Introduction

Abstract

Indonesia is one of the countries with the fastest-growing economies in Asia and one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. With ecosystems ranging from terrestrial to marine and teemed with unique life forms, Indonesia is rich in natural resources. Unfortunately, Indonesia also suffers from overexploitation and environmental threats exacerbated by climate and human pressures. Along with the growing global ambitions for achieving sustainable development and increasing its capacity to adapt to climate change and extreme events, Indonesia is also increasing its commitments to balance development while safeguarding environmental and social sustainability. However, challenges remain, especially on how to effectively govern the responses to environmental issues. Against this background, this book will present state-of-the-art environmental governance research and practices in Indonesia. It offers a wide scope, covering different themes and sectors (e.g., climate change, disaster risk, forestry, mining, etc.), diverse physical and societal landscapes (e.g., urban, rural, deltas, coastal areas, etc.), and multiscalar perspectives (from national to local level). This book has the ambition to incorporate more knowledge to indicate research gaps and future directions for environmental governance research. Our intention is also to reflect a vision to make the national and global environmental governance research agenda to be more diverse, inclusive, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. We hope that this book will be useful for researchers, students, practitioners, and policymakers who are interested in the field of environmental governance, especially in Indonesia as a megadiversity country that encompasses the world’s largest archipelago.