Indonesia’s new planned capital in East Kalimantan is being touted as a “smart, green, beautiful and sustainable city” but has stoked fears of massive environmental damage to the island of Borneo, one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots and carbon sinks.

This study explores urbanization and flood events in the northern coast of Central Java with river basin as its unit of analysis. Two types of analysis were applied (i.e., spatial data and non-spatial data analysis) at four river basin areas in Central Java—Indonesia. The spatial analysis is focused on the assessment of LULC change in 2009–2018 based on Landsat Imagery.

Indonesia has the most favorable climates for agriculture because of its location in the tropical climatic zones. The country has several commodities to support economics growth that are driven by key export commodities—e.g., oil palm, rubber, paddy, cacao, and coffee.

Agroforestry, as the dominant land use at the volcanic foot slope in Java Island, is prone to landslide due to a combination of rough relief and thick soil layer. However, evaluations of specific vegetation patterns against landslide reactivation due to soil erosion, which relays on the existing slope units and geomorphological processes, are still limited.

The accelerated development of new urban areas has an impact on changes in the spatial use and complexity of ecosystems.

Belowground roles of agroforestry in climate change mitigation (C storage) and adaptation (reduced vulnerability to drought) are less obvious than easy-to-measure aspects aboveground. Documentation on these roles is lacking.

The complexity of spatial use has an impact on poverty and the development of slum settlements towards a decrease in environmental quality.

Tree root systems stabilize hillslopes and riverbanks, reducing landslide risk, but related data for the humid tropics are scarce. We tested fractal allometry hypotheses on differences in the vertical and horizontal distribution of roots of trees commonly found in agroforestry systems and on shear strength of soil in relation to root length density in the topsoil.

Forest conversion to agriculture can induce the loss of hydrologic functions linked to infiltration. Infiltration-friendly agroforestry land uses minimize this loss.

Forests play a crucial role in the fight against global climate change. The communities that live in and around forests are well-placed to carry out climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recognizes that social forestry enables communities to manage forests sustainably.