Indonesia seeks alternative funding as USAID freeze delays marine conservation efforts

JAKARTA — A freeze on foreign aid funding from U.S. government agencies, including USAID, has delayed several marine conservation programs in Indonesia, according to senior officials in the world’s largest archipelagic country.

The freeze, imposed by President Donald Trump through an executive order signed on his first day in office, put an immediate 90-day suspension on new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to other countries. For Indonesia, that’s affected collaborative projects that help expand and rehabilitate coral reefs, said Kusdiantoro, the secretary for marine planning at the Indonesian fisheries ministry.

“There are a few [projects] whose implementation has been delayed,” Kusdiantoro told Mongabay on Feb. 25 in Jakarta. “For example, the Coral Triangle Initiative [CTI] Secretariat which collaborates with USAID and other funding sources.”

Indonesia’s marine biodiversity plays an important role in the domestic and global supply of seafood. The country is home to some of the most diverse marine life on the planet, especially in its eastern region that falls within the Pacific Coral Triangle, an area renowned for its richness of corals and reef fish.

Coral reefs in Indonesia cover an eighth of the total global expanse and are made up of more than 65% of known coral species. But they’ve undergone several widespread coral bleaching events in the past four decades, which in some areas have caused the depletion of hard corals. Indonesia’s coral reefs are also affected by inland activities such as deforestation and land-use changes, which result in silt washing out into reefs and killing corals. Government-led efforts to rehabilitate coral reefs have intensified since 2020 in the three provinces of Bali, East Nusa Tenggara and West Papua.

Agus Dermawan, the fisheries ministry’s main expert for marine and coastal ecosystem management, said USAID has historically played a crucial role in funding conservation efforts like Ber-IKAN and Kolektif, which measure success through environmental recovery and economic benefits for local communities. However, due to the funding freeze, long-term plans (typically of five to 10 years) must now be adjusted, and sustainable funding alternatives are being sought, he said.

“Our current focus is since USAID funding is unavailable, we need replacements from other programs or funding sources,” Agus told Mongabay. “USAID’s policy is a decision of a foreign government, so we have no control over it.”

The Kehati Foundation, which administers USAID’s Kolektif program in collaboration with another Indonesian NGO, the Nusantara Nature Conservation Foundation (YKAN), said several USAID-funded marine conservation programs are on hold pending the 90-day review. The outcome remains uncertain, with possibilities ranging from full continuation to budget cuts or complete termination. In the meantime, affected programs remain in limbo, and stakeholders are awaiting further developments.

“We have no clue the outcome of this review process,” Rony Megawanto, Kehati’s program director, told Mongabay. “The decision is entirely up to the U.S. government.”

Indonesia’s 411 marine protected areas cover a combined surface area of 284,100 square kilometers (109,700 square miles), an area larger than the U.K. Yet this represents less than 9% of Indonesia’s total maritime area; the country is targeting to expand that coverage to 10% by 2030 and then 30% by 2045 as part of its contribution to the global “30 by 30” conservation goal, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030.

To achieve those marine conservation goals, the fisheries ministry estimates it would cost some 43 trillion rupiah ($2.6 billion); this year, it received an allocation of just 6.22 trillion rupiah ($383 million) from the state budget. A 2024 study identifies financial support as a leading factor in ensuring the management effectiveness of marine protected areas.

Rather than seeing the USAID freeze as a setback, some marine observers in Indonesia have urged marine conservation managers in Indonesia to use this moment as a catalyst for identifying and developing more creative, smart and affirmative financing mechanisms that can support conservation efforts in a sustainable way. Kusdiantoro from the fisheries ministry said the U.K. government has approached with an offer to support marine conservation and sustainable fisheries targets.

“It should not be a threat leading to failure,” Luky Adrianto, a marine and fisheries professor at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture told Mongabay. “I hope that the government and stakeholders in marine and fisheries conservation will reassess their targets.”

To address the funding gap, Luky suggested a collaborative approach, with the government taking the lead in mapping out all available sustainable blue-financing options. He said thos should include identifying alternative funding sources beyond USAID and exploring new and innovative financing instruments.

Luky also encouraged stakeholders to explore noncash financing models that allow communities to contribute to conservation efforts in ways that provide either direct or indirect returns.

“With a well-designed yet simple mechanism, a functional relationship can be established between investors, conservation area managers, implementation partners, local communities, and local governments to ensure equitable and inclusive positive impacts,” he said.

Basten Gokkon is a senior staff writer for Indonesia at Mongabay. Find him on 𝕏 @bgokkon.

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