Five million trees planted in Nusantara restoration efforts, OIKN says

“From 2022 to 2026, around five million trees have been planted as part of local environmental restoration,” OIKN Head Basuki Hadimuljono said on Friday.

According to him, Nusantara - spanning North Penajam Paser District and Kutai Kartanegara District in East Kalimantan - is also being developed to restore degraded land by reinstating natural ecosystem functions through a rewilding approach.

“Rewilding, or restoring natural ecological processes, aims to recover ecosystem functions rather than simply replanting trees,” Hadimuljono explained.

This approach was adopted because parts of the Nusantara area were previously dominated by monoculture plantations, which support significantly lower biodiversity than natural forests.

Therefore, he added, the capital city development project is being carried out alongside environmental restoration efforts, including the construction of wildlife corridors to reconnect previously fragmented habitats.

“Two wildlife corridors have already been built along the Balikpapan-Nusantara Toll Road as part of efforts to preserve biodiversity,” he noted.

The OIKN aims to designate 65 percent of Nusantara’s total area as protected land.

Hadimuljono underscored that developing a forest city is measured not only by the number of trees planted but also by its success in restoring ecosystems, ensuring that nature and development can coexist harmoniously.

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Translator: Nyaman Bagus, Raka Adji