IKN Authority plants five million restoration trees

The Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority has announced that approximately five million trees have been planted as part of the restoration and recovery of the IKN area, which spans parts of the Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartanegara Regencies in East Kalimantan Province.

“From 2022 to 2026, around 5 million trees have been planted as part of the area’s restoration,” stated the Head of the IKN Authority, Basuki Hadimuljono, on Friday, when questioned regarding development in Sepaku, Penajam Paser Utara.

He continued that alongside infrastructure development, the IKN is also being built to restore previously degraded areas so they can function as natural ecosystems through a rewilding approach. “Rewilding, or restoring natural ecological processes, is an effort to return ecosystem functions, rather than merely replanting trees,” he added.

This approach is being implemented because parts of the IKN area were previously dominated by monoculture plantations, which possess lower biodiversity compared to natural forests. “Two wildlife corridors have been constructed along the Balikpapan-IKN Toll Road as part of the efforts to preserve biodiversity,” he further noted.

The IKN Authority aims for 65 per cent of the new Indonesian capital’s territory in East Kalimantan to remain as protected areas. Basuki Hadimuljono emphasised that the development of this forest city is measured not only by the number of trees planted but also by the success of ecosystem restoration, ensuring that nature and development can coexist.