Analyzing the Restoration Efforts of Peatland Ecosystems in Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

The Community Forestry (CF) model is a tool of empowerment for local communities, as they include planting, harvesting, and managing forest resources. Additionally, this model offers ecological benefits by helping to maintain forest sustainability. However, there are limitations in the CF model - namely, it must not take a top-down approach as locals must be involved in the planning process. To implement CF projects successfully, a collaborative working relationship with the local government is also vital. This study will explore governance and local relationships concerning peatland ecosystem restoration in Kalimantan, Indonesia, through the Katingan Peatland Restoration and Conservation Project ('The Katingan Project') as this project has demonstrated successful implementation of bottom-up approaches.

Description

The Katingan Project employs a business model to restore peatland ecosystems, provide sustainable sources of income for local people, and tackle global climate change. This project is designed and implemented to recognize customary rights and community land ownership fully. The project also promotes participatory land-use mapping and demarcated land-use boundaries for villages in the project area based on established rights.

Location

The map of the Katingan Project area in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The Katingan Project lies within the geographic boundaries of S2° 32' 36.8" to S3° 01' 43.6" E113° 00' 29.7" to E113° 18' 57.4", specifically in Mendawai, Kamipang, Seranau and Pulau Hainaut sub-districts of Katingan and Kotawaringin Timur districts, Central Kalimantan, Republic of Indonesia. It is located in a state-designed production forest, encompassing 149,800 hectares. This area was chosen based on major ecological, landscape, and socio-economic features, particularly significant river catchments and land encircling 34 villages, which are governed by Mendawai and Kamipang sub-districts of Katingan District and Seranau and Pulau Hanaut sub-districts of Kotawaringin Timur District.

History

Historically, the land-use patterns in the project area are primarily determined by physical conditions. However, forestry policies, market trends, economic needs, and population migration have been transformed over time. The fundamental soil layer of this project area is peat soil, which contains a large amount of organic matter, such as CO2, N2O, and CH4. It is formed under the wet tropical climate as continuous flooding, and anoxic conditions on mineral soils accumulate large amounts of organic residues at a higher rate than their decomposition. The current volume of aboveground biomass has 14,254,599 tons of carbon, and the peat carbon stock has 546,767,493 tons. Present vegetation types in the project area are mixed peat swamp forest, freshwater swamp forest, and open degraded scrub and grassland. The biodiversity in the project zone includes 67 mammals, 157 birds, 41 reptiles, eight amphibians, 111 fish, and 314 floral species.

Tenure Arrangements

The Katingan Project has been approved by the appropriate government authorities to develop and implement project activities within the concession area. It is based on a 60-year Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC), with the possibility of an extension of 100 years. According to Decree SK 734/Menhut-II/2013 of the Ministry of Forestry, PT Rimba Makmur Utama (PT RMU) has full legal authority over the entire project area. Their rights include access, withdrawal/use, exclusion, management, duration, and extinguishability. Based on the ERC agreement, their duration rights are for 60-100 years. Since one must meet specific requirements and be approved by the authorities to obtain a license, they do not have alienation rights. Additionally, no bequeathed rights are included in the contract.

ERC laws and regulations include:

• Ministry of Forestry Regulation No. P.20/Menhut-II/2007 regarding Provision and Expansion of Business Licenses for Forest Timber Utilization in Natural Forest, Business Licenses for Ecosystem Restoration and Business License for Forest Plantation in Production Forest, revised by No. P.61/2008, No. P.50/2010, No. P.26/2012, and No P.31/Menhut-II/2014
• Ministry of Forestry Regulation No. P.56/Menhut-II/2009 regarding Business Planning for Ecosystem Restoration Licence, updated by No. P.24/Menhut-II/2011
• Ministry of Forestry Regulation No. P.8/Menhut-II/2014 regarding Limitation for the Allocation of the Concession Area for Business Licenses for Forest Timber Utilization in Natural Forest, Business Licenses for Ecosystem Restoration and Business License for Forest Plantation in Production Forest
• Ministry of Forestry Regulation No. P.64/Menhut-II/2014 regarding Application of Silviculture Techniques within the Ecosystem Restoration Concession License in Production Forest
• Ministry of Forestry Regulation No. P.66/Menhut-II/2014 regarding the Procedures for Periodical Forest Inventory and Work Plan in Ecosystem Restoration Concession License

