Jakarta Tree Management and Parks Regulations

Cities4Forests has helped Jakarta’s government take legal protections to protect the city’s urban forests and develop plans to expand urban tree cover to protect the city and its residents. 

Opportunity

Jakarta, Indonesia is one of the world’s most vulnerable cities to the impacts of climate change. The city is experiencing intense air pollution, earthquakes, and flooding, all of which put the city’s 11 million residents in danger and put the city at economic risk over climate-related loss and damage.  

While Jakarta’s urban trees are a relatively small carbon sink, they can provide other benefits to make the city more resilient. They can help to improve Jakarta’s flood management, as well as improve the city’s air quality. Thankfully, the city’s government is taking steps to seize these benefits. 

Project Description

Cities4Forests’ team in WRI Indonesia began working with Jakarta’s government in 2019. Through this engagement, we were able to inform two provincial level regulations, which were enacted in 2021.  

The first is the Tree Management Regulation, which classifies trees as public assets. This prevents urban trees from getting removed illegally and ensures that data on Jakarta’s urban forests is used in city planning and development decisions. The second is the Parks Provision Management Regulation, which calls for the expansion of Jakarta’s parks and other public green spaces. This regulation aims to increase access to high-quality green space for all residents by ensuring each neighborhood has at least one open green space. 

Combined, these two regulations are designed to produce a suite of benefits. They include a commitment to grow 200,000 new trees, over 50,000 of which were planted in 2022. They are also aligned with the city’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. We are continuing to engage with the city to turn these commitments into reality.