Indonesia's new forest capital faces ecological and social challenges

Facing rapid subsidence, Jakarta's government approved a move to a new capital on Borneo, selecting a vast hilltop area in East Kalimantan for the project called Nusantara. The plan envisions a renewable-energy-powered, walkable city that will host government workers and showcase nature-inspired architecture. Construction has already begun, prompting scientists to deploy long-term audio recorders across 20 sites to catalog the sounds of species such as proboscis monkeys, orangutans and gibbons.

The acoustic data, processed with AI, will serve as a baseline to track how habitat alteration affects wildlife. Indigenous guide Abidin from the Balik people highlights the cultural importance of forest sounds and worries about forced relocations for his family. Funding cuts and political transitions have slowed progress, leaving the future of the city and its surrounding ecosystem uncertain.