Bioenergy Production on Degraded Land: Landowner Perceptions in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

Bioenergy production from degraded land provides an opportunity to secure a new renewable energy source to meet the rapid growth of energy demand in Indonesia while turning degraded land into productive landscape. However, bioenergy production would not be feasible without landowner participation. This study investigates factors affecting landowners' preferences for bioenergy production by analyzing 150 landowners with fire experience in Buntoi village in Central Kalimantan using Firth's logistic regression model. Results indicated that 76% of landowners preferred well-known species that have a readily available market such as sengon (Albizia chinensis (Osb.) Merr.) and rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis Müll.Arg.) for restoration on degraded land. Only 8% of preferred nyamplung (Calophyllum inophyllum L.) for bioenergy production; these particular landowners revealed a capacity to handle the uncertainty of the bioenergy market because they had additional jobs and income, had migrated from Java where nyamplung is prevalent, and preferred agricultural extension to improve their technical capacity. These results contribute to identifying key conditions for a bottom-up approach to bioenergy production from degraded land in Indonesia: a stable bioenergy market for landowners, application of familiar bioenergy species, and agricultural extension support for capacity building.is expected to be 1.8 times higher than the energy demand in 2015 [8] due to population growth, urbanization, and economic development [9][10][11].Lately, there has been increased interest in bioenergy production by growing non-food seed oil, such as nyamplung (Calophyllum inophyllum L.), in degraded lands since its multiple benefits [12] It could minimize a trade-off between food and fuel production as some of these non-food crops could grow in degraded lands that cannot support food production [13][14][15][16]. It could reduce environmental impacts if these crops are harvested from degraded and underutilized lands that have limited value to store carbon and preserve native vegetation and biodiversity (e.g., [9,15,17]). In addition, it could support restoration of degraded lands with these bioenergy species and provide a variety of ecosystem services, such as carbon storage, reduction of soil erosion, and improvement of biodiversity [18,19]. It also creates employment opportunities in rural areas, particularly in developing countries where large populations live and rely on marginal lands for farming [16,[20][21][22].Capturing these benefits from bioenergy production on degraded land, however, would not be feasible without landowner participation. In other words, bioenergy production should meet landowner preferences. Otherwise, owners of degraded lands would use these lands for alternative activities that meet their preferences and expectations. Since 2007, for instance, the Government of Indonesia has implemented and tested an "Energy Sufficient Village" program (or Desa Mandiri Energi) in Java, Indonesia [23][24][25][26][27][28]. The program aime...

Integrating bioenergy and food production on degraded landscapes in Indonesia for improved socioeconomic and environmental outcomes

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Potential for integrated landscape approaches: A review of Indonesia’s national environment and development policies

“…Oil palm plantations for biofuel production are exempted from ISPO certification. Indonesia has one of the most ambitious biofuel blending targets in the world, predicated on the expansion of oil palm plantations and conflicting with the National Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (RAN-GRK) and other environmental policies (Anderson et al 2016;Artati et al 2019).…”

Biomass, Bioenergy and Biomaterials

“…Marginally productive and degraded land has little value to society and provides only a fraction of the ecosystem services of natural ecosystems. FTA scientists have looked into how to transform these areas into functional landscapes with both ecological and economic value to multiple stakeholders, making the restoration of degraded lands attractive to landholders and investors alike (Baral and Lee 2016;Artati et al 2019;Duguma et al 2020).…”

“…Through farmer perception studies, FTA scientists identified the key conditions for farmers in degraded peatlands to integrate biomass production for bioenergy into their farming systems (Artati et al 2019). These conditions include a stable bioenergy market for landowners, use of familiar bioenergy species, and agricultural extension support for capacity building.…”