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Recommendations

Publisher :

Center for Social Forestry, Mulawarman University

Gedung Pascasarjana Magister Kehutanan

Jl. Ki Hajar Dewantara No. 7 Samarinda 75123

Telp./fax : 0541-206407, 201275

E-mail : csf@samarinda.org

Website : www.csf.or.id

Researchers:

- Fadjar Pambudhi

- G. Simon Devung

- Rujehan

- Martinus Nanang

Research Advisor:

Mustofa Agung Sardjono

Cover Photo:

Community settlements and activities around the Hilir village in the Kelay River,

in West Berau KPHP.

In order to develop an institution for KPH management in-

line with principles stated above, the CSF team recommends

forming a stakeholder forum to harmonise the use and man-

agement of forests within KPH, overseen by the head of the

KPH.

A stakeholder communication forum could be developed at

the grassroots level, made up of sub-groups according to us-

age type. The following are suggestions for sub-groups in ac-

cordance with different forest usage types: 1) community IU-

PHHK permit holders; 2) community mining permit (IUP)

holders; 3) community BPP forestry; 4) community KPH West

Berau.

Forestry partnerships should be developed together with

communities, varying based on the characteristics of different

interests and communities’ dependency on forests, the usage

and management systems of local communities, and by con-

sidering future development prospects.

For program success, policy support is needed from the cen-

tral and regional / district government.

Central government needs to:

Provide more opportunities for developing various HKm,

HD and HTR in-line with different uses and management by

local communities, and in-line with legislation.

Establish the legality of protected forests and customary

forests in partnership schemes within the KPH areas.

The regional / district governments need to:

Increase the regional budget quota for West Berau KPHP

operational activities and community empowerment activi-

ties for communities living in and around forests.

Establish West Berau KPHP institutional structures, and

mandate the working relationships and responsibilities of

the Forestry Agency with the West Berau KPHP as a local

government work unit (UPTD).

This policy brief was published by the Center

for Social Forestry Mulawarman University

with support by the Asia Foundation, and the

UK Climate Change Unit with assistance from

Epistema Institute.

The opinions and findings expressed in this

policy brief are those of the researchers

involved and do not reflect those of the Asia

Foundation, UKCCU or Epistema Institute.

Supported by: Funded by:

Picture 1. Local communities in the village of Hulu, Kelay River, in the West Berau Production Management Forest Unit (KPHP).

Policy brief

Developing forest management units together with local communities

Vol. 1/2014

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Executive Summary

The Indonesian government, with the Presidential Instruc-

tion No. 44/2004 about Forest Planning, formed forest man-

agement units (KPH), in order to:

Achieve a forest management system that is efficient and

sustainable;

Develop a system where management units and forest

rights are integrated together in a KPH;

Form forest management units in each forest area in-line

with designated forest functions, which are production,

protection or conservation.

The Centre for Social Forestry (CSF) took a case study ap-

proach to research the West Berau production forest man-

agement unit (KPHP), in East Kalimantan:

There are many communities in and / or around the forest

zone that depend on forests for various functions such as

hunting, picking forest fruit and other foods, harvesting

timber, rattan and bamboo, resin, forest honey, eaglewood

(garahu) and other products. The levels of community de-

pendency on forest products and species vary.

There are business permits in operation, such as permits

for forest use (IUPHH) and permits for mining (IUP) and

other permit types, for different purposes and forest types.

The study illustrates the problems faced by the government

in establishing KPH across Indonesia. The government faces a

number of challenges in implementing the KPH system, in-

cluding to ensure establish harmony in forest usage and man-

agement between stakeholders and to secure income and

livelihood sources for local communities.

The CSF team promotes KHP systems that integrate all stake-

holders including forest-dependent local communities in the

West Berau KHP area. To support the implementation of the

KPH, a communication forum for all stakeholders is needed,

to reach agreement between stakeholders about the usage

and management practices of the KPH. The forum can be co-

ordinated and facilitated by the head of the KPH.

From generation to

generation local

communities have

used and managed

their forest surrounds

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Context and Issues

The Ministry of Forestry has initiated various conservation

forest management policies providing forest management op-

portunities to communities such as Village Forest Community

Development (PMDH), Community Forest (HKm), Village For-

est (HD), and Community Plantation Forest (HTR), however

many of these have not begun operation. Local communities

are not yet integrated into KPH systems, and more communi-

cation between the government and local communities is

needed – including to develop a government agency to facili-

tate this communication.

