The Natural Resource Curse: A Geographical Perspective

M. Taufik Rahmadi

, Darwin Parlaungan Lubis

, M. Ridha Syafii Damanik ,

Tria Maulia, Novida Yenni, Dwi Wahyuni Nurwihastuti, Sendi Permana and Sugiharto

Department of Geography Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universitas Negeri Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: Natural Resources, Resource Curse, Geography.

Abstract: The abundance of natural resources, especially oil and gas, in Indonesia raises concerns about its potential

impact on economic growth. The study aims to explore the Natural Resource Curse (NRC) theory, often

referred to as the "curse of natural resources," in the context of Indonesia from a geographical perspective.

This qualitative study adopts a literature review approach, employing descriptive analysis to examine various

sources that provide theoretical insights into the NRC. The findings suggest that the theory holds true in

several regions of Indonesia, such as Aceh, East Kalimantan, and Papua, where abundant natural resources

have not always led to sustainable economic growth. The research highlights the relevance of the principles

of geography—distribution, integration, description, and horology—in understanding the spatial dynamics of

the resource curse.

1 INTRODUCTION

Indonesia is one of the richest countries in the world

due to its vast natural resource base, which includes

both renewable and non-renewable resources

(Farhani & Chandranegara, 2019). Natural resources

are materials or energy that come from the physical

environment and can be used to meet human needs

(Dharmawibawa, 2019). (Yuliana et al., 2021) In his

research, he said that natural resources are

environmental components that include biological

and non-biological resources that work together to

produce an ecosystem. Natural resources, especially

oil and gas, are an advantage for the region that owns

them and are one of the sources of income for the

region. Related to the wealth of natural resources,

Indonesia is one of the countries that has relatively

large natural resources, especially oil and gas. Oil and

gas have become one of the main sources of state

revenue. The existence of relatively large oil has

financed a lot of physical development, especially

during the new order era when Indonesia once

experienced a period of glory for oil and gas

(Rahmayanti et al., 2021). Natural resources can also

overcome major development challenges. Natural

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resources and economic growth show a positive

correlation which means that more natural resources

can increase economic prosperity. But in fact,

countries with abundant natural resources show signs

of slowing economic growth compared to countries

with relatively low natural resources (Haryanto,

2018).

Indonesia's territory is rich in natural resources,

some of which have not been utilized optimally. In its

management system, the Indonesian state in general

is still lagging as a result of various policies that are

still centered on development on the island of Java

(Pravitasari et al., 2021) (Soebagyo et al., 2019). In

Indonesia, regional autonomy is currently being

implemented which gives the authority to regions to

manage and utilize existing natural resources to

accelerate development. As a result, no region is left

behind in development because the budget can be

obtained and used according to regional needs. This

situation is very different from the previous period,

when during the new order of President Soeharto,

natural resources were centrally managed and fully

controlled by the central government, and the

producing areas did not receive an equal distribution.

As a result, natural resource-producing areas only get

Rahmadi, M. T., Lubis, D. P., Damanik, M. R. S., Maulia, T., Yenni, N., Nurwihastuti, D. W., Permana, S. and Sugiharto,

The Natural Resource Curse: A Geographical Perspective.

DOI: 10.5220/0013417200004654

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Humanities Education, Law, and Social Science (ICHELS 2024), pages 279-287

ISBN: 978-989-758-752-8

279

a small part of the benefits obtained by the state from

the natural resources they have. Normative data

shows that Indonesia has a very large forest cover,

which is 95.6 million ha. Indonesia's forest area is the

eighth largest in the world. However, empirical data

shows that the forestry sector has not been optimized

for the potential economic value of its environmental

services as a carbon emission sink (Novalia, 2020).

Until the early 1980s, most of the world's

economists still strongly believed that the abundance

of natural resources (SDA) in a country could be a

source of economic growth and increase state

revenues to finance the development of other sectors.