As the majority of the project area consists of forest and peatland, the Katingan Project is also subject to a number of regulations applicable to the management of forest and peatland, including:

• Presidential Instruction INPRES No. 10/2011 regarding Suspension on the Issuance of New Licenses and Improved Management of Primary Forest and Peatlands”, renewed by INPRES No. 6/2013 and No. 8/2015
• Government Regulation PP No. 71/2014 regarding Protection and Management of Peatland Ecosystems

In addition to complying with national and local laws, the Katingan Project will also adhere to international agreements and treaties. Some of the treaties the project may need to comply with include the following:

• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, 1971  
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 1973  
• Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992  
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 1992  
• Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 and enactment 1993  
• United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) 2003  
• Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and enactment 2005
• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity 2004  
• Bali Action Plan (COP 13) 2007  
• Nagoya Protocol on Genetic Resources Access and Equal and Fair Benefit Sharing from the Utilization of the Biodiversity Convention 2013

Between the 1970s and 1980s, centralized land tenure policies have caused conflicts among local communities. Land traditionally owned by communities is now considered national forest property and therefore is available for commercial exploitation. Increasing waves of immigration have also led to further land conflicts in the project area. For this reason, the Katingan Project assists in developing formal consensus regarding the site and, at the same time, aids local communities in resolving conflicts within the project area. PT RMU has reached an agreement and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 13 village authorities in the project zone with the hope of gaining further consensus from other villages. The list of villages that have signed an MoU with the Katingan Project includes Mendawai, Kampung Melayu, Tewang Kampung, Galinggang, Tumbang Bulan, Tampelas, Telaga, Perupuk, Tumbang Runen, Karuing, Jahanjang, Bahun Bango, Asem Kumbang.

Administrative Arrangements

PT RMU is the ERC holder of the Katingan Project. Among PT RMU's leaders are CEO Dharsono Hartono, and COO Mr. Rezal Kusumaatmadja. PT RMU is responsible for overseeing and implementing the project, but it collaborates with partner organizations (Yayasan Puter Indonesia, Wetlands International, and Permian Global) for in-house expertise. Furthermore, PT RMU works with international institutions and local communities to gain the global knowledge and local knowledge.

To enable negotiation of potential impacts of the process without manipulation, the Katingan Project uses the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) principles for the reporting system. Consultations with stakeholders follow a similar procedure. Multiple parties are directly involved in the process, and actions are not taken until numerous levels of the agreement have been reached. The Katingan Project engages all its stakeholders and has been consulting with stakeholders at various levels since 2007. There are multiple types of consultations, including public consultation, ecosystem restoration socialization, and UKL-UPL or Environmental Management and Monitoring Programme socialization.

The Katingan Project's documentation is mainly transparent and accessible to the public so that stakeholders can offer feedback. For a 30-day comment period, the Project Design Document (PDD) was posted online, and then a summary in the Indonesian language was provided for comments, again, to gather helpful feedback. The Katingan Project prioritizes conflict prevention by implementing FPIC-based community consultations, participatory planning, and regular communication when grievances and redress are involved. Formal procedures provide villages with solid grounds for arguing for their redress. Even though PT RMU provides a verification team to recommend solutions and facilitate disputes, a neutral third party will testify when a grievance fails to be resolved peacefully.

Stakeholders

Affected Stakeholders

A water taxi operator transporting a non-timber forest products collector within the Katingan Project area.

The affected stakeholders in the Katingan Project are farmers, loggers, fishermen, sawmill operators, miners, water taxi (kelotok) operators, hunters, artisans, women's Kelompok Swadaya Masyarakat groups (KSMs), Non-timber forest products (NTFP) collectors, and any residents adjacent to the project area whose livelihood or cultural values are derived from this land. The project area covers 34 village communities with 43,000 residents and 11,475 households.

Interested Stakeholders

The interested stakeholders of the Katingan Project include PT RMU's partner organizations such as Yayasan Puter Indonesia, Wetlands International, and Permian Global. The following partner organizations are interested stakeholders as they all share the same mission for CF and are invested in the success of the Katingan Project. Still, their survival is not directly linked to the project's outcome.

