
A number of experts discussed the National Capital (IKN) and the Sustainability of Indonesian Forests, Saturday (15/6/2024) at the Widyaloka Building. The goal is to find solutions to environmental issues.
UB Forestry Lecturer Rifqi, who is also part of the Indonesian Forest Management Community (KOMHINDO), explained in this activity that the definition of forest from Permenhut P14/2004 is land with an area of 0.5 hectares covered with trees with a canopy cover of at least 30% and a height of 5 meters.
He said that deforestation is a scourge because in international forums deforestation is always an emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This is inseparable from Indonesia’s population which continues to increase which has an impact on livelihood needs and other potential trade offs with the environment. This includes the issue of a new National Capital which has a trade off with the environment.
“When speaking at international conferences, deforestation is a pressure to reduce emissions. For example, how Indonesian palm oil products are being pressured by the European Union because of their link to deforestation,” he said.
The National Capital, according to research by Rifqi, in 2019 the forest in the IKN area was 37% and will decrease in 2023 to 29%, which indicates that IKN is one of the causes of deforestation, reflecting the definition of Permenhut P.14 of 2004.
The IKN development process seems rushed, if the planning had been more careful in studying the ecological and socio-economic aspects of the community at the beginning before it was established then it would not have been as noisy as it is today. According to Rifqi, a rapid planning and implementation process has a greater possibility or potential of failure because it receives a lot of protests and criticism from civil society.
“If the planning and concept are mature, then the environmental impact can be controlled and it won’t cause as much noise as it does now,” he said.
New Indonesia journalist Farid Gaban said that Kalimantan at the beginning of the New Order was still green. Starting in 1985, green land began to decrease, this was due to Forest Management Rights (HPH) concessions.
Regarding the national capital (IKN), it is conceptualized as a Smart Forest City and has eight principles, all of which, according to Farid Gaban, are only cute on paper.
“We happened to have toured the IKN Smart Forest City concept and the 8 IKN principles were only sweet on paper,” he said.
The Student Executive Ministry of the Environment held a national seminar entitled Facing the Sustainability of Indonesian Forests in the Development of the New National Capital City (IKN).
Other experts who attended included the Director of the Forum for the Environment, Wahyu Eka Setyawan. (ROM/OKY/UB PR/ Trans. Iir)