TBI in Indonesia works towards improved landscape level conservation planning and implementation, and to improve the natural resource governance of forested lands allocated to villages and communities in Indonesia, with a current focus on the Gunung Tarak Landscape in West Kalimantan Province.
The Gunung Tarak landscape has experienced rapid expansion of oil palm plantations and other land-based investments at the expense of forests. Tenure insecurity and long arduous bureaucratic procedures for obtaining Social Forestry (SF) permits limit access to forests by local communities; Local development is hampered by a lack of realistic and sustainable alternative livelihood opportunities that are forest-based. This has contributed to encroachment of conservation areas and other remaining forests.
TBI works with local partners on a landscape approach for equitable and sustainable development and conservation of the remaining forests in the landscape. Together with villages TBI works on participatory spatial planning and green development. With oil palm companies and district government TBI implements the High Conservation Value approach at a landscape level and supports stakeholders to develop green corridors between the remaining forest areas. And, TBI facilitates partnerships between companies and villages to manage HCVs and to develop livelihoods.
What we do:
Contribute to a large scale shared vision of conservation and development priorities in Gunung Tarak Landscape based on the High Conservation Value (HCV) approach.
Support CSOs and communities to coordinate their strategies, and influence government and oil palm companies to establish, conserve and manage high value areas.
Strengthen the knowledge and capacities of CSOs, CBOs and government actors on the HCV concept through training, facilitation and technical assistance.
Provide technical training and facilitation in alternative livelihoods, spatial planning and other skills to community members.
Support local civil society organisations and community-based organisations to increase their lobbying and advocacy skills
Tropenbos International works in Indonesia through its local network partner Yayasan Tropenbos Indonesia. Visit their website for more information: www.tropenbos-indonesia.org
History
Tropenbos International has been operational in Indonesia since 1987. It started in East Kalimantan and from 2007 it has expanded nationwide. In 2017, Tropenbos Indonesia became a legal national entity of Indonesia and a member of the Tropenbos International network.
In the past years the main focus of TBI's work in Indonesia has been the promotion of the High Conservation Value (HCV) approach. TBI has provided policy-relevant and evidence-based information and build the capacities of policy makers and corporate actors on the application of the HCV approach for the sustainable management of plantation forests and oil palm plantations in Indonesia. TBI facilitated the establishment of the HCV Network in Indonesia, which is a key partner of the global HCV Resource network.
TBI contributed to the preparation of a large-scale government programme for social forestry and provided assistance to village governments to process the Social Forestry permits. At community level, TBI has worked on forestry management by developing alternative livelihoods to reduce communities' dependency on the forests.
One major land-use development in the Gunung Tarak Landscape (GTL) in West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia has been the expansion of oil-palm plantations since the early 2000s, at the expense of forest and secondary regrowth areas.
The areas of High Conservation Value (HCV) identified at the landscape scale in GTL show a substantial decline between 2000 and 2016, with the relatively stable areas being only in official Protected Areas and Protection Forests; some of the losses resulted in ecological disconnection.
Identified HCV areas in GTL are a useful reference for further conservation planning, including the establishment of ecological corridors at a landscape scale and also for more detailed HCV identification in OPMUs.
High Conservation Values (HCVs) are biological, ecological, social or cultural values that are considered outstandingly significant or critically important, at the national, regional or global levels. An HCV initiative is aimed at establishing conservation and protection of those values located in production lands, complementing official conservation efforts. In practice, however, the assessment and identification of HCVs are largely associated with a requirement for voluntary certification schemes for producers of timber and agro commodities.
To date, application of the HCV approach as a tool for spatial planning and other policy platforms is rare in Indonesia. This Policy Brief makes a case to look at the HCV approach as a fundamental tool to integrate conservation and production objectives at larger landscape or jurisdictional areas.
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.
This proceeding presents the results of the workshop “Strategy for Strengthening Social Forestry and the Roles of CSOs” held on 22 and 23 October 2015, in Bogor Indonesia.
Following the policy of President Joko Widodo’s to allocate 12.7 million ha of land for the Social Forestry (SF) program until 2019, Tropenbos Indonesia tried to present and document this momentum by organizing a workshop.
The workshop attempted to answer questions and issues regarding policy restructure, land preparation procedures and, sustainable livelihood development strategies for communities. And, the role and readiness of CSOs as key government partners.
Apart from presenting the key conclusions of the workshop, the proceeding also includes interviews with SF activists as well as interview with WARSI as an experienced institution working in SF and who has succeeded in developing best practices.