• Yayasan Puter Indonesia is a non-profit organization that promotes participatory planning by developing and implementing innovative approaches. Through the involvement of the Indonesian people in the planning process, better quality and level of empowerment are achieved.
• The non-profit Wetlands International restores wetlands throughout the world and provides services to communities near wetlands. Wetlands International receives funding from various sponsors (governments, memberships, and private donors) through international partnerships and experts. Wetlands International's role in the Katingan Project is to conduct Magnetic Resonance Venography (MRV) to monitor carbon emissions and provide expert management for biodiversity, fire prevention, and land use.
• Permian Global aims to protect and restore tropical forests on a large scale through its business. Permian Global's experts will provide remote sensing, carbon commercialization and marketing, and assistance with MRV methodologies.
• The project zone also forms a continuous area with Sebangau National Park to the east, making them an interested stakeholder since the project work of PT RMU may affect their activities. The district and sub-district governments are also interested stakeholders because they have to enforce rules and regulations, but their livelihoods will not be significantly affected by the project's activities. Lastly, corporations such as PT Sampit, PT Arjuna Utama Sawit, and PT Ceria Karya Pranawa are interested stakeholders because they are located near the project site. As a result, their business activities may be affected.

Assessment of Relative Power (Power Analysis)

Power Analysis of the Key Stakeholders

High Importance, Low Influence	High Importance, High Influence
PT Rimba Makmur Utama (RMU) Provincial government District government Forest Agency at the district level	-
Low Importance, Low Influence	Low Importance, High Influence
Yayasan Puter Indonesia Wetlands International Permian Global PT Sampit PT Arjuna Utama Sawit PT Ceria karya Pranawa Sebangau National Park University	Residents Farmers Loggers Fishermen Sawmill operators Miners Water taxi (kelotok) operators Hunters Craftsmen Women's KSMs groups NTFP collectors

High Importance and Low Influence

• PT RMU

They are the concession holders of the ERC of the Katingan Project, so they have legal rights, but will not be significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• Provincial government

They are involved in the IUPHHK-RE SK.734/Menhut-II/2013 socialization, and have legal authorities. However, they will not be significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• District government

They have district-level policies and regulations authorities but will not be significantly or directly affected by the project outcome.

• Sub-district government

They have sub-district-level policies and regulations authorities but will not be significantly or directly affected by the project outcome.

• Forest Agency at the district level

They are involved in ecosystem restoration, socialization, and consultation and have district-level authorities; however, the project outcome will not be significantly or directly affected.

Low Importance and High Influence

• Residents

Forty-three thousand people live in the 34 project-zone villages adjacent to the project area and derive income, livelihood, or cultural values from the project area. They don't have legal titles and don't live in the project area. They make their living from the land and from the rivers, predominantly relying on small-scale agriculture and traditional fisheries.

• Farmers, loggers, fishermen, sawmill operators, miners, water taxi (kelotok) operators, hunters, craftsmen, women's KSMs groups, and NTFP collectors

They don't have legal titles, and don't live in the project area. They make their living from the land and from the rivers, so they are significantly and/or directly affected by the project outcome.

Low Importance and Low Influence

• Yayasan Puter Indonesia

They don't have legal titles and are not significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• Wetlands International

They don't have legal titles and are not significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• Permian Global

They don't have legal titles and are not significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• PT Sampit

They are a large company located in the city of Sampit, Kotawaringin Timur district, purchasing jelutong, rubber saps, rattan, and gemor from farmers, NTFP collectors, and middlemen. They don't have legal titles and are not significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• PT Arjuna Utama Sawit

They are an oil palm plantation company holding a concession located adjacent to the project zone. They don't have legal titles and are not significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• PT Ceria karya Pranawa

They are a timber plantation company holding a concession located near the project zone. They don't have legal titles and are not significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• Sebangau National Park

This national park is located adjacent to the project zone. They don't have legal titles and are not significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

• University

They are involved in the IUPHHK-RE SK.734/Menhut-II/2013 socialization. They don't have legal titles and are not significantly nor directly affected by the project outcome.

High Importance and High Influence

There are no stakeholders in this case study for this category.

