Forest Carbon and EUDR in East Java

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

Forest carbon in East Java: Bromo Tengger Semeru, Meru Betiri and Baluran, smallholder sengon, Ijen coffee, Jember cocoa, mangroves and EUDR wood exposure.

East Java has more remaining natural forest than the rest of Java, in parks such as Bromo Tengger Semeru, Meru Betiri, Alas Purwo and Baluran, but its main forest carbon potential lies in smallholder woodlots and coffee and cocoa agroforestry. It is one of Indonesia’s largest sources of smallholder wood, so EUDR exposure is high for wood products, plus coffee and cocoa.

Forest and land cover profile

East Java runs from the Central Java border to the Bali Strait and includes the island of Madura. Volcanoes dominate the centre and east: Semeru (Java’s highest), Arjuno, Kelud, Raung and the Ijen plateau.

Protected areas cover a wide range of forest types:

• Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park: montane forest, casuarina and grassland around the Tengger caldera.
• Meru Betiri National Park: lowland rainforest on the south coast, one of Java’s wettest forests.
• Alas Purwo National Park: lowland forest and coast on the south-east peninsula.
• Baluran National Park: dry monsoon forest and savanna in the north-east, unusual on Java.

State forest outside these parks includes teak in the drier north and west, and pine and mixed forest in the uplands.

Peat and mangroves

There is no significant peat. Mangroves remain along parts of the north coast, around Surabaya (for example at Wonorejo), on Madura and in Baluran and Alas Purwo. North coast mangroves have been heavily converted to fish ponds and salt pans. Restoration of abandoned ponds is possible; see blue carbon.

Main commodities and drivers of land-use change

• Smallholder wood: sengon is planted widely on farms in Lumajang, Malang, Blitar and other districts, harvested on short rotations for plywood and light timber. Teak and mahogany are also common.
• Coffee: arabica from the Ijen-Raung plateau, robusta from Malang (Dampit), Jember and other highlands.
• Cocoa: estates and smallholders, with Jember a long-established cocoa area.
• Sugar cane and tobacco: very large but not EUDR commodities.

Forest pressure comes from encroachment in upland state forest, illegal logging, fire in dry forests and savanna, and sand mining on Semeru and other volcano slopes.

Which carbon project types fit

For cocoa, see cocoa agroforestry carbon. Sengon on its own is a short-rotation crop. Mixing it with longer-lived species improves both carbon permanence and resilience.

EUDR exposure

Wood is the largest exposure. Smallholder sengon logs pass from farmers to village traders to sawmills and plywood mills. Plywood and many wood products are listed. Mills need:

• geolocation for every woodlot (points for plots under 4 hectares, polygons above),
• proof of no deforestation after 31 December 2020 (generally straightforward for farmland woodlots),
• legality evidence, where Indonesia’s timber legality system (SVLK) helps.

See EUDR and wood and wood smallholders.

Coffee from Ijen and Malang and cocoa from Jember face standard traceability requirements. Coffee grown inside state forest needs documented partnership or social forestry status. See EUDR and coffee.

Social forestry and state forest

Most state forest is managed by a state forestry enterprise, with communities working through partnership arrangements. Since 2022, parts of Java’s state forest have been designated for special management (KHDPK), where social forestry licences can be granted. Tengger communities around Bromo maintain customary practices that shape land use. Permenhut 6/2026 opens carbon trading to social forestry groups as equal actors; see social forestry carbon.

Measuring short-rotation trees

Sengon can be harvested within five to eight years, and farmers often thin or cut early. Carbon projects need harvest records and repeated measurement, not a single inventory. Mixing sengon with longer-lived trees, such as fruit trees and mahogany, stabilises carbon stocks and spreads income over time. Ground plots with GNSS boundaries give reliable data for both carbon and EUDR.

Practical next steps

For wood processors, start mapping supplier woodlots now; the data also supports carbon projects. Our EUDR compliance service covers this. Compare with Central Java and Bali, and see the forest carbon hub.