Forest Carbon and EUDR in East Kalimantan

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

Forest carbon in East Kalimantan: Kutai, Wehea and Berau forests, Mahakam delta mangroves, logging, coal and palm oil, jurisdictional REDD+ and EUDR exposure.

East Kalimantan still has large natural forest in its interior and in Berau, so its main forest carbon options are improved forest management in logging concessions, REDD+, and mangrove restoration in the Mahakam delta and Berau. The province has taken part in a World Bank jurisdictional REDD+ programme, which shapes how projects nest, and its EUDR exposure is led by palm oil and wood.

Forest and land cover profile

East Kalimantan covers a large part of eastern Borneo, from the Mahakam river basin to Berau in the north. The interior, including Mahakam Ulu and Kutai Barat, holds extensive lowland and hill dipterocarp forest, part of the Heart of Borneo. Logging concessions cover much of it.

Notable forest areas include:

• Kutai National Park near Bontang and Sangatta, lowland forest with orangutans, heavily affected by fires and encroachment.
• Wehea forest in East Kutai, protected by the Dayak Wehea community under customary rules.
• Sungai Wain protection forest near Balikpapan, a water catchment and orangutan reintroduction site.
• Berau’s forests and karst, including the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat karst.

Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara (IKN), is being built in Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartanegara, bringing planning attention, infrastructure and land-use change.

Peat and mangroves

Peat is limited, found mainly in the middle Mahakam lakes area. Mangroves are significant. The Mahakam delta once had extensive nipah and mangrove forest, much of which was converted to shrimp ponds, and many of those ponds are now abandoned or low-yield. Berau’s coast and the Derawan islands hold mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs.

Delta pond rehabilitation is one of the clearest blue carbon opportunities in Kalimantan. See aquaculture pond rehabilitation.

Main commodities and deforestation drivers

• Coal: East Kalimantan is a major coal province. Not an EUDR commodity, but open-cut mining has cleared forest and left large areas needing reclamation.
• Oil palm: estates and smallholders in Kutai Timur, Kutai Kartanegara, Paser, Berau and elsewhere.
• Timber: selective logging in natural forest concessions and plantation forestry.
• Rubber and cocoa: smaller smallholder volumes.

Drivers of loss include oil palm expansion, mining, fire (notably in 1997–98 and 2015), and infrastructure linked to the new capital.

Which carbon project types fit

Improved forest management is particularly relevant: reduced-impact logging and extended rotations can cut emissions while timber production continues.

Jurisdictional REDD+ and nesting

East Kalimantan has participated in the World Bank FCPF Carbon Fund, a jurisdictional programme that pays for verified emission reductions at province level. When a jurisdiction earns results-based payments, a project inside it must avoid double counting. Projects should check how their baseline and claims fit with the jurisdictional accounting and with Indonesia’s national registry. See nesting projects in jurisdictions and the REDD+ hub.

EUDR exposure

• Palm oil: mills draw from estates and smallholders. Plots cleared after 31 December 2020 cannot supply the EU, and plots in forest estate without permits fail legality. See EUDR and palm oil.
• Wood: timber from natural forest concessions and plantations needs harvest-area geolocation. Concessions with good spatial data are relatively well placed. See EUDR and wood.

Customary land and social forestry

Dayak Kenyah, Bahau, Wehea, Benuaq and other groups hold customary land, and Kutai and Paser communities live along the rivers and coast. Wehea is a well-known example of customary forest protection. Village forests and other social forestry licences have been granted in several districts.

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

Post-mining land

Coal mining has left many pits and degraded areas. Mining companies must reclaim land under their licences, so only planting beyond that duty, or on land where no duty remains, can be credited. See additionality. Acidic soils and erosion make survival a key risk.

Practical next steps

Check concession and permit overlaps, the jurisdictional programme’s accounting area and customary claims. Compare with North Kalimantan and South Kalimantan, and see the forest carbon hub.