Estimation of Carbon Stock Due to Land Cover Change in Small Islands: A Case of Gili Matra Islands, Indonesia’s Marine Tourism Park

Abstract

As a small island cluster, Gili Matra (Meno, Trawangan, and Air) is the main tourist attraction in West Nusa Tenggara. The trend of population growth in Gili Matra, as well as the trend of tourist visits, continues to increase. It needs to be more balanced between the demand for living space and developing tourism-supporting facilities. As a result, land cover changes are unavoidable, significantly reducing the non-built-up areas. Land cover changes have an impact on ecosystem and climate control functions. The signs of climate change in small islands, such as extreme weather, sea level rise, and coastal abrasion, are starting to be felt. The purpose of this study is to calculate the conversion of carbon stocks based on land cover changes in Gili Matra from 2013 to 2022. The analytical method used to land cover change and analyse carbon stocks. The research showed that the built-up areas increased from 126.84 hectares to 223.55 hectares from 2013 to 2022. Meanwhile, non-built-up areas such as sand beaches, plantations, bare areas, shrubs, and mangrove areas decreased from 576.56 to 479.84 hectares. In addition, mangroves, plantations, and shrubs, three examples of land cover with the highest carbon conversion, have decreased by 28.67%, 11.25%, and 6.36%, respectively. The total carbon stock on Gili Matra in the 2013–2022 period has decreased by 1,802.08 tons C. It indicates increased carbon emissions due to land cover changes in Gili Matra caused by increased demands on space for settlements and tourism support facilities.