Women’s Land Rights: Driving Empowerment, Equality, and Opportunity

After Cyclone Aila destroyed her home, Supriya Mondal lost nearly everything. But the disaster also set her on an unexpected path, one that would turn her into a trusted community leader helping protect the Sundarbans through climate-smart livelihoods and mangrove conservation.

This brief highlights how recognizing and integrating the ecosystem services of mangroves into planning decisions—complemented by conservation efforts and sustainable resource use through strengthened tenure rights—is essential to promoting sustainable land use in Indonesia’s intended new capital city.

Landesa’s new study demonstrates how Indonesia’s intended new capital city can showcase integrated and inclusive tenure security and coastal management that balance urban development with mangrove ecosystem conservation. The study reveals the feasibility of implementing Payment for Ecosystem Services and proposes integrating ecosystem service economics with the land certification framework in the country, pioneering gender-responsive ecosystem service rights certification.