Well-designed road infrastructure to save forest and its biodiversity in Betung Kerihun national park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia
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Betung Kerihun National Park supports a variety of unique and endangered fauna and flora, including orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), Bornean gibbon (Hylobates muelleri), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), a huge diversity of bird species, especially hornbills (Buceros sp.), and various Dipterocarps. The park is directly adjacent to Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary and Batang Ai National Park in Sarawak-Malaysia, where the Punan Havongan Dayak people reside in the forest and the Mountain Dayak sub-tribes of Punan Muller-Schwaner inhabit the upper ridges of the Kapuas River. In 2018, UNESCO designated the Betung Kerihun and Danau Sentarum as a World Biosphere Reserve. The communities in and around the Betung Kerihun area have limited access to outside the area, which has resulted in poor economic development. Currently, some areas within the park are included in the government’s agenda for the Trans-Kalimantan Highway development, which uses the concept of a parallel- border road. One 157 km road segment will be built in the Betung Kerihun area, stretching from Putussibau to Nanga Era to the East Kalimantan boundary. While this road construction will bring some positive benefits, the negative impacts may significantly affect the area’s unique biodiversity and local indigenous communities if they are not properly mitigated. This paper discusses the national park’s initiatives to design a road that prioritizes biodiversity conservation and minimizes impacts to ensure this development aligns with the recent Regulation from the Minister of Environment and Forestry No. 23 of 2019 concerning strategic road development inside forest areas. The presence of parallel-border roads, if carried out in accordance with the proposed design, will facilitate socio-economic development among local communities as well as support sustainable regional development.
Keywords: Betung Kerihun National Park, Trans-Kalimantan Highway, sustainable infrastructure, socioeconomic development, road construction, wildlife corridors.
ID: 3486356