Durian – Working Group ICCAs Indonesia (WGII) on Wednesday, 4 June 2025 launched May 2025’s data on Indigenous Peoples and Local Community Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCAs) in line with the celebration of International Day of Biological Diversity, calling for pushing more roles of indigenous and local communities.
The data shows that up to May 2025 there are 647,457.49 hectare conserved area, handled by indigenous and local communities, scattered at 293 regions across Indonesia, of which 385,744.26 hectares located in Indonesia’s Kalimantan.
According to Lasti Fardella Noor, knowledge management of WGII, the consortium has mapped that Indonesia has 23.82 million hectares of ICCAs by May 2025, higher than the previous year of 22 million hectares, with the biggest in Papua of 9.37 million hectares area.
The potential areas of ICCAs are in vary ecosystems, including forests, rivers and marines, however, according to Cindy Julianto, program manager of WGII, there are lack in monitoring coastal areas ecosystems that actually has high potential of ICCAs.
Through the data release, WGII believe it can become an important foundation to drive more inclusive policies on managing conserved areas based on indigenous and local communities involvement.
“Actually behind narratives on animals and ecosystems protection, there is something else need to be discussed. It’s not coming from us but from other people and this is must be shifted and we voice out to policy makers that in fact policies taken regarding conservation is not necessary need indigenous communities and often do not need the state,” Cindy said.
In line with that Farwiza Farhan, co-founder of the Aceh Forest, Nature and Environment Foundation (HAkA) said error approaches have been made all this time regarding nature conservation that departed human being and the nature.
From the discussion as the response to the data of ICCAs in Indonesia as of May 2025, speakers highlighted the importance to change conservation paradigm by considering indigenous and local communities as part of the conserved areas.
Director for Biological Diversity at the Environmental Ministry Inge Retnowati in that event said that the government of Indonesia at this moment is drafting a report linked to the potential of biological diversity of the country and thank WGII for their data.
She said civil society groups, including WGII, indigenous and local communities who care for biological diversity issues must be involved in designing the road map on managing biological diversity sources.
WGII have been providing ICCAs data since 1990s. (***)
