Indonesia has a large number of primate diversity where a majority of the species are threatened. In addition, climate change is conservation issues that biodiversity may likely face in the future, particularly among primates. Thus, species-distribution modeling was useful for conservation planning. Herein, we present protected areas (PA) recommendations with high nature-conservation importance based on species-richness changes. We performed maximum entropy (Maxent) to retrieve species distribution of 51 primate species across Indonesia. We calculated species-richness change and range shifts to determine the priority of PA for primates under mitigation and worst-case scenarios by 2050. The results suggest that the models have an excellent performance based on seven different metrics. Current primate distributions occupied 65% of terrestrial landscape. However, our results indicate that 30 species of primates in Indonesia are likely to be extinct by 2050. Future primate species richness would be also expected to decline with the alpha diversity ranging from one to four species per 1 km². Based on our results, we recommend 54 and 27 PA in Indonesia to be considered as the habitat-restoration priority and refugia, respectively. We conclude that species-distribution modeling approach along with the categorical species richness is effectively applicable for assessing primate biodiversity patterns.

Rewetting peatland is an ongoing effort in Indonesia to restore the hydrological cycle and carbon balance of the ecosystem. However, quantifying the impact of rewetting on mitigating fire remains a challenge. Here, we assess the impact of large-scale rewetting on fire risks and occurrences (duration, coverage area, and the number of events) in 2015–2021. The weather research and forecasting (WRF) model was integrated with a drought–fire model to spatially quantify fire hazards in Riau, Sumatra. The results show that rewetting has resulted in decreasing the frequency of extreme events in the study area (pre- and post-rewetting, respectively, were seven and four events). Although the area influenced by extreme events reduced following rewetting by 5%, the mean duration of extreme events increased. Our findings reveal that widespread prolonged extreme fire hazards only occurred during drying El Niño events in 2015 and 2019. The findings obtained in this case study provide quantitative evidence of the reduced fire hazard resulting from peat restoration in Indonesia. Further, the findings assist in assessing the success of peatland restoration programs and improve our knowledge of the ability to monitor and forecast fire risks in tropical peatlands.

Sustainable water use in agriculture faces several challenges due to future climate change, increasing population, and higher living standards. Adapting to possible future changes in climate and sustaining the use of water are some of the challenges that face future agricultural water management. In this research, the sustainability of irrigation water use was assessed by performance criteria that consider the effects of climate change and adaption management on irrigation. The model, built using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system, is calibrated using the stream flow and the requirement of water for irrigation. The model was used to examine two future climate projections (A2 and B2), for time periods until 2099, and for four scenarios: (1) an increase in the irrigated area, (2) an increase in crop intensity, (3) a change in the crop pattern, and (4) a combination of increased irrigation area and increased crop intensity. Results show water supply is projected to increase by about 85 and 60% (relative to the historical period) in A2 and B2 climate scenarios, respectively, by the end of the century. The requirement for irrigation water will decrease in the future, relative to the historical period. The sustainability index will also decrease in the future, relative to the historical period. Relative to the baseline scenario, increasing the irrigated area is more sustainable than increasing the crop intensity or combining increased crop intensity with increased area under irrigation. Increasing the irrigated area is more amenable to adaption to possible future climate changes.

Tropical rainforest ecosystems that function as biodiversity pools had been undermined because of anthropogenic activities. Research has shown that protected areas (PAs) have become the first safeguard for biodiversity. However, how to measure the effectiveness of PAs remains unclear. We present spatiotemporal changes within the PAs and non-PAs in the Leuser Ecosystem, which is one of the significant global landscapes, using intensity analysis during two time periods and propensity score matching to investigate the effectiveness of PAs. We classified land cover using machine learning based on remotely sensed data. Our results revealed the effectiveness of PAs compared with non-PAs. The new conservation intervention after 2008 resulted in the deacceleration of deforestation from 2000–2010 to 2010–2020. In addition, PAs can reduce deforestation two times more effectively than non-PAs. Therefore, PAs and good governance within the Leuser Ecosystem are crucial in maintaining the natural ecosystem to address global conservation targets.

Dams are infrastructural projects with multiple uses that include hydropower, irrigation, water storage, flood management, and recreation. Most research on dams in Southeast Asia focuses on the Mekong River Basin and there is limited research on dams in Indonesia. Here, we developed a comprehensive database of dams in Indonesia derived from global and local datasets. We also used Google Earth Pro to locate additional dams and to validate the presence of all the dams. Our database had a total of 1506 dams (from large to mini dams and run-of river dams) in operation or under construction, and this was three times the number of dams reported in Indonesia’s national database for dams. There were another 250 planned dams, of which, only 30 had known locations. Our database also includes information such as the geographical coordinates of each dam, their physical characteristics, and what each dam is used for. Ultimately, we hope that our work will help researchers, non-government organizations, and government agencies with hydrological and socio-ecological research in Indonesia.