A pessimistic view of natural resources began to

develop in the 1980s when a paradox occurred that

showed that the discovery of natural gas in the

Netherlands caused the manufacturing industry there

to decline. This phenomenon is known as Dutch

Disease. The term was later developed (Gelb, 1988)

which analyzed the economic influence of petroleum

rents. Based on Gelb's findings, research on the

Natural Resource Curse (NRC) or the "curse" of

natural resources began. The "resource curse" is an

economic phenomenon characterized by the fact that

countries with abandoned natural resources have

much more developed economies than countries with

few or no resources.

Countries rich in gold, coal, oil, and gas, among

others, do not reap the economic benefits of abundant

natural resources and struggle to build political

stability. Conflicts and civil wars broke out in African

countries such as the Central African Republic, South

Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

due to the existence of natural resources such as gold,

oil, uranium, and diamonds. If a country's abundant

natural resources are not accompanied by the ability

of its human resources, the country will become poor

due to economic slowdown compared to countries

that are poor in natural resources but have good

resources (Mohd Zain et al., 2021). Poverty in

countries with natural resources is caused by high

dependence on commodity prices, currency exchange

rate instability, lack of innovation in the process of

extracting natural resources, and declining

competitiveness of other sectors due to excessive

dependence on natural resources (Badeeb, 2017).

Countries or regions with abundant natural

resources should experience greater economic growth

compared to countries or regions with limited natural

resources. However, several studies show that

countries with abundant natural resources, such as oil,

natural gas, and other mining products, appear to have

lower levels of economic development than countries

with fewer natural resources (Marques & Pires,

2019). If a country's abundant natural resources are

not accompanied by skilled human resources, the

country will become poor due to economic

slowdown, in contrast to a country that is poor in

natural resources but rich in human resources. In

addition, although the existence of natural resources

provides a high per capita income for the country, its

distribution is uneven, creating a significant gap

between rich and poor people. The phenomenon of

poverty that still occurs even though an area has a

wealth of natural resources is called by social

researchers the "curse of natural resources" (Boos &

Holm-Müller, 2013; Shobande & Enemona, 2021).

The curse of natural resources by definition

describes a situation where a country or region has

abundant natural resources, especially the mining

industry, but is not followed by developments in other

sectors, such as the social welfare of its people. This

is a paradoxical phenomenon because countries with

abundant natural resources have lower levels of social

welfare and economic growth than other countries.

Mismanagement of natural resource revenues, which

has other sectoral impacts such as poverty, is one of

the main causes of this paradox. Natural resources are

no longer considered as a gift but as an obstacle to the

creation of development and community welfare.

Developed countries are almost all poor in natural

resources. They tend to rely on the superiority of their

human resources to produce a creative economy,

supported by high-tech products, and based on the

service and trade sectors. This is by the concept of

low-carbon development that is echoed by the world

today. Low-carbon development, which is a world

trend today, is the basic framework for a green

economy.

According to Adam Smith's classical theory,

natural resources are one of the acceleration and

inhibition of the production system. This shows that

the growth of an economy is influenced by its natural

resources (Wahyudi & Palupi, 2023). The abundance

of natural resources can have negative impacts such

as environmental damage, poverty, conflict, and

others. In the paradox book of the abundance of

natural resources (Zuada, 2021) A study by Arrelano

in Peru, found that mining triggers local conflicts

involving local people and companies through social

movements. This also happens in Africa, where the

abundance of natural resources has negative

consequences with the emergence of corruption, poor

governance, and hindering the institutional quality of

democracy at the local level. Still happening in

Africa, Patey's study found that the existence of oil

mines has exacerbated the two-state conflict between

Sudan and South Sudan. This is also in line with the

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280

research conducted (Gnangnon, 2021) which found

that developing countries that have abundant natural

resources tend to experience economic slowdowns. In

the end, the country's natural resources are only a

curse and not a profit. A country's natural resources

can be considered a burden if its institutions need

better quality. The prevalence of poverty in

developing countries with abundant natural resources

shows that poverty is difficult to eradicate, and

although poverty alleviation programs have been

implemented, the results are far from hopeful.

Natural resource studies have also been conducted

in Indonesia and produced varied findings. (Rosser,

2007) Conducted an empirical study examining the

relationship between the oil and gas sector and

economic growth in Indonesia between 1970 and

1980. He found that Indonesia can anticipate the curse

of natural resources. In addition (Rahma et al., 2021)

stated that curses in Indonesia do exist in a province.

