During the El Niño phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, much of Southeast Asia experiences intense droughts and surging temperatures, exacerbating wildfires and creating a blanket of hazardous haze across much of the region. These patterns are predicted to worsen with climate change, further increasing the vulnerability of the region’s primate species, 94% of which are threatened with extinction. Here, we report findings from a systematic search of the literature and synthesize the current state of knowledge regarding the impacts of El Niño-driven heat, drought, fire and smoke on non-human primates in Southeast Asia. Our review shows that habitat loss and degradation driven by El Niño-induced drought and fire cause changes to diet, activity patterns, social interactions and physical condition, and lead to population crowding, reduced group sizes, increased infant mortality, displacement of individuals and local extirpation. Furthermore, prolonged exposure to smoke alters behaviour and worsens the health of primates. Two studies presented evidence for the recovery of primate populations in habitats damaged by fire if forest is allowed to regenerate. We highlight significant gaps in our understanding of the impacts of El Niño on non-human primates, particularly the need for research that considers the interconnected effects of rainfall, temperature, fire and smoke, as well as long-term effects on reproduction and mortality. Because of the unpredictable nature of El Niño, we acknowledge the difficulties of planning research in this area and emphasize the potential of long-term research sites to add to our understanding of this key conservation issue.

A Delphi survey was used as part of a process to identify priority animal-based welfare measures as a starting point for developing a future dairy cattle welfare assessment framework for Indonesian dairy farms. Two rounds of an e-survey were used to reach a consensus of expert opinion from four organisations associated with dairy cattle welfare in Indonesia. Sixty-three respondents were identified as ‘experts’ and sent Delphi survey 1, which asked them to list, for Indonesian dairy farms, three key welfare problems and six animal-based welfare measures that could be used to identify those problems. The 47 experts who responded to survey 1 identified 54 different welfare problems and 83 different animal-based measures. In the follow-up Delphi survey 2, 44 experts rated the importance (5-point scale) of each of the 83 measures and ranked their five most important measures. Based on the importance score, a final consensus set of 20 animal-based measures was produced after checking for duplication. This set of measures was weighted towards negative health effects, likely due to the dominance of veterinarians in the panel, highlighting a prioritisation bias in Indonesian veterinarians’ thinking towards negative health effects rather than behavioural and positive welfare. Lameness, mastitis, and heat stress were the key health and welfare issues highlighted by the panellists. These surveys have identified potential measures supporting the development of a framework to address priority welfare problems on Indonesian smallholder dairy farms. However, a wider perspective on welfare priorities in Indonesian cattle is needed before the protocol is finalised.

Do unintended pregnancies have implications for children’s cognitive outcomes, and does this vary by gender? We address this question using rich longitudinal data from Indonesia − a country where nearly 3 million in every 8 million annual pregnancies are estimated to be unintended. Exploiting the random assignment of child gender, we identify a significant girl penalty specific to children born after an unintended pregnancy. Although girls in Indonesia generally outperform boys on cognitive tests, girls born after an unintended pregnancy show lower numerical and language abilities during adolescence compared to boys born under the same circumstances, a gap not observed among intended children. This penalty is robust to a wide range of household and child characteristics and to checks for selection on unobservables. Potential mechanisms point to lower parental investment in girls relative to boys within the unintended group, reflected in reduced private school enrollment and poorer early childhood health.

Waqf (Islamic endowment) has great potential to improve community welfare, reduce inequality, and contribute to higher national economic growth. However, low public literacy remains a major challenge. Stronger efforts are needed to enhance literacy, intention, and participation in waqf. In this context, technology plays an important role in modern society by shaping various aspects of daily life and decision-making, while also accelerating digital inclusion, which can support the adoption of waqf. This research aims to analyze the impact of the Roblox-based educational game, Giving Legacy, on Indonesian high school students’ knowledge and intention toward waqf. The study uses the theory of planned behavior as its underlying framework. Field experiments were conducted, and before-after questionnaires were collected during the Waqf Goes to School program in eight schools from September 2024 to February 2026. A total of 671 questionnaires were collected, and 520 valid responses were retained for analysis. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS SEM). A control group was included within this sample to further strengthen and validate the results. The study found that the game-based learning (GBL) intervention significantly improved students’ knowledge and intention toward waqf. The Wilcoxon test results confirmed a significant difference between pre- and post-test scores. Post-intervention PLS-SEM analysis showed that all variables, including attitude, were significant predictors of intention. These results highlight the potential of GBL to enhance both cognitive and attitudinal dimensions of waqf learning, supporting its use for engaging youth in Islamic philanthropy.

This article investigates the shifting meanings of three Balinese socialist realist dance pieces created between 1957 and 1962 that portray fishermen, weavers, and farmers. Based on interviews with performers and analysis of scholarship, ethnographic material, and performances, this article reveals remarkable ironies resonating between the dances’ political origins during the Indonesian Communist Party’s rapid growth and how they have been repurposed since the 1970s to support New Order ideologies and capitalist uses like tourism. The additional use of these dances today in supporting environmental sustainability raises questions about their potential to reclaim aspects of activist intent.

