Forest Carbon and EUDR in Bangka Belitung Islands

Updated 2026-11-02 · 4 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

Forest carbon in Bangka Belitung Islands: post-tin-mining land, heath forest and mangroves, pepper, palm oil and rubber, rehabilitation fit and EUDR exposure.

Bangka Belitung’s carbon story is about rehabilitation, not conservation: centuries of tin mining have left large areas of bare sand, mine pits and degraded heath forest, which makes reforestation (ARR) and mangrove restoration the main project types. EUDR exposure comes from palm oil and rubber; the islands’ famous white pepper is outside EUDR scope.

Geography and land cover

The province consists of two main islands, Bangka and Belitung, plus many small islands between Sumatra and Kalimantan. The terrain is mostly low and rolling, with granite hills such as Mount Maras on Bangka and sandy coastal plains.

Natural vegetation includes lowland forest on better soils and heath forest (kerangas) on white sand. Heath forest grows slowly and recovers poorly once cleared, which is one reason mined land stays bare for years. Mount Maras National Park on Bangka protects one of the larger remaining forest areas. Belitung’s granite coasts are a UNESCO Global Geopark.

Tin mining and degraded land

Tin has been mined here for centuries, first by colonial operations and now by state, private and informal miners, both on land and offshore. Onshore mining leaves pits (kolong) filled with acidic water, heaps of tailings sand and compacted, nutrient-poor ground. Informal mining frequently takes place in forest estate and protected areas.

This creates a large stock of degraded land. For carbon purposes that is both an opportunity and a problem:

• Opportunity: land cleared long ago meets the ARR rule that the area must not have been forest for at least ten years before the start date. See the land eligibility 10-year rule.
• Problem: tree survival on tailings sand is poor without soil amendment, and remining risk threatens permanence where tin remains in the ground.

Peat and mangroves

Peat is limited. Mangroves fringe sheltered bays and estuaries on both islands. They have been damaged by sediment from mining, by offshore dredging and by pond construction. Mangrove restoration here must deal with altered sediment and hydrology, not just replanting. See mangrove restoration carbon.

Main commodities and deforestation drivers

• White pepper: Muntok white pepper is the province’s signature crop. Not an EUDR commodity.
• Oil palm: estates and smallholders on both islands.
• Rubber: smallholder gardens, many older.
• Cashew and other crops on small plots.

The main drivers of forest and mangrove loss are tin mining, both licensed and informal, followed by oil palm expansion.

Which carbon project types fit

VM0047 is the current Verra methodology for ARR. On mined land, species choice matters: fast pioneers that tolerate poor soils are often used first, with native species added later. See species selection for ARR and the ARR hub.

Reclamation obligations also matter. Mining licence holders have legal duties to reclaim land. A carbon project cannot claim additionality for planting that a mining company is already legally required to do, so the legal status of each site must be checked. See additionality.

EUDR exposure

Palm oil and rubber are the EUDR commodities. Both are largely smallholder-supplied here and follow the usual pattern of collectors and limited plot registration. Plots planted on land cleared after 31 December 2020, or inside forest estate without a legal basis, cannot supply the EU. See EUDR and palm oil.

Tin and pepper exporters are not affected by the EUDR.

Community and land tenure considerations

Much informal mining is done by local people, sometimes on their own land and sometimes in forest estate. Projects that ignore mining livelihoods are unlikely to last. Successful rehabilitation usually offers an income alternative, such as agroforestry, pepper with shade trees or fishery ponds in old pits.

Social forestry licences are available in forest estate, and Permenhut 6/2026 allows social forestry groups to participate in carbon trading.

Measurement on mined land

Mined sites change fast and unevenly: pits fill with water, sand moves, and informal miners return. Monitoring needs frequent high-resolution imagery as well as ground plots, so that re-mining is detected early and losses are reported honestly.

Practical next steps

Map each site’s mining history, licence status and forest estate status before anything else. Our feasibility and eligibility service covers this screening. Compare with South Sumatra across the strait and the maritime Riau Islands, and see the forest carbon hub.