Indonesian urban forest policies, practice and bioenergy potential of urban forest tree species

ABSTRACT

This study examines Indonesian urban forest policy, practice, and potential with reference to forest composition and bioenergy potential. The results showed that there are challenges in the implementation of urban forest policies into urban forest practices. For example, the land size allocation for urban forests in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Malang is still not in accordance with the existing policies as their land size is far less than 10% of these total areas. Predominant tree species in Indonesian urban forestry are Pterocarpus indicus, Delonix regia, Polyalthia longifolia, Lagerstroemia speciosa, Mimusops elengi, Samanea saman, Tectona grandis, Ficus benjamina, Mangifera indica, and Tamarindus indica. These trees are considered as multipurpose species that can be utilised for bioenergy, wood-based furniture, food and foraging, medicine, and many other uses. Aside from firewood and charcoal, these trees should be explored for their potential as biofuel, biogas, bio-pellet, and electricity generation. Bioenergy potential of urban forest trees can be an important consideration for the Government of Indonesia to actualise the potential of the urban forest and to create energy-independent cities.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban forest policy and practices
• urban tree species
• urban forest mapping
• bioenergy potential

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support granted by UN Environment Eco-Peace Leadership Center to allow us to successfully complete this study. In addition, the authors also thank all the mentors from Kangwon National University and SEAMEO BIOTROP who supervised us whilst completing this study. We also thank the following institutions, Ministry of Research and Technology; Bogor Agricultural University; and Indonesian Green Action Forum due to the tremendous support rendered.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Authors’ contribution

Ms. Mega Fitria assisted in the extraction of the data obtained from the literature review. She also assisted in the validation of the resultant data used in the drafting of this manuscript. Mr. Cheong Eun Ju helped supervise all the team members of this study. He was also responsible for reviewing the final manuscript and recommending specific journals for its publication. Mr. Achmad Solikhin also helped supervise the team members conducting this study, especially on the design of the research framework, and assisted in the drafting of this manuscript. Mr. Muhammad Iqbal Firdausi designed the creation of urban forest maps, and helped to design some figures for this study. Mr. Daniel Burke-Ward assisted in conducting the peer-review processes and gave some inputs to the development of this manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mega Fitria

Mega Fitria was an undergraduate student at Bogor Agricultural University (IPB University), majoring in the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Her thesis was entitled “Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP) Validation on Three Rainfall Patterns in Indonesia. She was also an alumna of the 13th UN Environment Eco-Peace Leadership Center Fellowship at Kangwon National University, South Korea. Under this Fellowship Programme, she executed the Project on Urban Forest Restoration in Indonesia. She is now working as a government officer at the Indonesia Ministry of Research and Technology (BRIN). She has expertise on climate change and meteorology studies.

Eun Ju Cheong

Ms. Eun Ju Cheong is a professor, lecturer, and researcher at the Divison of Forest Sciences, College of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Kangwon National University, South Korea. She obtained her PhD, Master, and Bachelor Degree at this university. Her PhD dissertation was entitled “A Study on Mass Propagation of Prunus yedoensis Matsumura from Jeju Using in Vitro Culture Techniques” and her Master thesis’ title was Propagation of Populus davidiana Dode by in Vitro Bud Culture. She worked previously at several famous forestry institutions, for example, the United States of America’s Department of Agriculture and Korea Forest Research Institute. Her three main research interests are 1) physiological aspect of plants in situ under stress, 2) forest tree species propagation through in vitro culture, and 3) forest genetic resources conservation based on biotechnological approaches.

Achmad Solikhin

Mr. Achmad Solikhin is an independent researcher who is working now at the ASEAN Secretariat and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Tropical Biodiversity. Previously, he served as a consultant, an expert, and/or a volunteer at the UNDP Country Office Indonesia, Center for International Forestry Research, World Agroforestry Center, UNESCO World Heritage, UNCCD, and Mc Kinsey & Company. He obtained his PhD and Bachelor degree at Bogor Agricultural University (IPB University), majoring in the Forest Products Department, Faculty of Forestry. He has also attended fellowship programmes in several universities, including Shizuoka University, Kangwon National University, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, and Oxford University. He has research interests on nanotechnology, forestry, food and agriculture, and ASEAN studies.

Muhammad Iqbal Firdaus

Muhammad Iqbal Firdaus graduated from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB University), majoring in Forest Management in 2016. His thesis was entitled the “Soil Water Assessment Tools Optimization Model in West Java”. After graduating, he worked at the Geospatial Information Agency Indonesia, PT WebGIS Indonesia, and WWF Indonesia Bukit Tigapuluh. He now works at the PT Alam Bukit Tigapuluh as the Head of Research and Development; he manages the Project of Ecosystem Restoration Concession supported by WWF and Frankfurt Zoological Society. Under this Project, he has successfully conducted a carbon stock assessment in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. He is personally interested in spatial and data science for nature resource management. He also has a good knowledge and experience in forest cover monitoring; carbon stock measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV); and information and technology advancement in web-app, geoportal, and scraping.

Daniel Burke- Ward

Daniel Burke-Ward is a Masters student at the University of Utrecht, majoring in the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning. He has an expertise in international finance and agroforestry.