Save Our Borneo and Papua

Bengkayang, August 17 2011

Summaries the main social and economic characteristics of the project area.
Kalimantan in Borneo and Merauke in Papua are two of few remaining homes of the world's richest biodiversity including frontier of remaining tropical rainforest ecosystems with enormous flora and fauna including endangered species like Orang Utan, RAMSAR's recognised wetland ecosystems, and high lowland values. Borneo is home to 15,000 plant species, more than 1400 amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles, and Papua-Merauke are not only fragile and vulnerable ecosystems but also provide continuous and extremely important ecological services to native Dayak and Papuan indigenous peoples who largely depend on natural resources, land and forest in their unique cultures, maintain and continue to exercise economic from subsistent indigenous livelihoods, food farms, sago harvesting, fishing, hunting and gathering non timber forest produce, and to some extent growing market commodity crops like coconut, cacao, rubber, oil palm, etc. in small scale farms. Presently majority of these areas are facing and experiencing social and environmental problems due to fast and massive exploitation of the imposed extractive industries like timber logging, mining, tree, oil palm plantation, food and energy estates that have created irreversible impacts and further amplify harms to livelihoods and vital ecosystems in the regions. These two regions give us window of opportunities and last chance of protecting the world's remaining rainforest ecosystems in tackling the raising impacts of global warming, commitment in reducing greenhouse gas emission, instrumental to advocate ecosystem-poverty linkages, and a key factor to climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy.

1) Which policies, legislation or management regimes are relevant to the project, and how do you intend to benefit from, or change them?
The presidential moratorium deforestation framework is very important in reducing and isolating threats to peat land and forests, and indigenous systems and local practices vital in enhancing degraded conservation and agricultural values under international and national commitment in reducing GHG emissions. The land use and land use changes issues the key opportunity is spatial planning policy. Multi-stakeholder regime like RSPO can provide useful platform in promoting sustainable palm oil and zero deforestation. Lastly adopting proposals on greener and inclusive economy regulation is bottom up process is very important.

2) What are relevant gender issues and how are they tackled?
The key gender issues are social and political discrimination, lack of equal and meaningful participation, and discriminatory regulations. Indeed, women are one the most disadvantaged and vulnerable group of among indigenous and local communities in the face of industrial exploitation in the regions. Vulnerable groups do need not only affirmative actions from the state but also from project developers, therefore, relevant project planning and activities must include mandatory gender analysis and specify recommendations, and relevant actions on gender issues must address and or eliminate cases, practices and cultures disregard gender justice in the project implementation and sustainability of the wider goal of the project.

3) How does the present functioning of the ecosystem affect (positive/negative) the livelihoods of your target group(s)? (e.g., certain ecosystem services or products)
Dayak and Papuan indigenous peoples who largely depend on natural resources, land based farming and forest produce services in their unique cultures, maintain and continue to exercise economic from subsistent indigenous livelihoods, food farms, sago harvesting, fishing, hunting and gathering non timber forest produce. Ecosystem functions and services do regulate, generate and produce subsistent livelihoods, health of species, flora and fauna ecological functions and services, forest and hydrological functions are extremely vulnerable to anthropogenic, irresponsible development impacts, industrial exploitation, and deforestation detrimental to the conservation and preservation of environmental services and functions, distinct social and cultural values.

4) What is the impact of the target groups on the ecosystem the project focuses on?
Mainstream economic models are large-scale industrial agricultural plantations for commodity, food and energy estates including extractive logging and mining operations. However, oil palm plantations are still among the largest threats to Borneo and Merauke-Papua ecosystems. By 2011 local authorities have issued permits for oil palm plantations in Kalimantan Borneo respectively 5,109,200 ha in West Kalimantan, 2,868,400 ha Central Kalimantan, 500,000 ha South Kalimantan, and 1,808,000 ha in East Kalimantan. In Merauke-Papua, palm oil is one of agrofuels feedstock being promoted along with food and energy crops under the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estates (MIFEE) with designated 1.2 million ha pristine ecosystem. However, indigenous and local communities are the severely affected groups from the exploitation of the ecosystems in the regions either state or private business operations that bring about long term and irreversible ecological consequences and harms to people and the climate system.

5) Does the project address species and/or habitats of specific conservation concern (e.g. red list species, threatened/vulnerable ecosystems etc.)?
The project does contribute both directly to a strengthened knowledge, capacities and skills in advocating greener and inclusive economies aligned with a much needed reform of policies, values, and practices and indirectly to coherent with local, national and international climate change adaptation and mitigation agendas. Borneo is home to 15,000 plant species, more than 1400 amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles are under threats are home to critical and endangered flora and fauna species in particular Orang Utan, and world's high wetland biodiversity recognised under RAMSAR convention.

6) Is the project area part of, or bordering a protected area (name + legal status)? If so, how does the project contribute to its protection?
Indeed, an inclusive and multi-stakeholder nature of the project implementation is committed to maintaining and protecting natural and ecological values, services, functions and local practices that are not very important for indigenous peoples and local communities but also to national and global climate imperatives. Introducing and incorporating greener, inclusive and favourable economies, local values, and practices through CSOs and communities coherent and strengthened knowledge, capacities and skills in advocating ecosystem-poverty linkages within larger context of local, national and international climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy. Sentarum Lake national park, lowland wetland ecosystems, Heart of Borneo, Tanjung Puting National Park, Muller – Schwaner ecosystem, etc. amongst key critical areas that are having definitive legal protection status yet currently under industrial and commercial threats to which the project will contribute to their protections directly and indirectly.