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Investor Daily - Kelestarian lingkungan tetap terjaga ditengah pembangunan IKN
26 March 2024
Jakarta, ID – The Nusantara Capital City Authority (OIKN) stated its commitment to maintaining environmental sustainability and biodiversity amid the development of the new capital city in East Kalimantan.
Therefore, the OIKN is launching a biodiversity management plan to maintain biodiversity in the vicinity of Nusantara Capital City (IKN).
Forestry and Water Resources Utilisation Development Director of the IKN Authority Pungky Widiaryanto said that the plan was one of the efforts of OIKN to balance development and environmental sustainability in Nusantara.
“Nusantara is a region that boasts rich biodiversity and a high rate of endemic species,” Pungky said at a virtual press conference in Jakarta on Monday (25/3/2024).
Pungky mentioned that, according to his data, 3,889 species were discovered within a 50-kilometer radius from Nusantara.
Of these species, 168 are mammals, 454 are birds, 206 are herpetofaunas, 1,369 are fishes, 735 are plants, over 3,000 are insects, and 5 are arachnids.
Additionally, he noted that 440 species were listed on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This designation indicates that these species are vulnerable or endangered, necessitating conservation efforts.
Therefore, Pungky mentioned that the IKN Authority has released an environmental sustainability management plan as an effort to preserve natural wealth and prevent species from going extinct in the new capital city.
Pungky also mentioned several important points from the plan, such as involving environmental experts, mapping out critical ecosystems and species in Nusantara, and carrying out special mitigations for critical ecosystems and species.
The action plans also entail identifying sensitive habitats before utilising the land for development, providing training and capacity building to stakeholders involved in environmental sustainability, and implementing construction practices that take wildlife into consideration.
Next, the measures also include preventing logging during critical fauna breeding seasons and conducting analyses to determine the suitability of habitats for flora and fauna that will be relocated.
Furthermore, the environmental sustainability management plan in Nusantara encompasses preserving trees, identifying wildlife routes to ensure their movements, establishing supportive ecosystems for birds and wildlife, and undertaking reforestation and restoration efforts in degraded ecosystems.
The OIKN aims to implement mitigation actions and biodiversity management in Nusantara to foster the development of IKN as a sustainable forest city, contributing to national and global biodiversity conservation efforts. This plan is slated for implementation over a five-year period from 2024 to 2029.
Construct wildlife crossings
During the occasion, Pungky also explained that the development of the new capital city would also focus on biodiversity. To achieve this, one of the initiatives is to construct underpasses for wildlife crossings.
He said that the one of the underpasses would be constructed under Kariangau toll road. The OIKN is cooperating with the Public Works and Housing (PUPR) Ministry and the Environment and Forestry Ministry, which are also planning to construct overpasses for wildlife crossings to ensure various habitats in IKN are preserved.
“Therefore, some wildlife routes are situated above the road, while others are positioned beneath it. Numerous surveys have been conducted, both on the landscape and on the wildlife activity in the area,” Pungky said.
To preserve biodiversity in IKN, Pungky explained that the OIKN has also upgraded the status of Balikpapan Bay from a cultivation area to a protected area.
Moreover, the OIKN also revised the plan to construct a bridge in the Central Government Core Area to a tunnel.
Pungky explained that this solution was implemented because Balikpapan Bay boasts a rich biodiversity, including dense mangrove forests that play a crucial role in carbon absorption.
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