Ria Tri Vinata*
Masitha Tismananda Kumala**
Designing Equitable Benefit-Sharing Strategies for Marine Biodiversity in Climate-Vulnerable Transboundary Zones: A Case Study of Indonesia’s Outermost Islands
Suggested citation:
Vinata, R. T., & Kumala, M. T. (2026). Designing Equitable Benefit-Sharing Strategies for Marine Biodiversity in Climate-Vulnerable Transboundary Zones: A Case Study of Indonesia’s Outermost Islands. Lex Portus, 12(2), 7–27. https://doi.org/10.62821/lp12201
Published online: 29.05.2026
*Law Faculty, Wijaya Kusuma Surabaya University (Surabaya, Indonesia)
**Law Faculty, Wijaya Kusuma Surabaya University (Surabaya, Indonesia)
ABSTRACT
Sea level rise and coastal abrasion increase the vulnerability of Indonesia’s outermost small islands and have the potential to disrupt the stability of archipelagic baselines, thereby increasing legal uncertainty in cross-border maritime zones and weakening marine biodiversity governance. This research develops an integrative framework for designing equitable benefit-sharing strategies in climate-sensitive maritime areas at risk of overlapping or prone to dispute. The research method combines doctrinal legal analysis and GIS-based spatial analysis in a comparative case study of six vulnerable islands: Berhala, Nipa, Sekatung, Marore, Fanildo, and Sebatik. The doctrinal analysis confirms the distinction between the legal basis, objectives, and beneficiaries of (i) ABS in the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol, (ii) benefit-sharing in the BBNJ Agreement for areas outside national jurisdiction, and (iii) the temporary arrangement of JDA types according to UNCLOS Article 74 paragraph (3) and Article 83 paragraph (3) in areas that have not been delimited. GIS analysis is used to show the context of geographic vulnerability and governance risks without forming new binding delimitations. Resource-Based Theory is applied in a limited way as an analytical framework to profile the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services to select the most appropriate cooperation instruments. At the same time, equity is interpreted substantively and procedurally as a normative standard. The findings show that benefit-sharing design needs to be contextual, including payment for ecosystem services (Nipa), shared biodiversity research (Sekatung), transboundary conservation areas (Marore), regulation of access and sharing of marine genetic data (Fanildo), community-based fisheries governance (Sebatik), and JDA-inspired joint arrangements as cooperative institutional designs (Berhala).
Keywords: equitable benefit-sharing, marine biodiversity, transboundary maritime areas, outermost small islands, sea level rise, Indonesia.
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