Analysis of Land Availability and Needs with Potential Agricultural Land-Development Within Santan Watershed and Marangkayu, East Kalimantan Akhmad Sopian 1 Sigit Hardwinarto 2 Muhammad Sumaryono 3 Marlon Ivanhoe Aipassa 2* 1 Agrotechnology Study Program of Widya Gama Mahakam University Jl.K.H Wahid Hasyim, Sempaja Samarinda 75124 2 Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation, Faculty of Forestry, Mulawarman University Campus of Gn. Kelua Jl. Penajam Samarinda 75119, East Kalimantan, Indonesia 3 Laboratory of Forest Planning, Faculty of Forestry, Mulawarman University Campus of Gn. Kelua Jl. Penajam Samarinda 75119, East Kalimantan, Indonesia * Corresponding author. Email: marlon.ivanhoe@gmail.com ABSTRACT The development of population at the Santan watershed area over the years tends to increase, increasing the food and settlement needs. Therefore, there is a need to balance the needs and availability of land. The study aims to determine the potential of agricultural land by assessing land availability based on soil types and patterns of regional space. The descriptive quantitative method based on LH Ministerial Regulation No. 17 of 2009 is used as the study method. Land obtained that the study area has diverse availability and land requirements where only Muara Kaman sub-district has a surplus status. In contrast, Sangata Selatan, Teluk Pandan, Bontang Selatan and Marangkayu sub-districts have deficit status. Types of land in potential research areas for the development of food crops and horticulture commodities. Potential areas for developing the agricultural area, namely the Marangkayu sub-district, are in cultivation areas, while Bontang Selatan, Muara Kaman, South Sanggata, and Teluk Pandan are in non-cultivation areas. The plantation area pattern and settlement pattern was not following the carrying capacity, which was on the slope of> 40%, while the protected forest area was on the slope of <26%. Making the spatial pattern should be adjusted to the carrying capacity of the environment. Keywords: Availability, Potential Agricultural Land, Watershed 1. INTRODUCTION In human activities and daily life, the land is part of the environment as a natural resource that has a significant role in humans' various interests. The land used, among others, for settlement, agriculture, livestock, mining, roads and buildings, social, economic facilities and so on. Increasing population causes the area of cultivated land to be smaller, which causes the increasing population pressure on the land. Then in shifting cultivation, the increase in population density also increases population pressure on land because of the increased need for food due to the shortening of the land leftovers period [1]. There is pressure on land at the Santan watershed area due to the increasing population and the operating several coal mining companies in three sub-districts: Teluk Pandan, Marangkayu and Bontang Selatan. Land usage is a structure and pattern planned and unplanned, including inventory, designation and maintenance. The principle of land stewardship is based on all interests in an integrated, efficient and successful manner, harmonious, harmonious, balanced and sustainable. The main problem in regulating land usage is the need for land to continue to increase. In contrast, cultivated land is very limited in availability—the demand for land due to increasing population. The increasing population will increase development activities together with the growing need for land. Another consequence of the Advances in Biological Sciences Research, volume 11 Proceedings of the Joint Symposium on Tropical Studies (JSTS-19) Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press B.V. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license -http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 26