10 Villages Suspected of Experiencing the Most Extensive Tree Cover Loss Due to the Food Estate Project

The development of the integrated national food barn, or *food estate*, focusing on cassava in Central Kalimantan, is stalled. The Ministry of Defense, as the leading sector, admits that the program is at a standstill due to a lack of funding to continue it.

This has been confirmed by the government to a field investigation team of the *food estate*, consisting of Pantau Gambut, Walhi Central Kalimantan, and BBC Indonesia.

Wahyu Perdana, Campaigner for Pantau Gambut, stated that this already faltering program, besides yielding no results, has also failed to conduct evaluations and corrective actions.

Meanwhile, according to a previous Pantau Gambut study, 3,964 hectares of land in three districts—Pulang Pisau, Kapuas, and Gunung Mas—show indications of tree cover loss due to this program.

The team updated the data by monitoring the distribution of villages experiencing tree cover loss within the *no-go zone* this year.

The *no-go zone* is the result of an analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI) mapping indicative areas that should be protected; therefore, this area should be avoided for Food Estate development.

The results show that two villages in Pulang Pisau Regency are located within the *no-go zone* but are included in the planned area for rice field intensification of the *food estate*: Pilang and Jabiren Villages.

(See also: Indonesia's Food Security Still Lags Behind Singapore's)

"Satellite imagery verification of these two villages shows changes in land use forming patterns of plantations or fields within the *no-go zone*," the team wrote in its report.

Furthermore, in Pilang Village, the team observed the emergence of new patterns on secondary swamp forests. In Jabiren Village, new patterns also appeared on land within a peat swamp forest protection area with a depth of 2-3 meters.

"Under these conditions, a clear violation has occurred because deforestation should not have happened in these two areas," the team wrote.

Pilang Village covers 137 hectares, while Jabiren Village covers 96 hectares.

The team indicates that not only 2 villages are affected, but 8 more.

The village with the largest potential for tree cover loss is Humbang Rayang in Kapuas Regency, Central Kalimantan, with an area of 459 hectares.

Then there's Pilang Munduk with 213 hectares, followed by Tumbang Jalemu with 192 hectares. The rest are listed in the points below and the graph above.

Monitoring covered 10 villages with the largest indications of tree cover loss for further verification using satellite imagery.

The determination of this area is based on three criteria: peat land with medium to very deep depth (>1 meter); vegetated peat land, both primary and secondary forests; and land with protected area status.

This data was collected from January to October 2022. The data sources used are GLAD Alert from the University of Maryland and RADD Alert from Wageningen University and Research.

The following are 10 villages with the largest indications of tree cover loss in Pulang Pisau, Kapuas, and Gunung Mas Regencies, Central Kalimantan, during the period January–October 2022 due to the *food estate*.

1. Humbang Raya 459 hectares
2. Pilang Munduk 213 hectares
3. Tumbang Jalemu 192 hectares
4. Pilang 137 hectares
5. Tanjung Untung 135 hectares
6. Jabiren 96 hectares
7. Talangkah 86 hectares
8. Parempei 77 hectares
9. Tumbang Kajuei 77 hectares
10. Kantan Atas 74 hectares

(See also: Indonesia's Food Security Weakened in 2021)