akar.earthForest Carbon and EUDR in West Sumatra
Forest carbon in West Sumatra: Kerinci Seblat and Siberut forests, nagari customary forests, cinnamon and coffee agroforestry, palm oil and EUDR exposure.
West Sumatra’s forest carbon potential lies mainly in steep Bukit Barisan forests managed or claimed by Minangkabau nagari communities, plus the island forests of Siberut. Projects here are most likely to be community-led REDD+ and agroforestry, while EUDR exposure comes from palm oil in the western and southern lowlands and from coffee, cocoa and rubber grown by smallholders.
Forest and land cover profile
The province is dominated by the volcanic Bukit Barisan range, with a narrow coastal plain facing the Indian Ocean. Forest cover is concentrated on steep slopes, which protects it from mechanised clearing but not from gradual smallholder encroachment. Forest types run from lowland dipterocarp forest on the lower slopes through hill forest to montane and moss forest on volcanic peaks such as Marapi, Singgalang and Talamau.
Kerinci Seblat National Park, the largest national park on Sumatra, extends into West Sumatra’s southern districts, shared with Jambi, Bengkulu and South Sumatra. Offshore, Siberut island in the Mentawai archipelago has its own national park and biosphere reserve, with endemic primates and lowland forest used by Mentawai clans.
Peat and mangroves
Peat is limited compared with the east coast provinces. There are some coastal peat swamps in the southern coastal districts, but nothing on the scale of neighbouring Riau. Mangroves are patchy on the mainland coast and more intact around the Mentawai islands. Blue carbon here is likely to be small-scale and community-led.
Main commodities and deforestation drivers
- Oil palm: estates and smallholders in Pasaman Barat, Dharmasraya, Pesisir Selatan and other lowland districts.
- Rubber: smallholder gardens in the eastern lowlands.
- Cinnamon (cassia): grown in agroforestry gardens in the highlands; Indonesia is one of the world’s main cassia producers. See cinnamon.
- Coffee: arabica in the Solok highlands and other upland districts, robusta lower down.
- Cocoa: a provincial priority crop for smallholders in the 2000s and 2010s.
- Gambier: a tannin crop concentrated in Lima Puluh Kota; not an EUDR commodity.
Drivers of forest loss include oil palm expansion at the lowland forest edge, upland farming moving up slopes, small-scale gold mining along rivers, and road building. Landslide risk on deforested slopes is high, which gives watershed protection a strong local rationale beyond carbon.
Social forestry and customary land
This is the defining feature of West Sumatra. Minangkabau land is held collectively under tanah ulayat, managed through the nagari (the customary village unit, which is also the formal village level in most of the province). The province has been one of the most active in the national social forestry programme, and many village forest licences are issued as hutan nagari, a nagari-held form of village forest.
Permenhut 6/2026 treats social forestry groups and customary communities as legitimate and equal carbon market participants. In West Sumatra this means a nagari with a social forestry licence can be the natural project proponent or co-proponent. Projects must work with registered partners and meet free, prior and informed consent and benefit-sharing principles. Read social forestry carbon and Permenhut 6/2026 for the procedure.
Matrilineal inheritance also matters. Ancestral land passes through the female line, and decisions involve the clan elders (ninik mamak). Consent processes that only engage formal village heads will miss key rights-holders.
Which carbon project types fit
| Project type | Fit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Community REDD+ | Nagari forests on the Bukit Barisan slopes | Threat must be documented locally; slopes reduce some pressure |
| Agroforestry removals | Cinnamon, coffee, cocoa and fruit tree gardens | Use grouped projects to aggregate small plots |
| ARR | Degraded hill land and abandoned fields | Check the 10-year land eligibility rule |
| Mangrove | Mentawai and southern coast | Small, remote sites |
For agroforestry removals, the agroforestry hub explains how to count tree carbon on working farms. For new planting, VM0047 is the current Verra ARR methodology.
EUDR exposure
Coffee and cocoa from West Sumatra are smallholder crops. Most plots are well under 4 hectares, so a geolocation point per plot is enough, but suppliers must still show no deforestation after 31 December 2020 and legal land use. Gardens inside forest estate need a social forestry licence or other legal basis. See EUDR and coffee.
Palm oil from the western lowlands carries the standard smallholder traceability problem: fruit passes through collectors to mills with mixed supply bases.
Practical next steps
Map the nagari, its ulayat boundaries and any existing social forestry licence first, then overlay forest estate status and land cover history. The feasibility and eligibility service covers this screening, and the forest carbon hub compares the main project types.
Frequently asked questions
What makes West Sumatra different for forest carbon?
Minangkabau customary land (tanah ulayat) and nagari-held village forests cover much of the forest edge. That gives communities a strong legal and social basis to lead projects under Permenhut 6/2026.
Which project types fit West Sumatra?
Community forest protection (REDD+) in nagari forests, agroforestry with cinnamon, coffee, cocoa and fruit trees, and smaller ARR on degraded hill land. Peat and mangrove options are limited compared with Riau or Jambi.
Is cinnamon covered by the EUDR?
No. Cinnamon is not on the EUDR commodity list. Coffee, cocoa, rubber, palm oil and wood from the province are covered.