Indonesian capital plans spark forest fears
Conservationists say $33bn project will damage Borneo ecosystem, writes
Plans for Indonesia to build a smart capital from scratch in the middle of the Borneo jungle, home to endangered animals such as orangutans, have raised concerns among environmentalists.
The new capital, nicknamed the forest city, is planned for East Kalimantan, a province on the eastern side of the island. It is supposed to replace Jakarta as the country’s administrative base in 2024.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo is known for ambitious infrastructure projects. He announced the move in August and promised to protect conservation forest and orangutan habitats, with palm oil expansion having already thinned their numbers during the past two decades.
“A capital city is not only a symbol of national identity, but also a representation of the progress of the nation. This is for the realisation of economic equality and justice,” Mr Widodo said at the time.
Patchy details unveiled so far by Indonesia’s National Development Planning Agency include the use of renewable and low carbon energy in the Borneo project, such as solar and wind power.
Officials say an efficient, green building design will feature, with smart water and waste management systems, railways, electric vehicles and upgraded tollways and ports near the urban hubs of Balikpapan and Samarinda.
Yet the government faces accusations that its promise of a green capital in a province known for extensive logging, palm oil plantations, pulp and paper mills, and forest fires is a contradiction in terms.
Greenpeace Indonesia campaigner Jasmine Puteri told
The National that the practical details of the proposed eco-friendly city are lacking.
“The government is using broad terms, like 50 per cent green space, low carbon energy. This does not reflect an actual green sustainable city,” she said.
One area that has been identified for the project is a protected forest called Bukit Soeharto. It is home to wildlife conservation groups and an orangutan rehabilitation centre.
Critics say building there will harm the forest’s mangroves and the habitats of already threatened animals such as long-nosed monkeys and dugongs.
“There are ecological infrastructures like the water supply used by the orangutans and communities in protected forests, which are the buffer zone to Bukit Soeharto. So development there will hurt the conservation area,” said Merah Johansyah, head of Jatam, Indonesia’s mining advocacy network.
A compact city that is reliant on mass electric public transport and solar energy is an appealing idea, said Leonard Simanjuntak, head of Greenpeace Indonesia.
He said that although the Indonesian government promised not to disturb protected forest and to restore degraded areas, there were “factors that didn’t add up”.
“Mine mouth coal power plants are being constructed to supply electricity to East Kalimantan,” he said.
“This leads to another contradiction – whether they really want to build only a bureaucratic city, or they’re thinking of another mega city.”
He said he feared urban sprawl would destroy virgin rainforest and animal habitats.
“We are worried about forest conversion in surrounding areas that have already been affected by the expansion of palm oil and coal mining,” Mr Simanjuntak said. About 20 million hectares of land in the area have already been converted for palm oil plantations.
Part of the motivation for the move is the fact Jakarta, a metropolis on the most populous Indonesian island of Java and home to about 10 million people, is sinking as a result of groundwater extraction and rising sea levels. It also suffers from extreme traffic congestion, pollution and flooding.
Although it will remain the economic heart of the