Indonesia Spatial Planning Criteria Promotes 70% Terrestrial Protected Areas in Papua

Papua is renowned as a world-class tropical wilderness, rich in both floristic and linguistic diversity. Proactive efforts to protect this region have been implemented by Indonesian government through a land allocation policy designating at least 70% of the area as protected. However, the extent to which protected areas (PA) criteria are implemented at a spatial scale remains very limited. Therefore, this study aims to link multi-criteria PA policies with Papua's landscape conditions, focusing on land allocation for the expansion of terrestrial PA at a spatial scale. Geographic information system (GIS)-multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) method played a crucial role in analyzing PA according to various criteria, including subordinate, water-based protected, conservation, geological protected, disaster-prone, cultural heritage, and mangrove areas. The results of the first procedure identified 3,683 small islands with a total PA of approximately 1% of Papua's total 41 Mha. The second procedure was applied to six large islands, resulting in the allocation of 66% for PA and 10% for buffer zone. The priority of PA was, first, to safeguard endemic species in the most dense and remote small island complexes. Second, to conserve species richness in western New Guinea and the surrounding large islands, including karst areas on Biak-Supiori, Misool, and Waigeo Islands; earthquake-prone areas on Yapen Island; and water catchment areas on Dolak Island. Land allocation for the expansion of PA was successfully formulated comprehensively based on a new framework. The maps in this study enabled the identification of ``hotspots'' valuable in protecting Papua's remaining wilderness

Buffer zone · Geographic information system · Government (linguistics) · Land use · Mangrove · Protected area · Scale (ratio) · Spatial planning · Wetland · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Forest Ecology and Conservation · Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions