Environment Minister Initiates Asia-Pacific Forum for Biodiversity Credits and Affirms Local Community Rights

Environment Minister Moh Jumhur Hidayat led the Indonesian delegation at the high-level forum Making Nature Credits Market Work in Asia and the Pacific during London Climate Action Week on Monday (23/6). At the forum, Indonesia affirmed its official position on international biodiversity market governance while initiating the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Roundtable on Biodiversity Credits as a regional platform for Asia-Pacific nations. Jumhur emphasised that biodiversity credits must not become merely financial instruments benefiting certain parties, but must deliver tangible benefits to those working directly on the ground. “Allow me to stress that the primary foundation of successful biodiversity credits is the fair and equitable distribution of benefits to local communities and indigenous peoples who carry out the real hard work of conservation in the field,” Jumhur stated. Indonesia attended the forum at the special invitation of the Co-Chairs of the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, Dame Amelia Fawcett and Sylvie Goulard. Amelia assessed that Indonesia’s steps in designing a high-integrity biodiversity credit market deserve to serve as a model for other countries. “What Indonesia is currently undertaking has a crucial impact that transcends its national borders. The progressive steps taken by the Indonesian Government together with the Biodiversity Credits Task Force in designing a high-integrity and inclusive market must become a model for other nations to emulate, both at the regional and global levels,” Amelia said. She also underscored Indonesia’s ecological significance for global climate stability and stated that the IAPB will continue to support Indonesia as a knowledge partner towards COP17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Currently, the Ministry of Environment is designing a progressive multi-credit scheme that not only calculates tree canopy coverage but also assigns economic value to the existence of endemic flora and fauna. The successful protection of rare wildlife habitats, such as those of tigers and orangutans, will be directly integrated into the economic valuation of the ecosystem market. In carrying out this mandate, the Ministry of Environment is consolidating a cross-sector coalition involving the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), the private sector, civil society activists, and representatives of indigenous communities. “Now is the time for our economy to finally invest back in nature. Let us work together to ensure that biodiversity credits transcend mere financial instruments and become a genuine force for ecological revival and human well-being,” Jumhur concluded.