Exploring sustainable land use pathways for ecosystems, food security and poverty alleviation: opportunities for Indonesia’s food estate programme

Country: Indonesia

Lead Partner: University of Sussex

Summary: This transdisciplinary project is concerned with understanding the dynamics of land use change and supporting the co-creation of pathways towards sustainable land use that addresses biodiversity, climate change, food security and poverty concerns. The focus is on opportunities for sustainable food estate programmes in Indonesia, in the context of major concerns about their adverse environmental and social impacts. The programme will work with farming communities, NGOs, conservation agencies and government agencies; drawing together quantitative and qualitative data (and formal and informal knowledge) to visualise and assess the multiple values of landscapes, and impact of food estate interventions at sites with a variety of monocrop and agroforestry systems.  It seeks to support productive, evidence-based dialogue through the development and use of an open access mapping and modelling tool; developing land use scenarios that integrate climate resilience and biodiversity conservation into initiatives that support sustainable livelihoods of farming communities and wider food security concerns. Through participatory action research and capacity building activities with key stakeholders, the programme will identify land use planning and policy process opportunities and practical intervention points.

Photograph (detail): Vyacheslav Argenberg