International Journal of Oil Palm
Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025)

Sea Level Rise Impacts on Coastal Oil Palm Plantations

Panggabean, Jogi (Unknown)
Kurnia, Julian (Unknown)
Shaumul, Teuku (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
16 Oct 2025

Abstract

Indonesia's coastal oil palm plantations face unprecedented threats from accelerating sea level rise, with regional rates of 4–5 mm year?¹ significantly exceeding global averages. This study presents the first comprehensive satellite-based assessment of sea level rise impacts on coastal oil palm vulnerability, focusing on Dumai City, Riau Province. We utilized five primary datasets spanning from 2020–2024: Landsat 8/9 and Sentinel-2 imagery for plantation mapping, SRTM DEM for topographic analysis, satellite altimetry for sea level measurements, and ground truth data for validation. Cross-wavelet analysis revealed an exceptionally strong negative correlation (r = -0.857) between sea level anomalies and coastal land cover changes, with a 30-day lag period indicating plantation ecosystem response time. NDVI trend analysis showed significant vegetation decline (-0.072 NDVI/year) over the study period, with plantation health deteriorating from optimal conditions in 2020 (mean NDVI: 0.608) to critical levels by 2024 (mean NDVI: 0.335). Land cover change detection revealed extensive palm oil expansion (+4,848 ha, +26.3%) occurring through conversion of natural forest (-3,114 ha, -22.8%) and mangrove ecosystems (-1,300 ha, -19.5%). Results reveal that 78% of coastal oil palm plantations are located within 5 km of shoreline on low-lying areas with elevations below 3 meters above sea level. The vulnerability assessment identified 2,847 hectares (64% of total coastal plantations) as highly vulnerable to inundation and saltwater intrusion, representing USD 12.3 million in annual production value at risk.

Copyrights © 2025






Journal Info

Abbrev

ijop

Publisher

Subject

Agriculture, Biological Sciences & Forestry Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Environmental Science

Description

International Journal of Oil Palm (IJOP) is an online and print mode, a peer-reviewed research journal published by Indonesian Oil Palm Society (Masyarakat PerkelapaSawitan Indonesia, MAKSI), it provides a global publication platform for researcher, scholars, academicians, professionals and students ...