Plant invasions are one of the most important drivers of global biodiversity change, posing a major threat to ecosystem health and human well-being. Invasion pressure is not uniformly distributed across biomes and ecosystems. Although tropical forests are often considered resistant towards alien plant invasions, the drivers behind this resistance as well as the actual impact require further clarification in tropical contexts, where dynamics often differ from those in temperate regions. This study investigated the role of tree diversity and vegetation structure in influencing plant invasions across four major land cover types in Sumatra, Indonesia: natural forests, fallow land, rubber, and oil palm plantations. We derived vegetation structure metrics such as canopy height, number of gaps, box dimension, skewness from landscape-scale mobile LiDAR measurements collected across 100 plots and analysed these metrics alongside species diversity data, focusing on both native trees and invasive alien plants. Our results reveal that more diverse tree communities were associated with taller (higher canopy height), more structurally complex (higher box dimension), less open (smaller gap area) vegetation. In contrast, a simplified vegetation structure was more prevalent in monoculture plantations, which correlated with a higher abundance and diversity of alien plants. These results underline the critical role of tree diversity and vegetation structure in shaping the invasibility of tropical ecosystems. Our findings support restoration that maintains multi-layered canopies and limit gap area. These practices should be prioritised to enhance ecosystem resilience and mitigate the impact of biological invasions.

Indonesia’s response to the digital era entails both opportunities and challenges and shows how the state and civil society alike navigate through policies and implementations. Mediatisation is affecting more and more areas of life, and Indonesian netizens negotiate and develop everyday practices based on their socio-cultural background and imaginaries that are part of discourses of cultural modernisation. This paper investigates such processes based on a case study on organic agriculture, which represents long-established practices and bodies of knowledge in Indonesia. Farmers’ embodied practices and embodied knowledge are reimagined and given new meaning in Indonesia’s emerging mediated TechnoEnvironments. This reimagining manifests in circular readjustments of state policies and civil society initiatives; the apparent receptiveness of the Indonesian government, however, bears the risk of disembodying longstanding practical knowledge. Based on a systematic review of online reports and presentations between 2014 and 2024, this paper analyses visions of organic agriculture from both government (policy documents) and social movement actors, and how those imaginaries influence each other. The main objective is to show how discourses and imaginaries of organic agriculture are reimagined and negotiated online, to develop a better understanding of new communication dynamics between state and non-state actors in the digital era.

This study examines the systemic politicization of public policy in Indonesia, rooted in its historical, political, and sociocultural contexts. Adopting a Global South perspective, it challenges Northern-centric frameworks by showing how political elites strategically set agendas to consolidate power, while bureaucrats respond through adaptive strategies prioritizing visibility over substantive service delivery. Analysis of official documents from Indonesia’s Supreme Audit Agency, Corruption Eradication Commission, Ombudsman (2023–2025), and Ministry of Administrative Reform (LAKIP 2022–2024) reveals systematic decoupling: performance metrics indicate progress, yet independent assessments show persistently medium service quality at 74.64 percent. Donor influence fosters isomorphic mimicry, with 43 percent of foreign-funded e-government platforms inactive. The study develops a five-dimensional framework, elite agenda-setting, bureaucratic adaptation, donor-induced isomorphism, symbolic compliance, and digital governance paradox, capturing their self-reinforcing interaction. This framework offers an analytical tool for understanding governance in Indonesia and comparable Global South contexts.

Shark populations face global declines, primarily as a result of overfishing. These declines threaten marine ecosystems and require urgent conservation attention. Despite advances in global regulatory frameworks, catch rates of threatened and CITES-listed sharks remain high. Indonesia, as the world’s largest shark-fishing nation, is a priority country where fisheries management is needed to halt and reverse shark population declines. This study investigates the operational and ecological characteristics of shark fishing in Muncar, East Java, a major shark fishing hub in Indonesia, to derive sustainability indicators and inform management strategies. We utilized daily landings data and spatial analysis to examine the overall state of the fishery, derive simple size-based sustainability indicators, and identify spatial, temporal and operational predictors of catches of threatened species as leverage points for management. Our results highlight that shark catches are dominated by threatened species, including the silky shark Carcharhinus falciformis, scalloped hammerhead Sphyrna lewini, spinner shark Carcharhinus brevipinna, blacktip reef shark Carcharhinus melanopterus and pelagic thresher shark Alopias pelagicus, with large proportions being caught before they reach sexual maturity. By analysing patterns across operations, space and time, we identified high-risk fishing gear, areas and seasons, which can inform targeted and effective management strategies. Our findings underscore the need for better fisheries management to halt population declines and implement CITES regulations in Indonesia. These include restrictions on the size of sharks that can be caught, catch limits or quotas and seasonal closures, integrated with measures to meet local socio-economic needs. We provide actionable insights for balancing conservation priorities with fishery economics, contributing to long-term ecological and community resilience.