So far, the Petroleum and Gas Fund is one of the

schemes implemented by several countries to get out

of the phenomenon of the Natural Resource Curse.

The phenomenon of natural resource curse occurs

when countries that have abundant natural resource

wealth that should have fast growth, low poverty

rates, and high levels of welfare tend to have lower

economic growth, higher poverty rates, and low

welfare. For example, 30 sub-Saharan African

countries export mining minerals experiencing

relatively slow economic growth. Indonesia is one of

the developing countries that has huge natural

resource reserves. The increase in Indonesia's oil and

gas reserves throughout 2017 reached 55.33%, or

92.2% of the target of 60% (ESDM, 2018).

As an irony, most developing countries as

exporters of natural resources tend to have a low

quality of life. To add to the paradox, governments

rich in natural resources tend to perform worse in

political development than others. This phenomenon

is also known as the "paradox of plenty" and is cited

in many research literature as a curse of natural

resources. The measure of the degree of NRC

(natural resource curse) for Indonesia is important

when we want to ensure the answer to the question of

whether NRC occurs in Indonesia, especially in areas

with abundant natural resources. Indonesia is known

as a country with abundant natural resources,

especially the mining sub-sector which includes oil

and gas, various minerals, and coal. Indonesia is even

the number one producer in the world for gold and tin

and number three for nickel, copper, and coal.

The purpose of this study is to find out how the

theory of Natural Resource Curse better known as the

"curse of natural resources" in Indonesia is viewed

from the perspective of geography. As is known,

geography is a science that studies the distribution

and interaction of humans with their physical

environment. The science of geography involves

understanding various aspects of geography, such as

location, space, place, and the relationship between

humans and their environment. Geography also

includes the study of physical phenomena such as

climate, soil, and topography, as well as human

aspects such as culture, economy, politics, and

society (Kurniasi et al., 2022). In this case, geography

will reveal its views on how the truth is related to the

theory of the "curse of natural resources" in

Indonesia.

2 METHOD

This research is a qualitative mini-research with a

literature study approach. This research is a type of

library research. The analysis method used in this

study is descriptive analysis through various literature

studies in strengthening the analysis supported by

various sources that have theoretical depth from

experts on the study of natural resource curse theory.

A literature study is a series of activities related to the

method of collecting library data, reading and

recording, and processing research materials (Zed,

2014). Literature study is also a data collection

technique used in research by collecting data and

research sources through books, journals, magazines,

newspapers, and others.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The meaning behind the "natural resource curse" is

that countries with abundant natural resources, such

as oil and gas, actually have worse conditions than

countries with fewer natural resources in terms of

economics and governance development (Gunduz &

Kustupeli, 2020). (Nabila, 2021) the results of her

research said that the curse of Natural Resources does

not apply in Indonesia, based on the findings of this

study which shows that natural resources have a

beneficial impact on exports in the country. This is

also in line with research conducted (Wahyudi &

Palupi, 2023) that there is no curse on natural

resources in Indonesia. This means that the natural

resources in Indonesia can improve the country's

economy.

In Kalimantan, especially East Kalimantan,

research (Zaini, 2018) revealed a phenomenon that

The Natural Resource Curse: A Geographical Perspective

281

occurs due to coal exploitation. The results show that

the greater the contribution of the coal mining sector

to the economy, the worse the income inequality of

the community. Although coal contributes

economically, its benefits are not distributed fairly to

all levels of society. Local governments have not been

able to optimize spending in strategic sectors such as

education, health, and infrastructure to reduce

economic disparities. Government spending, which is

supposed to be an instrument of equitable welfare

distribution, has not had a significant impact in

reducing income inequality in the region.

The same thing also happens in various regions of

Indonesia, many poor people in mining-rich areas, the

high gap between rich and poor, and the emergence

of conflicts in the areas around mining can be an

example that not all areas that have mineral wealth

and forests can prosper their communities. The latest

example is Papua, an area with a high gap and the

largest gold industry in the world. The poor

population in the two Papua provinces is the highest

in Indonesia, reaching 28.4% or 914.9 thousand

people (BPS, 2017).

