IKN and the Forest: Nusantara's Ecological Wealth
There is a long-dominant perspective in interpreting the development of Nusantara Capital City (IKN): as roads are constructed, buildings erected, and forested areas transformed into urban landscapes, the first metric calculated is loss. How many trees are felled, how many habitats fragmented, how many species displaced, and how much forest area is converted into development zones. These questions are crucial and must continue to be raised. However, another equally vital question ultimately determines whether IKN will turn into an ecological failure or serve as a strategic development approach for Indonesia: what is actually being done to IKN's forested landscape, and can the construction of the new capital simultaneously serve as an instrument to restore a region that has suffered decades of degradation?
A Mongabay report on August 31, 2026, regarding bioacoustic research around Pemaluan, East Kalimantan, over an 18-month period involved deploying recording equipment across 20 locations to capture the calls of gibbons, frogs, hornbills, insects, and various other wildlife to establish an ecological baseline alongside IKN's development. The study also documented the local knowledge of the Balik community regarding wildlife sounds and their relationship with the forest landscape.
These bioacoustic recordings serve as a baseline, framing the development of the IKN area as part of a long-term ecological experiment. We now have the opportunity to scientifically measure what happens to biodiversity when a city is built within a tropical landscape previously subjected to ecological pressure. It is inadequate to view IKN merely as a project to relocate the seat of government from Jakarta to Kalimantan. It can also be understood as a national spatial planning project, a strategic infrastructure development, a redistribution of economic growth centers, and simultaneously an experiment in how the state manages its ecological wealth.
The "Forest City" concept developed for IKN includes concrete targets. The IKN Authority states that 65 percent of the Nusantara territory is designated to remain a protected area. In July 2026, Head of the IKN Authority Basuki Hadimuljono employed the term rewilding rather than simple reforestation. According to Basuki, this approach aims to restore natural ecosystem functions, going beyond mere tree planting. This distinction is vital because a fundamental difference exists between greening an area and restoring a forest.
A forest is a complex ecological system comprising species diversity, vegetation structure, soil, water, microorganisms, wildlife, predator-prey dynamics, regenerative processes, and habitat connectivity. Consequently, the success of the Forest City should not be measured solely by the number of trees planted, but by whether the region's ecological functions are genuinely restored.
In this context, IKN's rehabilitation data becomes highly relevant. In February 2026, the Ministry of Forestry and the IKN Authority reported that forest and land rehabilitation had reached approximately 1,805 hectares. Areas previously dominated by monoculture Eucalyptus industrial plantations are being transitioned into tropical rainforests featuring various local and endemic Kalimantan flora, such as meranti, gaharu, kapur, medang, nyamplung, and nyatoh.
Between 2022 and 2026, the IKN Authority also stated that it had planted approximately five million trees as part of the regional restoration effort. Additionally, two wildlife corridors have been constructed around the Balikpapan--IKN Toll Road to reconnect fragmented habitats.
Once again, these figures do not automatically prove IKN's ecological success. Five million trees do not equal five million functioning ecosystem units. Two wildlife corridors offer no guarantee that all species will survive. Furthermore, a 65 percent protected area designation does not necessarily mean that the entire 65 percent maintains high ecological quality.
The research conducted by Wendy Erb and her team provides a valuable starting point. Audio recordings gathered before and during construction can serve as an ecological archive, enabling Indonesia to track biodiversity conditions over time. If in 2026 the calls of hornbills, gibbons, frogs, and specific insects are recorded in a given location, and significant changes occur by 2030, 2035, or 2040, the state will possess empirical data to analyze the underlying causes. Conversely, if restored habitats demonstrate an increased diversity of acoustic signals and species presence, this data can serve as evidence of success.
Through this approach, research that initially appeared to document what would be lost can instead function as an instrument to measure what has been successfully restored.
If Nusantara truly aims to become a Forest City, it must demonstrate that urban development can coexist with ecosystem restoration---not by obscuring ecological changes, but by measuring them transparently. We can even conceptualize IKN as a national laboratory for tropical urban development.
The 2026 ecological baseline can serve as the baseline year. Subsequently, the government and research institutions can conduct periodic assessments in 2030, 2035, 2040, and 2045. Metrics should extend beyond mere green space coverage to encompass forest cover, species richness, indicator species populations, habitat fragmentation, water quality, carbon stocks, soil quality, acoustic diversity, and the survival rate of restored vegetation. In this manner, the Forest City slogan can be transformed into a testable hypothesis.
The hypothesis is simple: can a city designed according to ecological principles yield a landscape that is more resilient than one previously subject to degradation?
If the answer is affirmative, IKN will possess a value far exceeding its status as a new capital city. It could serve as a model for tropical urban development relevant to Indonesia and other tropical nations.
Conversely, ecological critiques can function as an accountability mechanism that gives substance to the Forest City concept. The bioacoustic research conducted in Pemaluan serves as a reminder that development inherently brings change. Yet change need not equate to destruction. Change can result in restoration if the state possesses adequate design, capacity, funding, law enforcement, and evaluation mechanisms---precisely what the IKN Authority is striving to implement.
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