Indonesia - Scaling Sustainability Through a Jurisdictional Lens
In Indonesia, my work focuses on creating pathways for aquaculture sustainability that extend beyond individual farms. As one of the world’s largest shrimp producers, Indonesia’s aquaculture sector sustains hundreds of thousands of livelihoods and plays a vital role in the country’s blue economy. Yet, the growth of this sector has come at an environmental cost. Since the 1990s, and after the Ramsar Convention, ndonesia has recorded the highest level of mangrove conversion in the world, largely driven by aquaculture and coastal development.
Our work in Seruyan, Central Kalimantan, is exploring how to reverse this trend. The aim is to demonstrate that aquaculture can coexist with, and even contribute to, mangrove protection and restoration. We are working with local NGOs, community groups, and government agencies to design improvement frameworks that support both production and conservation. This includes identifying alternatives to new mangrove conversion, integrating reforestation initiatives, and encouraging better practices in feed production, and farm management to reduce pressure on ecosystems and people.
The project operates within a landscape and jurisdictional approach, aligning efforts across sectors such as shrimp, fisheries, and palm oil. By bringing these industries together, we can address shared challenges. From feed sustainability and water use to labor conditions and habitat restoration. The objective is to build locally relevant, system-wide frameworks that embed sustainability into policy, planning, and supply chains.
My role combines technical and strategic dimensions: supporting the design of these frameworks, facilitating collaboration among partners, and translating lessons from Indonesia’s leadership in jurisdictional approaches in palm oil into the aquaculture context. This cross-sector thinking is helping define what responsible shrimp production means in Indonesia — one that protects biodiversity, supports local communities, and drives long-term economic resilience.
Ultimately, the work in Indonesia is about proving that growth and restoration can go hand in hand. By reconnecting aquaculture to its natural landscapes and embedding sustainability into national and regional governance, we are helping shape a model for how production systems can evolve. From one that has historically degraded mangroves to one that actively rebuilds and protects them.