Forming KPH’s provide an entry point for forest management

between communities and other stakeholders. KPH, such as

the West Berau KPH, are local community service units

(UPTD). KPH function as technical agencies for forest man-

agement, for monitoring and managing permit holders that

use forests and forest products. KPH also support community

empowerment, and communication and cooperation between

all forest stakeholders.

Operationalizing a KPH is not simple or easy. Despite the

complexity of KPH forest condition and the expense this in-

volves, as a UPTD, the West Berau KPHP has limited funds as

it depends on the Forestry Agency budget.

Findings

The West Berau KPHP covers 775,539 hectares of forest as

designated by the Ministry of Forestry in 2010, consisting of

two major forest types: 528,514 hectares of Production For-

est, and 247,025 hectares of Protection Forest. Within the

West Berau KPHP there are also three different variations of

permits for each of these forest zones:

12 Forest Timber Extraction permits (IUPHHK), consisting

of 11 Forest Timber Extraction in Natural Forests (IUPHHK

-HA) permits and 1 Forest Timber Extraction in plantation

forest permit (IUPHHK-HT).

Forest zone for specific purposes (KHDTK), managed by

the Samarinda Research Agency and Forestry Develop-

ment.

10 mining permits (IUP), consisting of one large scale per-

mit (PKP2B) and 9 small scale permits (IUP-OP).

As can be seen in map 1, the remaining 36% of the West Be-

rau KPHP area is either zoned as a specific region (Wilayah

Tertentu) or is not yet zoned (including in the protected forest

area), and is controlled directly by the KPHP together with

the local community.

There are 10 villages located in the Kelay River catchment ar-

ea that encompasses the West Berau KPHP. The upstream xxx

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Map 1. The West Berau KPHP area

area is populated by traditional communities, primarily by

the Punan Dayak communities, and traditional communities

mixed with migrants from outside East Kalimantan populate

the downstream area.

The CSF research team studied communities in two villages

representing different gradients of forest dependency. The

study looked at a community in the upstream area (Hulu vil-

lage) that is highly dependent on forests for their livelihoods,

and a community in the downstream (Hilir village) that is

largely not dependent on forests for their incomes.

The Hulu village is dependent on forests for: sago, forest fruit

and vegetables, and wild hunting for food; timber and build-

ing materials; and ratton, resin, and eaglewood (gaharu). The

income sources of communities in the Hulu village derived

from forest products can be seen in Graphic 1.

The Hulu community use and manage forests around the vil-

lage in accordance with their traditions. The village protec-

tion forest provides a source of clean water, and can be used

by women and children as a hunting place. The customary

community forest is a place for producing needed forest prod-

ucts, such as sago, forest fruit and vegetables, wood and build-

ing products, ratton, honey, garahu and game.

The regulations for use and management of the Village Pro-

tection Forest and the Adat Forest are produced by the village

administration, and are monitored by the community.

Compared with the Hulu community, the community of the

Hilir village are not as dependent on forest products for in-

come sources, as illustrated in Graphic 2.

According to community plans, the Hilir community want to

rehabilitate certain areas of the KPHP into plantation forests.

There are many opportunities for involvement and partner-

ship with local communities in and around the West Berau

KPHP. These schemes need to be developed together, in-line

with field conditions and in consideration of the possibilities

that exit.

The Management Action Plan for the West Berau Work Plan

2013-2022, sets out the community empowerment, involve-

ment and partnerships plans. These include to:

Collect socio-economic and cultural data about the commu-

nity

Analyse the socio-economic data at sustainability level

Analyse the community institutions in the KPHP both inter-

nal to each community and between villages

Formulate participative community empowerment pro-

grams

Develop partnerships with permit holders and other stake-

holders

Increase community and institutional capacity to manage

forests and forest products

Develop schemes for community forest management such

as: HKm, HD, and HTR

Increase non-forest product management technologies

(HHBK).

The Management Action Plan also sets out important princi-

ples for KPHP management, which are to:

Consider the local communities’ forest interests and rights

Integrate participative approaches in program develop-

ment

Empower local communities to be self-reliant, and

Develop business partnerships.

Operationalising these principles needs the support of KPH

management institutions and mechanisms.

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Graphic 1. Income sources of the Hulu Village community

Graphic 2. Income sources of the Hilir village community