In the Sumatra region, the results of the study

(Amalia & Emalia, 2022) show that in general, the

abundance of natural resources measured through

mining and oil and gas profit-sharing funds has a

positive but not significant effect on economic

growth. This means that the phenomenon of natural

resource curses does not directly occur in the

provinces on the island of Sumatra. However, an in-

depth analysis using the RRCI (Regional Resource

Curse Index) reveals a more complex pattern.

Provinces with more abundant mining natural

resources tend to face a higher risk of natural resource

curses. Like Jambi Province, with the highest RRCI

score of 1.26. Although there is no significant natural

resource curse, there are indications of potential risks

for provinces with abundant natural resources,

especially Jambi Province.

This research reveals the adverse impact of

natural resource exploitation in South Sulawesi which

is very detrimental to the community. Environmental

disasters have resulted in losses of up to Rp 8.03

trillion, with the worst incidents in Luwu and

Bantaeng districts which killed 38 people and

displaced more than 13,000 residents. Damage not

only to human lives but also to thousands of hectares

of agricultural land that is the source of livelihood for

the community. The findings of the study prove that

the wealth of natural resources does not always bring

prosperity, but can cause suffering. Sulawesi,

especially South Sulawesi, shows that the wealth of

natural resources does not always bring prosperity,

but can also cause suffering. This is because the

environmental disaster that occurred resulted in

losses of up to Rp 8.03 trillion, with the worst

incidents in Luwu and Bantaeng Regencies which

killed 38 people and displaced more than 13,000

residents. Damage not only to human lives but also to

thousands of hectares of agricultural land that is the

source of livelihood for the community (Matalatta et

al., 2021).

The results of some of the findings above indicate

that the curse of natural resources in Indonesia has

complex characteristics that cannot be generalized.

Factors such as governance, decentralization policies,

local economic structures, and socio-cultural

dynamics of the community have a key role in

determining whether the wealth of resources is a

blessing or a curse.

In this study, geography will take a role to provide

its perspective on how the science of the "natural

resource curse" in Indonesia. Based on the results of

the seminar of the Indonesian Geographers

Association in 1988 in Semarang, it was agreed that

geography is a science that studies the similarities and

differences of geosphere phenomena from a regional

or environmental perspective in a spatial context,

which in essence geography emphasizes more on a

unique way to study the earth with various auxiliary

sciences in the perspective of geography eye

(geography point of view) (Aksa, 2019). To study

and analyze the phenomena that occur, several

geographical principles are needed as the foundation,

namely the principle of distribution, the principle of

integration, the principle of description, and also the

principle of coprology. This is the strength of

geography that other sciences do not have.

3.1 Principle of Distribution

The country of Indonesia has a variety of natural

resources spread across various regions. The

distribution of natural resources makes a great

contribution to the country's economy. According to

Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 32 of 2009,

natural resources are elements of the environment

consisting of biological resources and non-biological

resources that unitively form the unity of the

ecosystem. Natural resources can also be interpreted

as natural resources that are used for human welfare

in various forms and types. Based on the nature of

sustainability, natural resources can be divided into

two, namely renewable natural resources and non-

renewable natural resources. Renewable natural

resources are natural resources that will not be

exhausted if they are continuously used because they

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can still be tried to exist or be available. Renewable

natural resources have regenerative (restorative)

power. Examples of this type of natural resource are

solar, wind, water, forests, and biodiversity.

Renewable natural resources also include biotic

natural resources such as plants and animals.

Meanwhile, non-renewable natural resources are

natural resources that will be used up because they

cannot be made new. Examples: mineral materials,

coal, natural gas, and other natural resources.

Indonesia is the country with the second highest

biodiversity wealth in the world whose natural

resources are spread from the tip of Sumatra Island to

Papua. (Suryana & Antara, 2021).

One of the countries that has the largest maritime

area and archipelago in the world is Indonesia which

consists of 17,504 large and small islands with a

water area of 5.8 million km2 or about 63% equal to

three-quarters of the entire territory of Indonesia.

