Carbon Offset Asia announces the first carbon project in Papua, Indonesia

Following a two years search for REDD opportunities, Indonesia’s native carbon developer Carbon Offset Asia announces the first carbon project in Indonesia’s Papua region to protect the last remaining peatland concession in Indonesia that can be purchased and deforested.

Highlights:

- Indonesia’s Papua region is rich in peatland, mangroves and mineral carbon reserve, and is under threat from illegal palm oil plantations, opening of new agriculture land, timber exploitation, and new concessions for mining copper, gold and silver.

- In late 2022, Carbon Offset Asia (COA) secured the local government’s support to a 28,161 ha concession previously marked as HPK (forest to be converted) by Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry in Papua’s Waropen regency.

- The 28,161 ha concession entitlement until 2053, now called “Lestarikan Bumi Papua”, consists of 50% peatland and 50% mineral land. Pre-FS for this project yields 3.7 million VCUs per year. The project is now open for partnership opportunities.

Carbon Offset Asia’s co-founder and CEO Glory Harimas Sihombing commented: “We started our search to have our own conservation forest concession two years ago. We studied all forest concessions in Indonesia, in particular unprotected peatland concessions that did not get protected under the Indonesian government peatland moratorium for technical reasons.”

“In mid 2022, we got alerted to a new concession being offered by Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry to be converted. When we realized that it falls under our criteria of unprotected peatland concession available for devastating conversion, we moved fast to secure the local government support to claim the area for carbon project.”

Indonesia’s Papua region has gained international attention as the last frontier in the country for palm oil plantations expansion, new agriculture land, timber exploitation, and copper, gold and silver mining.

Carbon Offset Asia’s Lestarikan Bumi Papua concession, consisting of 50% peatland and 50% mineral land, is highly valuable for conservation as it is under threat of total devastation.

According to Daemeter, Carbon Offset Asia’s Lestarikan Bumi Papua concession in Waropen is a forest and peat concession at risk of conversion to agriculture and plantation.

According to JASOIL, Carbon Offset Asia’s Lestarikan Bumi Papua concession in Waropen overlaps with potential minerals, oil and gas concession for exploitation.

Carbon Offset Asia in partnership with Arara Bentang Semesta has deployed a local team to start carbon project at the site. The plan is to register and validate the project using Indonesia’s new SRN system as a REDD project by mid 2023.

Carbon Offset Asia and Arara Bentang Semesta are currently looking for local and international partners to co-develop the project and explore other opportunities to secure other unprotected peatland concessions in Indonesia.

Carbon Offset Asia

contact: glory@carbonoffset.asia