Papua, Indonesia

Indonesia
Governor Lukas Enembe S.IP, MH
Representative Peter Kamarea Executive Secretary of Papua Low Carbon Development Task Force
Representative Noak Kapisa Head of Environment Agency

Description

Tanah Papua is the western part of the large island of New Guinea, as the largest island in Indonesia is divided into two regional governments – the Papua Province covering an area of 316.553.07 km2 (CBS, 2013) of which approximately 80% is forest; and the Papua Barat Province covering an area of 97,117 km2 of which approximately 90% is covered in forest.

As the largest island in Indonesia Papua is blessed with natural wealth and extraordinary diversity of ecosystems, which are contained in the forest, coastal and marine, as well as mineral resources. Papua’s biodiversity is half of Indonesia’s biodiversity, particularly the endemic flora and fauna that is only found on this island. Papua is home to 15.000-20.000 plant species (55% endemic), 2000 species of orchids, 602 species of birds (52% endemic), 125 species of mammals (58% endemic) and 223 species of reptiles and amphibia (35% endemic), 25 species of freshwater fish and 1200 species of marine fish as well and an estimated 150,000 species of insects (Papua Ecology, 2013).

Papua’s rich natural resources and its uniqueness in terms of biology and biogeography characteristics and culture which has about 250 languages, is a capital asset for the development of green economy.

In the course of the development processes, the rich natural resource’s potentials are facing pressures due to environmental degradation and extinction of biodiversity and its ecosystem. This threat is caused, among others by deforestation, conversion of forest into agriculture and monoculture plantations and illegal logging.

The rate of deforestation and degradation in Papua continues to increase every year as pressures are faced from land conversion and illegal logging. Unplanned deforestation and forest degradation has contributed towards the increase of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contributed to global climate change.

As a commitment of the Government of Papua Province to carry out the National GHG Emission strategy that was based on the RAN GRK (Presidential Decree No 61/2011), and concurrently, in accordance with the Paris Agreement in which the handling of climate change must be implemented in the context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction goals, (Presidential Regulation no. 59 of 2017), the province felt the previously established NATIONAL & PROVINCIAL ACTION PLAN FOR REDUCTION OF GHG EMISSIONS (RAN – GRK and RAD – GRK) were no longer valid in accommodating the achievement of national development targets.  These targets include economic growth, poverty reduction and reducing of GHG emissions, as well as mainstreaming climate change issues into development planning and at the same time securing GHG emission reduction targets of 26% by 2020 and 29% by 2030. 

Therefore, the Provincial Government of Papua took steps to review and revise the previous Provincial Action Plan for Reduction of GHG Emission (RAD GRK) documents and established the Provincial Action Plan for Reduction of GHG Emissions (RAD GRK) in 2017 that will be used as the basis for the preparation of Low Development Carbon Plans (PPRK) and encourage the establishment of “Green Development Policies” at the sectoral and regional levels and to be integrated into RPJMN (National Mid-Term development Plans) and RPJMD (Provincial Mid-Term Development Plans). The rate emission by the mitigation action plans for Papua Province found in the RAD GRK document, will be included in the total national plan for the mitigation of emission (INDC) towards 2030.

The initiative to establish the Task Force for Low Carbon Economy Development in Papua since 2010 by Gubernatorial Decree No.105/2010 until 2017 has been a very essential approach to act as a catalyst in supporting NGO’s and Government Institutions in the development Low Carbon Economies in the province, this however is recently changed into Regional Commission for Climate Change and Sustainable Development (RC3SD) or Komisi Daerah Perubahan Iklim dan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan (KOMDA PIPB) by Gubernatorial Decree No: 188.4/69/YEAR 2018 dated 8 Feb 2018.

More information can be found on the GCF Impact Platform.

Summary

Total Land Area 313,374 km²
% of Land That Is Forest 79.5 %
Deforestation Trend +191.0 % 2016 - 2017

Demographics

Population of State/Province 3.21 M
% of National Population 1.4%

Urban vs. Rural Population

Category %
Rural 90.99
Urban 9.01

Ethnic Groups

Group %
Other 23.34
Dani 23.30
Auwye/Mee 11.32
Javanese 8.38
Biak-Numfor 5.25
Ngalik 4.80
Asmat 4.42
Dauwa 3.49
Buginese 3.20
Yapen 2.64
Toraja 1.73
Ketengban 1.50
Moni 1.49
Makassarese 1.48
Marind Anim 1.33
Ambonese 1.24
Butonese 1.10

Economy

State/Province GDP IDR 178.37 T
Annual Per Capita Income IDR 55.61 M

GDP Breakdown

Category %
Mining & Quarrying 52.72
Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry & Fisheries 11.72
Construction 10.66
Services 8.42
Trade, Hotel & Restaurant 5.94
Transport & Communication 5.76
Processing Industry 1.86
Human Development Index 64.940
Main Exports Raw materials, food & livestock, machinery and equipment

Forest Status

Original Forest Area 270,325 km²
Current Forest Area 249,284 km²
Total Area Deforested 21,041 km²
Total Forest Carbon 3,758 M MtC

Forest Management

Category km²
Protected forest 78,152
Conserved Forest Area 67,362
Limited Production Forest 59,612
Production Forest 47,393
Conversion Production Forest 41,163
Non-Forest Area - Others 23,695

Drivers of Deforestation

Papua’s Strategic REDD+ Action plan identified deforestation in different categories of forest: 77,051.14 ha/year in Production Forests, 29,853.24 ha/year in Limited Production Forests,27,864 ha/year in Converted Production Forests, 13,502.08 ha/year in Protected Forests, and 10,661.40 ha/year in Reserves/Conservation Areas. 

While it is normal that forest degradation occurs in production forests as they are designated to produce timber, the data also show massive forest encroachment in protected forests and conservation areas. The overlay with the map of conservation areas in the province shows conservation areas with the highest rate of degradation is Mamberamo Foja Reserve and Lorentz National Park that see average annual deforestation rates of 7,218.05 ha/year and 1,525.93 ha/year respectively. This proves that designating a given area as a conservation area does not limit accessibility to performing illegal logging in the area.  Increasing demand for wood to support the development of public facilities and settlements due to establishment of new districts/villages is one of the drivers for the massive deforestation. In addition, easier access to areas that used to be isolated also contributes to the massive deforestation.

In Papua, deforestation only contributes 12.6% to net emission, while forest degradation contributes 64.1%. This shows that actions to prevent forest degradation must be given priority.

Deforestation Rates

Notes

a.

Due to different methodological approaches and base years, Forest Status data fields may differ slightly. Data sources for each field are listed below.

Sources

1.

Strategic Action Plan for REDD (SRAP) 2014
2.

MoEF- Dept of Forest Planning-2015
3.

Papua Province in Figures (Papua Dalam Angka) 2017

4.

Data tahun 2011, Papua dalam Angka 2012, BPS, h.91
5.

Sensus Penduduk BPS Papua 2010 link
6.

Papua Province in Figures (Papua Dalam Angka) 2017
7.

Data tahun 2011, Papua dalam Angka 2012, BPS, h.595
8.

Data tahun 2011, Papua dalam Angka 2012, BPS, h.616
9.

1. RTRWP/SRAP
2. Papua dalam Angka 2012, BPS, h.379
10.

Tutupan hutan tahun 2003, Buku Statistik Kehutanan 2012, Tabel 2.2, h.23
11.

MOEF 2015
12.

Ministry of Environment and Forestry 2018
13.

SRAP REDD+ Papua 2014