Tropentag, September 10 - 12, 2025, Bonn "Reconciling land system changes with planetary health"

Strategic landscape selection for jurisdictional approaches: Insights from the Siak Pelalawan landscape programme (SPLP), Indonesia

Proforest, Indonesia

Abstract

The Siak Pelalawan Landscape Programme (SPLP) in Riau Province, Indonesia, provides a case study of how landscape and jurisdictional initiatives (LJIs) can be strategically selected and assessed for readiness and maturity. As deforestation linked to global agri-commodity supply chains remains a pressing concern, SPLP demonstrates a structured approach to aligning economic activity, particularly palm oil production beyond the supply chain. SPLP was selected based on five core criteria: the landscape’s significance in oil palm production, presence of local governance and political support, corporate engagement, robust governance structures, and potential for co-funding and innovation. Operating across a mapped area of over 665,000 hectares and involving interventions in 52 villages, SPLP has garnered backing from companies and donor support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Although SPLP shows moderate landscape maturity with defined jurisdictional operations, action plans, and monitoring systems implementation remains uneven. This highlights the challenge of achieving full maturity, which requires long-term commitment to inclusive governance and collaboration. The programme uses frameworks of the Landscape Selection Criteria and ISEAL’s Core Criteria of Mature Landscapes. This combined approach offers a useful guide for setting up and assessing LJIs, but also underscores the need for locally tailored applications that reflect the specific political, ecological, and social context of each landscape.

Keywords: Landscape initiatives, palm oil, jurisdictional approaches

Contact Address: Diah Putri Utami, Proforest, 12810 Jakarta, Indonesia, e-mail: diah.putriproforest.net