Indonesia has a coastline that is the second longest

coastline in the world after Canada (Abidin As,

2019). As an archipelagic country, Indonesia is rich

in natural resources. Even so, the blessing of natural

resources owned by Indonesia has not been able to

lead Indonesia to become a developed country.

Indonesia is one of the countries in the Asian region

with the category of lower-middle-income countries

in other words, Indonesia is a developing country.

The availability of natural resources in Indonesia,

especially oil and gas, is due to the Indonesian

territory located at the meeting point between the

Australian continent, the Pacific Ocean, and the

Southeast Asian tectonic plate. Almost all petroleum

discoveries in Indonesia occur thanks to tertiary

deposits (the third layer) or at the base of tertiary

volcanic rocks and lava. Around 75% of oil and gas

exploration and production is carried out in the

western part of Indonesia. The four petroleum-

producing regions are Sumatra, the Java Sea, East

Kalimantan, and the Natuna Islands. Meanwhile, the

four main natural gas-producing regions consist of

East Kalimantan, Arun in North Sumatra, South

Sumatra, and the Natuna Islands.

Broadly speaking, this distribution principle is

used to describe geosphere phenomena and facts and

their relationships. Its function is to study the

phenomena and geographical phenomena scattered

on the earth's surface to reveal the relationship

between phenomena as a whole. In answering the

phenomenon of the "curse of natural resources" in

Indonesia, the principle of distribution supported by

various theoretical studies says that each region in

Indonesia has a different diversity of natural

resources. (Rahma et al., 2021) Said that provinces

with richer mining natural resources tend to face a

higher resource curse phenomenon when compared

to provinces with fewer extractive resources.

Although several studies say that the NRC

phenomenon in Indonesia does not appear on a

national scale, the results of this study prove that the

phenomenon occurs at the regional (provincial) level.

However, this is inversely proportional to the results

of research (Fahriza & Hartono, 2018) which said that

provinces that have a dependence on oil and gas

commodities, reflected in the contribution of oil and

gas to GDP, experience relatively faster GDP growth

per capita without oil and gas compared to provinces

that do not have oil and gas. Based on the findings

above, it can be concluded that in the case of

Indonesia, there is no resource curse phenomenon

between oil and gas natural resources and other

sectors outside of oil and gas. This study proves that

oil and gas natural resources have become a boon for

the provinces that have them because they have

succeeded in encouraging sectors outside of oil and

gas to grow faster than other provinces.

Based on the results of the analysis of the

principle of distribution of natural resources in each

region in Indonesia, the phenomenon of the "natural

resource curse" can essentially occur in every region,

this depends on how the natural resources are

managed, whether the natural resources can be

optimized as the main sector in economic

development which of course is accompanied by

maximum management or not. Each geographical

principle, such as location, affordability, and diversity

of resources, plays a key role in determining the

management strategy and potential for regional

economic development. Thus, successfully

overcoming the "curse of natural resources" requires

an approach that takes into account the geographical

uniqueness and specific characteristics of each

region.

3.2 Principle of Interrelation

The principle of interrelation is a principle used to

study the interrelated relationship between one

phenomenon and another geographical phenomenon

in space. This interrelated relationship can occur

between physical phenomena and social phenomena.

In essence, this principle can be used to unravel the

relationship between symptoms in a space that affects

each other. The purpose of this principle also serves

to describe the relationship in the room between one

symptom and another. In the case of the phenomenon

of the "curse of natural resources", this principle helps

us understand that the abundance of natural resources

The Natural Resource Curse: A Geographical Perspective

283

does not automatically make a region prosperous.

Many things need to be considered so that natural

resources can bring benefits. Through the principle of

integration, it can be identified that the relationship

between natural resources and economic

development is multidimensional. The success of

resource management depends not only on the

quantity of resources, but also on the quality of

interaction between economic, social, and

environmental systems. This must also be

accompanied by an increase in HDI (Human

Development Index) to be able to collaborate in

optimizing available natural resources. This is in line

with the results of research (Amalia & Emalia, 2022)

that the Natural Resource Curse (NRC) phenomenon

did not occur at the provincial level on the island of

Sumatra in the 2014-2019 period. However,

provinces with richer mining natural resources tend to

face a higher risk of the Natural Resource Curse

phenomenon, this is due to the development

imbalance between natural resource management and

human resource development.

