in East Kalimantan is a symbol of national development and tangible proof of Indonesia’s commitment to maintaining the balance of nature.
“Development in IKN is only one-third or 25 per cent of the total IKN area. We will rebuild the rest as tropical forest,” he said.
The Biodiversity Management Master Plan in IKN formulates policy directions, programs, and targets to protect biodiversity in the region over the next five years (2024-2029). The document involves important measures such as habitat preservation, species protection, restoration of damaged ecosystems, and tree conservation.
Bambang stated that through ecosystem protection programs and restoration of damaged ecosystems, it is expected that by 2030, the status of biodiversity in the IKN region can improve further. OIKN has identified seven areas in IKN and its surroundings that have high biodiversity, including Gunung Beratus Landscape, Bukit Soeharto Grand Forest Park, Balikpapan Bay, Sungai Wain Protection Forest, Samboja Lestari, Muara Jawa, and Gunung Parung.
To support environmental sustainability and biodiversity in the new capital city, OIKN aims to restore 65 per cent of the IKN area as protected areas. Only about 16 per cent of the total 252,000 hectares of the IKN area is covered by tropical rainforest. Therefore, OIKN has noted the need for at least 120,000 hectares of reforestation by 2045.
The Biodiversity Management Master Plan at IKN is the third document released by the IKN Authority to support the global campaign on climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The previous two documents were the Roadmap to the Zero Carbon Emission City of the Archipelago launched on the sidelines of COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in October of the previous year, and the preliminary document of the Voluntary Local Review (VLR) for IKN for the SDGs. (Hartatik)
Banner photo: Head of the IKN Authority, Bambang Susantono, at the launch of the Biodiversity Management Master Plan at IKN, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 (source: tanahair.net)
