The Sungai Wain Protection Forest (HLSW) is one of the remaining tropical forests in Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan province. The 10,000 ha area of HLSW with its abundant biodiversity and valuable environmental services are of great value for Balikpapan City. Unfortunately the ecosystem integrity is endangered by development pressure. Protecting HLSW from various threats, disturbances and conflict of interest are important issues that cannot be ignored. Issues that are dealt by the Management Board of Sungai Wain Protection Forest (BP-HLSW) which functions as a multi-stakeholder forum.

Although this multi-stakeholder forum has succeeded in preserving HLSW for the last 15 years, several questions still arises. How effective the BP-HLSW was in running its functions? How was the decision making process in BP-HLSW? What are its achievements and what should be improved? Using a method for participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation of multi-stakeholder platforms developed by Tropenbos International with EcoAgriculture Partners this questions can beanswered. To assess the tool’s strength and at the same time understand the performance of BP-HLSW, Tropenbos Indonesia facilitated a workshop titled “Learning from Sungai Wain” on May 2016.

With the ending role and authority of BP-HLSW along with the implementation of Law No.23/2014 since 2017, Tropenbos Indonesia facilitated another workshop (December 2016) directed to formulate a new role of BP-HLSW and as a strategy to facilitate a smooth transition process.