akar.earthForest Carbon and EUDR in Central Kalimantan
Forest carbon in Central Kalimantan: Sebangau and Tanjung Puting peat, the former Mega Rice Project area, palm oil, peat restoration and EUDR exposure.
Central Kalimantan holds some of Indonesia’s largest and deepest peat swamps, protected in Sebangau and Tanjung Puting and badly damaged in the former Mega Rice Project area, which makes peat rewetting and peat REDD+ its leading forest carbon project types. Its EUDR exposure is driven by palm oil, with rubber and timber behind.
Forest and land cover profile
Central Kalimantan stretches from the Schwaner and Müller mountains in the north to the Java Sea coast. Large rivers, including the Barito, Kahayan, Katingan, Mentaya and Seruyan, flow south across wide lowlands.
The north has hill and lowland dipterocarp forest, partly in Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park, shared with West Kalimantan. The south is dominated by peat swamp forest and heath forest (kerangas) on white sand.
Key protected areas:
- Sebangau National Park, between the Katingan and Sebangau rivers near Palangka Raya, protects a large peat swamp forest with one of the largest wild orangutan populations. Past logging canals have been blocked to rewet the peat.
- Tanjung Puting National Park in the south-west, with peat swamp, heath forest and mangroves, is known for orangutan research and rehabilitation.
Peat and the Mega Rice Project legacy
In the 1990s, the government dug thousands of kilometres of canals across peat between the Sebangau and Barito rivers to convert peat swamp forest to rice. The project failed. The drained peat burned in 1997, 2015 and other dry years, producing haze across the region.
The area, known by its Indonesian acronym PLG, has been a major focus of peat restoration since 2016. Parts were later included in national food estate programmes, which raised concern about further drainage. Any project here must understand the overlapping plans.
Rewetting uses canal blocking, backfilling and revegetation with peat swamp species. Emissions reductions come mainly from avoided peat oxidation and fire, which means water table monitoring is the core of measurement. See peatland REDD+ and peat restoration rules.
Mangroves occur at river mouths and in Tanjung Puting, but they are less extensive than on the West or East Kalimantan coasts.
Main commodities and deforestation drivers
- Oil palm: Central Kalimantan has some of Indonesia’s largest oil palm areas, especially in Kotawaringin Timur, Kotawaringin Barat and Seruyan.
- Rubber: smallholder rubber across Dayak villages.
- Timber: selective logging concessions in the north, and plantation forestry.
- Mining: gold (including informal mining), zircon and coal.
Drivers of loss include oil palm expansion, fire on drained peat, logging and mining. Land cover maps often show plantations inside forest estate, which matters for EUDR legality.
Which carbon project types fit
| Project type | Fit in Central Kalimantan | Key issue |
|---|---|---|
| Peat rewetting and restoration | Former PLG area, drained peat outside parks | Fire, canal maintenance, overlapping plans |
| Peat REDD+ | Intact peat swamp outside protected areas | Credible threat; baseline under VM0048 |
| Upland REDD+ and IFM | Northern logging concessions | Concession status |
| Rubber agroforestry | Dayak villages | Small plots, aggregation |
Peat sites carry high non-permanence risk because of fire, so buffer contributions will be higher; see the AFOLU non-permanence risk tool. For the REDD+ baseline approach, see the REDD+ hub.
EUDR exposure
Palm oil is the main exposure. Supply bases combine estates, plasma and independent smallholders. Plots on peat or inside forest estate without valid permits face legality problems, and the 31 December 2020 cut-off is checked plot by plot. Fire scars can make satellite deforestation checks harder on peat. See EUDR and palm oil.
Rubber and timber follow standard requirements, with jungle rubber and logged forest sometimes confusing automated deforestation detection.
Customary land and social forestry
Dayak Ngaju, Ma’anyan, Ot Danum and other Dayak groups hold customary land throughout the province. Village forests (hutan desa) on peat have been granted in Pulang Pisau and other districts, often with fire prevention and canal blocking as core activities. Public reporting around Permenhut 6/2026 pointed to social-forestry-based peat restoration in this province as an example, so the model is already being tried here.
Permenhut 6/2026 confirms social forestry and customary communities as legitimate carbon participants, working with registered partners and following FPIC and benefit sharing. See social forestry carbon.
Food estate overlap
National food estate programmes since 2020 have targeted parts of Pulang Pisau and Kapuas, including former PLG land. Before investing in peat restoration, confirm that the site is not allocated to agricultural development.
Practical next steps
Map peat hydrological units, canals, fire history, forest estate status and overlapping food estate or plantation plans. Our feasibility and eligibility service covers this. Compare with South Kalimantan, and see the forest carbon hub.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Central Kalimantan central to peat carbon in Indonesia?
It has some of the largest and deepest tropical peat in Indonesia, including Sebangau and the former Mega Rice Project area. Draining and burning this peat releases very large emissions, so rewetting and conservation can avoid large amounts of CO2 per hectare.
What happened in the Mega Rice Project area?
In the 1990s, a government project dug long canals to convert peat swamp forest to rice fields. Rice largely failed, the drained peat burned repeatedly, especially in 1997 and 2015, and much of the area is now a peat restoration priority.
Which EUDR commodities matter in Central Kalimantan?
Palm oil above all, followed by rubber and timber. Many oil palm plots are on peat or in areas with contested forest estate status, so legality checks are important.