Low birth weight (LBW), defined as birth weight below 2,500 grams, continues to be a serious public health concern worldwide, particularly in low and middle-income countries. LBW is linked with a range of adverse health consequences for the infants, both short- and long-term(1, 2). Statistics Indonesia reported that LBW rates increased from 11.32% in 2019 to 12.58% in 2022(3), although the actual burden is unknown due to inconsistent prevalence estimates across numerous independent surveys in the country. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to estimate the prevalence of LBW in Indonesia. Four electronic databases were used to search for the relevant studies (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect) up to August 2024. Findings were reported according to PRISMA guidelines. The meta-analysis used a random-effects model with the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimation method. Heterogeneity was examined using the I2 statistic, with a value ≥ 50% indicating substantial heterogeneity. Twenty-six studies published between 1985 and 2023 were eligible to be included, comprising 119,556 livebirths. Meta-analysis revealed an overall pooled prevalence of LBW of 23% (95% CI: 15, 30%; I2: 99.93%), with the study setting identified as a potential source of high heterogeneity. Thus, separate analyses for population-based and hospital-based studies were performed showing LBW prevalence of 13% (95% CI: 8, 18%) and 32% (95% CI: 20, 44%), respectively. Such a difference suggests that the sampling frame and database significantly affect estimates in Indonesia, considering that those who came to the hospital were expected to be in the high-risk pregnancy group. Moreover, birth weight data were more precisely collected through measurement in a hospital survey, compared to those in a population-based survey. Regions also played an important role as each has different population characteristics and health issues that lead to different prevalence. Our study emphasises that LBW prevalence was higher than the official reported estimate in Indonesia, and that it differed between hospital and population surveys.

Oil palm is a commercially important crop that is cultivated throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Due to favorable climatic conditions, oil palm cultivation is concentrated in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand accounting for approximately 87% of the global palm oil supply. Effective weed management is essential for maintaining oil palm productivity; however, excessive reliance on herbicides has raised concerns over herbicide resistance and environmental sustainability. This review evaluates current weed management strategies in oil palm plantations, including chemical, mechanical, cultural, and biological, with an emphasis on integrated weed management (IWM) strategies suitable for production systems in Southeast Asia. Particular attention is given to the differing weed management constraints faced by industrial plantations and smallholder producers, including variations in labor availability, operational scale, and access to weed management technologies. Current evidence suggests that combining complementary control tactics, such as integrating mechanical and cultural practices with chemical and biological control methods, offers greater long-term sustainability than reliance on herbicides alone. Individual practices, however, face significant limitations, including economic constraints, labor shortages, and inconsistent effectiveness, highlighting the importance of integrated strategies. We conclude that adaptive, multi-tactic IWM programs tailored to local production scales will be critical for sustainable weed management in future oil palm production.

The Timor green pigeon Treron psittaceus, endemic to Timor, Rote, and adjacent satellite islands (eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste), is declining because of severe hunting pressure and forest conversion. During 2002–2025, we conducted > 1,400 field days of surveys throughout the species’ range. Prior to 2000, most records were from Indonesian West Timor. Since 2000, most records (93%) and nearly all individuals (98%) have been observed in Timor-Leste, primarily within Lautem District. The scarcity of recent records throughout much of the species’ range, including Camplong (last record 1991), Bipolo forest (last record 1999), elsewhere in West Timor (last record 2005) and Rote (four records of 1–2 birds during 2004–2013), suggests that only a small, declining population persists. The population in Indonesia is possibly nearly extinct (and probably functionally so), and that in Timor-Leste is predicted to be lower than current estimates suggest. We conservatively estimate the global population to be 100–500 individuals distributed across eight sites, and consider it plausible that the population size lies towards the lower end of this estimate. A population of > 50 birds is likely restricted to a single site, Nino Konis Santana National Park, underscoring the species’ precarious status. We advocate for a reassessment as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Effective action plans are required in both Indonesia and Timor-Leste. In Lautem, community-based conservation efforts will be crucial to reduce hunting pressure. Further surveys should focus on Mount Timau (West Timor), and Lautem, Manatuto and Manufahi Districts (Timor-Leste).

Mental health promotion in schools has gained greater salience in high-income countries, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, less is known about its conceptualisation and implementation in less developed countries such as Indonesia. This research aimed to describe what school communities in Surabaya, Indonesia, understand about their role and actions in promoting mental health. This exploratory study employed Focus Group Discussions with diverse members of junior high school communities, including students. Using the Health Policy Triangle as the theoretical framework, transcripts were thematically analysed using a deductive approach. Forty-six participants took part, from national to municipality levels. Three themes were found. First, participants considered that socialisation difficulties contributed to poor student mental health and engagement in learning. Second, while schools reported familiarity with a range of actions, from promotion to preventive and curative interventions, their primary focus was around ensuring access to services for students with mental health problems. Third, contextual barriers and enablers were identified impacting schools’ mental healthpromoting actions. The inter-related aspects of context, content, process, and actors were found to shape implementation. These findings highlight the multi-component expertise and resources of school communities, which, if better embraced, could enhance their capabilities to promote mental health in schools.