Banjarbaru, April 8, 2026 – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) South Kalimantan and the Association of Social Forestry Management (AP2SI) South Kalimantan released Policy Brief related to the protection of forests and essential peat swamp ecosystems for Hulu Sungai Utara Regency, South Kalimantan Province.
South Kalimantan is facing increasingly serious ecological pressures due to the expansion of the extractive industry. Of its total land area of approximately 3.7 million hectares, more than 51 percent is burdened with various industrial permits, including Forest Utilization Business Permits (PBPH) covering 722,895 hectares, Mining Business Permit Areas (WIUP) covering 559,080 hectares, and Plantation Cultivation Rights (HGU) permits, most of which are for oil palm plantations, covering 645,612 hectares. This situation indicates that more than half of the province's land area is under pressure from large-scale economic activity.
Hulu Sungai Utara (HSU) Regency, with an area of approximately 90,812 hectares, enjoys a highly strategic ecological position. Its territory is dominated by stretches of swamp and peatland, forming a vital hydrological system for northern South Kalimantan. Approximately 10,237 hectares of protected peatland areas serve vital functions as carbon storage, water management, and buffers against flood and drought risks.
These ecological functions are not only crucial for environmental sustainability but also serve as the primary foundation for the local community's economic system. For centuries, the people of the North Hulu Sungai swamp region have developed various forms of livelihood that depend directly on the sustainability of the wetland ecosystem.
Various traditional economic activities thrive in this ecosystem, including swamp fishing, the use of purun plants as a raw material for crafts, and the swamp buffalo farming system unique to the lowland swamp landscape. The strong interdependence between the community and the swamp ecosystem makes its sustainability a key pillar of social and economic resilience.
With these facts, WALHI South Kalimantan and AP2SI South Kalimantan in Policy Brief This paper aims to convey the importance of stronger, progressive steps by the HSU Regency Government in the form of regional policies. These policies should regulate the protection of forests and essential ecosystems while also strengthening the development of alternative community economies that prioritize sustainable values and principles, do not significantly impact the environment, or are non-extractive alternative economies.
To strengthen the protection of peat swamp ecosystems while supporting sustainable regional development in Hulu Sungai Utara Regency, several recommended strategic policy steps are as follows:
- Integration of swamp ecosystem protection into regional development planning documents. Swamp ecosystem protection needs to be more strongly integrated into regional development planning documents such as the RPJMD (Regional Medium-Term Development Plan), RTRW (Regional Spatial Plan), and RKPD (Regional Work Plan).
- Strengthening the implementation of the Social Forestry program. Local governments need to strengthen support for village forest management by strengthening the capacity of Village Forest Management Institutions (LPHD), developing Social Forestry Business Groups (KUPS), and facilitating access to financing and markets.
- Swamp ecosystem-based economic development. Regional economic development strategies can be directed at wetland-based economic development, such as sustainable swamp fisheries, purun crafts, swamp buffalo farming, and agroforestry systems.
- Strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships. Protecting peat swamp ecosystems requires collaboration between local governments, local communities, civil society organizations, research institutions, and the sustainable (non-extractive) private sector.
Please download the document Policy Brief here
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