Assessing impacts on ecosystem services under various plausible oil palm expansion scenarios in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

Key messages • The land-use change caused by oil palm expansion results in adverse impacts on ecosystem functions and services provided by natural forests. • This study assesses the impacts of oil palm expansion on key ecosystem services and analyzes the trade-offs among ecosystem services under four plausible future land-use scenarios in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia: business as usual, moratorium, zero gross deforestation and sustainable intensification. • A trade-off between carbon benefit and habitat quality was observed in the area with low carbon stock. Providing some habitat quality in areas of oil palm expansion enhanced the carbon benefit. • A synergy between carbon sequestration and water yield was evident due to oil palm expansion on Dry Rice Land with Mixed Scrub under the zero gross deforestation scenario. • Among the four plausible LULC scenarios, zero gross deforestation is the most desirable option for the study area in Central Kalimantan. • A successful implementation of zero gross deforestation requires a review of the forest moratorium to encompass all forest types, a clear land-use policy strategy and a detailed land-use plan involving all jurisdictions and engagement of stakeholders. • Sustainable intensification is the second-best land use and land cover option for oil palm expansion with an assumed average yield enhancement to 5 tCPO ha-1 yr-1. However, enhancing yield in smallholder farms by 78% is highly challenging. It may be achievable by providing appropriate and adequate technical and management supports to smallholder farms and by ensuring off-take markets for oil palm produced by smallholders. Ecosystems and the biological diversity contained within them provide a wide range of ecosystem goods and services (EGS). A continued delivery of these goods and services is essential to human survival and economic prosperity. Among the multitude of definitions and classification systems of EGS, the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) define ecosystem services as " the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well-being " (TEEB 2010). They are classified as provisioning, regulating, habitat and cultural services.