3.3 Principle of Description

This principle of description essentially provides a

more in-depth explanation of the specific

characteristics of geographical phenomena.

Geography adheres to this principle aimed at

describing geospherical phenomena that require

descriptions either through writing, tables, drawings,

or graphs. According to the Central Statistics Agency

(2021), Indonesia faces a paradoxical complexity in

the management of its natural resources. Despite

being rich in natural potential, the country recorded

22.77 million people, or 10.64% of its population

living in poverty. This inequality is evident in

resource-rich provinces. In East Kalimantan, for

example, the non-oil and gas mining sector dominates

the economy but does not have a significant impact

on people's welfare. BPS data from East Kalimantan

Province (2022) shows a worrying condition: 46.32%

of people do not work, while 23.38% work in the

agricultural sector and 30.30% in the livestock sector.

This phenomenon is caused by the export of raw coal

commodities that do not require much local labor.

In other provinces, for example, the Papua region

still has a high poverty rate. In terms of expenditure,

BPS Papua Province (2022) reported poverty rates of

27.62% (2017), 27.74% (2018), and 27.53% (2019).

The center of poverty in Papua is in the mountainous

areas that are difficult to access, namely Deyiai and

Intan Jaya Regencies. This is due to several factors

such as the low human resource development index,

the increasing unemployment rate because the

number of job seekers is not proportional to the

number of available jobs, the management of natural

resources that are not well utilized by the indigenous

Papuan people and the people there do not have a

central position in the fields of education, health,

economy, society, etc. and culture (Ginting et al.,

2020) (Hardinandar, 2019). Furthermore, the poverty

that occurs in Aceh can be seen from the data of the

Aceh Province BPS (2022), namely the number of

poor people in the province is 872,610 people or

16.89% of the total population of Aceh, and has

increased by around 31 thousand people compared to

the previous year, which was 841 thousand people

(16.43%). In this case, Aceh is the poorest province

on the island of Sumatra, even though Aceh Province

is the province with the highest APBD and additional

special autonomy funds of 88.43 trillion rupiah since

it was budgeted in 2008 to 2021. Aceh Province is

still included in the category of poor provinces

(Safwadi, 2020).

In terms of its usefulness, this principle is used to

further explain the observable symptoms on Earth.

The function of the descriptive principle is used to

provide further explanations of the observable

phenomena that occur on Earth. From the results of

the data presented earlier, the phenomenon of the

"natural resource curse" does occur in several regions

in Indonesia that have abundant natural resource

availability. This is not without reason, but several

factors result in why these areas have not been able to

make optimal use of available natural resources. This

is in line with research conducted by (Hajad et al.,

2023) that areas rich in natural resources do not

guarantee increased economic growth or poverty

reduction in the region. In addition, the abundance of

natural resources does not necessarily guarantee

economic growth or poverty reduction. The

phenomenon of the "curse of natural resources" in

Indonesia is more than just bad luck, but is the result

of poor management, lack of accountability, and lack

of efforts to transform resources into sustainable

economic added value. The principle of description in

geography allows us not only to record facts, but to

understand the complexity of the relationship

between natural resources, economic development,

and people's well-being. He revealed that

development requires more than just an inventory of

resources, but also a smart, inclusive, and sustainable

strategy.

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3.4 Principles of Chorology

This principle is the most comprehensive because it

is a combination of the three previous principles.

Each phenomenon or phenomenon of geography is

studied by combining the principles of distribution,

installation, and description. The principle of

coprology can show symptoms, phenomena, and facts

between regions. The function of this chorology

principle is to study the symptoms, facts, and

problems that exist in a place from the perspective of

their distribution, interrelationships, interactions, and

integration in a certain space. Referring to the theory

of the "curse of natural resources" in Indonesia, based

on the results of research (Ridena et al., 2021) says

that Indonesia has the potential to experience a curse

of natural resources. However, the curse of natural

resources does not completely occur in all regions of

Indonesia, because some areas that have a large fiscal

capacity from oil and gas, also have the best HDI

quality. However, it is still necessary to consider

immediately looking for alternative sources of

economic growth from the non-oil and gas sector.

