West Kalimantan Promotes Sustainable Green Economy Through Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
The philosopher Baruch Spinoza wrote, “Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is a virtue.”
The National Forestry Council (DKN) held a national webinar titled Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration in the Green Economy to Support Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030, with a case study on West Kalimantan Province. This hybrid event brought together government, business actors, academics, and civil society to discuss strategies for sustainable forest management.
West Kalimantan Governor Ria Norsan, in her keynote address, affirmed that the province has a forest area of 8.4 million hectares, or about 57 percent of the total regional area. Additionally, around 59 percent of villages are located within and around forest areas, making forest conservation the main foundation for regional development as well as a contribution to global climate stability.
“The West Kalimantan Provincial Government is committed to promoting collaborative leadership in a sustainable green economy to accelerate the achievement of the FOLU Net Sink 2030 target,” she stated.
Ria Norsan explained that this policy direction aligns with the regional development mission, which emphasises improving the quality of the living environment through a green economy approach. This transformation is expected to enhance the forestry sector’s and land use’s capacity to absorb carbon emissions, while opening up low-carbon investment opportunities and improving community welfare.
She stressed the importance of synergy between government, business, academia, and society in building an inclusive leadership ecosystem for sustainable forest management.
Secretary of the Directorate General of Sustainable Forest Management at the Ministry of Forestry, Erwan Sudaryanto, conveyed that Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 policy opens up significant opportunities for strengthening the forestry sector’s role through various mitigation actions.
The implementation of this programme includes preventing deforestation, developing plantation forests, increasing carbon stocks, as well as peat restoration and mangrove management. In addition, an integrated approach also encompasses the utilisation of carbon markets and downstreaming of the forestry sector.
“The FOLU Net Sink 2030 provides space for optimising forest management, including through economic opportunities from carbon markets and downstreaming,” he explained.
General Chairman of the Indonesian Forest Entrepreneurs Association (APHI), Soewarso, highlighted the importance of applying the multi-business forestry concept as a strategy to increase the added value of this sector. He explained that multi-business forestry encompasses the utilisation of timber, non-timber forest products, and environmental services in an integrated system to improve efficiency and business diversification.
“A landscape-based approach through multi-business forestry can strengthen this sector’s contribution to the economy while supporting the FOLU Net Sink 2030 target,” he said.
In addition, downstreaming is seen as key to increasing the added value of forestry products through domestic processing, while opening up new bioeconomy-based economic opportunities.
Through this forum, stakeholders agreed that multi-stakeholder collaboration is a crucial factor in strengthening leadership and green economy policies, particularly in sustainable forest and land management in West Kalimantan. These efforts are expected to accelerate the achievement of Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 target while maintaining a balance between economic growth and environmental conservation.