Forest Carbon and EUDR in Central Sulawesi

Updated 2026-11-02 · 3 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

Forest carbon in Central Sulawesi: Lore Lindu and Togean forests, nickel mining pressure, cocoa and coconut, mangroves, project fit and EUDR cocoa exposure.

Central Sulawesi has large remaining upland forest, with Lore Lindu National Park at its heart, and it is one of Indonesia’s leading cocoa provinces. Forest protection, cocoa agroforestry and mangrove conservation fit best, while nickel mining is the fastest-growing pressure on forest and cocoa is the main EUDR exposure.

Forest and land cover profile

Central Sulawesi is Sulawesi’s largest province, spanning the island’s centre and parts of its northern and eastern arms. It is mountainous, with narrow coastal plains.

Key forest areas:

• Lore Lindu National Park, south of Palu, a UNESCO biosphere reserve with lowland to montane forest, megalithic sites and many endemic species.
• Morowali nature reserve in the east, lowland and hill forest.
• Togean Islands National Park in Tomini Bay, mainly marine with mangroves, coral reefs and island forest.
• Lake Poso and its surrounding uplands.

Central Sulawesi was one of the early pilot provinces for REDD+ readiness in Indonesia, which left a base of provincial institutions and data.

Peat and mangroves

There is no significant peat. Mangroves are found along Tomini Bay, in the Togean Islands, on the Banggai coast and along the east coast. Some have been converted to ponds or affected by coastal development. Mangrove conservation in the Togeans links well with marine conservation. See blue carbon.

Main commodities and drivers of forest loss

• Cocoa: Central Sulawesi is one of Indonesia’s top cocoa producers. Smallholder cocoa in Parigi Moutong, Sigi, Poso and Donggala expanded rapidly in past decades, partly into forest. See cacao.
• Coconut and clove: widespread. Not EUDR commodities.
• Oil palm: estates and smallholders in Morowali, Banggai and North Morowali.
• Nickel: large mining and processing operations in Morowali and nearby districts, part of Indonesia’s nickel boom.
• Coffee: smaller volumes in upland districts, including near Lore Lindu.

Drivers of forest loss include nickel mining and its associated infrastructure, cocoa and other farm expansion into forest, oil palm, and logging. The 2018 Palu earthquake and tsunami also changed land use in affected areas.

Which carbon project types fit

Many cocoa gardens are old and low-yielding. Rehabilitating them with improved cocoa and shade trees can raise yields and add carbon. See cocoa agroforestry carbon.

EUDR exposure

Cocoa is the main exposure. Supply chains run from smallholders through village collectors to traders and exporters in Palu and Makassar. Key requirements:

• geolocation for every cocoa plot,
• evidence of no deforestation since 31 December 2020, which matters where cocoa is still expanding into forest,
• legality evidence, especially for gardens inside forest estate or near Lore Lindu.

See EUDR and cocoa and cocoa smallholders. Palm oil from Morowali and Banggai, and some coffee and wood, also fall under EUDR.

Customary land and social forestry

Central Sulawesi has many customary communities, including the Kaili, Pamona, Behoa, Kulawi and Lore peoples, and forest-dwelling groups. Around Lore Lindu, some villages have customary conservation agreements with the park authority. Customary forest recognition and social forestry licences have been granted in several districts.

Permenhut 6/2026 recognises customary communities and social forestry groups as legitimate carbon participants. See customary forest carbon.

Measurement and data on cocoa and forest

Cocoa gardens in Central Sulawesi range from full-sun monocultures to complex agroforests with coconut, durian, candlenut and timber trees. Satellite imagery often cannot tell a mature cocoa agroforest from secondary forest, which complicates both EUDR deforestation checks and carbon baselines. Ground plots that record species, diameter and height give much better estimates, and plot boundaries mapped with GNSS serve EUDR due diligence at the same time. Where forest is the focus, nickel and road expansion can be tracked with frequent satellite imagery and deforestation alerts, so that encroachment is spotted early. Combining both approaches in one data system avoids paying twice for field work. See one dataset for carbon and EUDR for how this can be organised.

Practical next steps

Map mining permits, forest estate status and cocoa expansion history before designing a project. Compare with South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Gorontalo, and see the forest carbon hub.