(Haryanto, 2018).

Natural resources can be a blessing that can

contribute to improving people's welfare. However,

the abundance of natural resources can also be a curse

for the economic development of a region. The results

of the research conducted by (Isiksal, 2023), the

results show an inverted U-shaped relationship

between financial growth and natural resource rent.

This implies that natural resources were originally a

"blessing of resources" which later became the "curse

of natural resources". Based on the analysis using the

principle of coprology, it can be concluded that the

phenomenon of the "natural resource curse" is

complex and not uniform. Some regions have shown

success in managing natural resources, while others

still face challenges. The imbalance between

management and human development makes the

natural resource management system not optimal.

Therefore, a comprehensive and different approach is

needed according to the context of each region.

To avoid the dependence of the Indonesian state

on natural resources and reduce the risk of the "curse

of natural resources", several strategic steps can be

taken. According to (Romare & Dahllöf, 2017) the

development of renewable energy technologies

energy efficiency is a key strategy in reducing

economic dependence on depleted natural resources.

Technologies such as solar and wind power plants can

help resource-rich countries to diversify their

economies. Especially in Indonesia, the

implementation of renewable energy technology can

be a strategic solution to reduce the risk of natural

resource curses, with the potential to reduce

dependence on traditional extractive sectors.

Furthermore, research (Pratama Kusumah et al.,

2024) shows that digital technology innovations such

as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) can

increase transparency and efficiency in natural

resource management. This technology enables better

supply chain tracking, and resource extraction

optimization, and supports sustainable development

practices that can help Indonesia get out of the

potential natural resource curse through smarter and

more sustainable management.

Research on Natural Resource Curse Theory from

a geographical perspective requires further

development through a multidisciplinary approach.

Based on studies (Ross, 2000), the complexity of the

curse of natural resources cannot be solved through

just one single approach. Therefore, future research

needs to focus on several things such as the

transformative role of education and the potential for

renewable energy investment. Education can be an

important instrument in breaking the chain of natural

resource curses. According to research (Glyfason,

2001), countries that allocate higher investment in

education tend to have better economic resilience

than regions that rely solely on natural resource

extraction.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The economy of the future can no longer depend on

abundant natural resources, moreover, the fact that

countries with abundant natural resources are not the

richest countries or vice versa. The results of the

research carried out on how the NRC (Natural

Resource Curse) theory better known as the "natural

resource curse" in Indonesia through a geographical

perspective using principles in geography aims to

help in analyzing and understanding what is

happening. The results of the study show that from

the four principles of geography, namely the principle

of distribution, the principle of integration, the

principle of description, and the principle of

horology, it is known that the theory of the "curse of

natural resources" in Indonesia does occur in several

regions that have abundant availability of natural

resources, the study shows that such as Aceh

Province, East Kalimantan Province and also Papua.

This theory occurs not only without cause but several

factors affect it. For example, a resource management

system that is not optimal, a low Human

Development Index (HDI), and the availability of

The Natural Resource Curse: A Geographical Perspective

285

technology that is not qualified so that it does not

support the optimal management of natural resources

as the main sector in the economic development of a

region. However, if natural resource management is

carried out properly, it will certainly be able to make

a positive contribution to economic growth in the

region.

The study recommends the Indonesian

government address the "natural resource curse"

through an approach that integrates sustainable

management models, economic diversification based

on technological innovation, and the development of

its human resource capacity. Referring to the research

(Kirchherr et al., 2017), the suggested strategy

includes the adoption of the circular economy concept

that has been successfully implemented in

Scandinavian countries, in this case, it is carried out

by increasing added value through technology that

supports the existing natural resource management

system. In addition, collaboration between the

government, the private sector, and the community is

needed in implementing the strategy which includes

competency-based training and the creation of

incentives for innovation in the natural resources

sector. The main goal is to transform natural resource

management from just extractive to sustainable and

provide maximum benefits for economic

development and the welfare of the Indonesian

people.

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