Discussion

Assessment of Relative Successes of the Project

The Katingan Project seeks to meet the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standards (CCB Standards) at Gold Level. Gold status is granted to projects that provide exceptional benefits, such as explicit adaptations to climate change, the inclusion of benefits for global communities who are globally poor, or the protection of biodiversity in sites that are globally important. Below is the summary of net positive community benefits:

Area-based Criteria for Community Benefits

1. The Katingan Project area plays a critical role in maintaining hydrological function and water supply, preventing erosion and subsidence risk from peat oxidation, and mitigating fire risk through born forest cover. One of the successes in the Katingan Project is the protection and restoration of the core peat dome and the natural forests. It will protect the forest cover and will enable reforestation to become conducted in cleared areas to reduce fire risk and avoid the threat of subsidence and saltwater intrusion.
2. Project-zone communities traditionally use the central forests of the Katingan Project area to provide numerous non-timber forest products, ranging from Rattan to Jelutong latex, honey, and medicinal plants. The Katingan Project will enhance the sustainable use and marketing of non-timber forest products by project-zone communities as a means of improving livelihoods.
3. Through the participatory mapping and rural appraisal processes undertaken with project zone communities, several small areas within the project zone have been identified as being of cultural or religious significance (i.e., ritual and ancestral sites, shrines, and restricted-traditional spots for fishing). The Katingan Project will assist communities in protecting such places in the broader project zone as far as possible.

Well-being Based Criteria for Community Benefits

1. Natural capital within the project area is exceptionally high. The vast natural forest and peat system supports critical ecosystem services such as providing clean water and mitigating fire risk while containing natural resources utilized by the project-zone communities. The Katingan Project will protect and enhance the natural capital of the project area and support the development of local initiatives that can sustainably utilize it.
2. Project area communities are typically small, isolated, and lack access to essential social services like health and education. While traditional knowledge may be high, knowledge is lacking in utilizing this within a modern market-driven society or within the context of prevailing political and regulatory systems. Keeping that in mind, a wide range of project activities are designed to improve access to education, training, and essential services. Small and medium-sized business development is a central pillar of this approach, incorporating access to further education, direct training, and capacity building, access to technical advice, and access.
3. Social capital within the project zone is high. The Katingan Project focuses on strengthening social capital through measures that support and assist collaborative village-level spatial and development planning.
4. The physical capital in the project zone is poor. Equipment and market access are constrained by infrastructure ranging from power generation to communication to transportation. Infrastructure needs will be met through village planning processes, collaboration with local governments, energy reduction measures (such as solar, biogas, and energy-efficient stoves and lamps), and small- to medium-sized business development.
5. Social baseline surveys indicate that the average income of the project-zone households falls below the national poverty level. Furthermore, access to investment capital is minimal, with no banks or lending institutions active in the project zone. The Katingan Project aims to bring substantial benefits to the project zone communities through sustainable economic growth and land use. It will be achieved through a range of measures, including direct employment, preferential purchasing of local services and goods, improved planning, agricultural and regional business development support, and increased access to investment capital.

Exceptional Benefits Criteria for Community Benefits

1. The clarity of land rights varies among project zone communities. Some have clarity of tenure, while for others, considerable uncertainty remains, with commercial land use designations overlapping village land claims. The Katingan Project works with all project zone communities to create spatially accurate maps that define the agreed extent of village land and the agreed boundary of the project area and recognition of other spatially explicit landscape features. The project will then assist local communities in incorporating these maps into local planning regulatory processes and obtain full legal credit.
2. The communities in the project zone lack social, physical, and financial resilience and are at risk from economic or environmental shock and external forces beyond their control. Project activities related to sustainable development are all aimed at reducing these risks.
3. Many of the project-zone communities are considered vulnerable. The project aims to identify and reach more impoverished and marginalized communities and community members through various socio-economic programs. These are designed to lift the poorest out of poverty by engaging them in community-based business development such as micro-finance, women's empowerment, sustainable agroforestry, renewable energy development, and non-timber forest product use.
4. Many communities in the project zone have a patriarchal culture, and women typically have specific roles in households and society. Due to this reason, their participation in social activities is limited. The project will actively engage women through various activities such as micro-finance, community-based business development, and public health programs (e.g., mother and child healthcare). The timing and location of meetings will accommodate the specific needs of women.
5. There is no system to provide equitable benefit sharing of commercial exploitation of local natural resources amongst local communities. Therefore, the Katingan Project aims to support the livelihoods and social welfare of those most dependent on the natural resources that the project will protect.
6. Indonesia, in general, lacks formal systems that allow local communities to access information that is available to the government or the private sector, including information relating to lands in which they have legitimate claims. The idea often leads to inequalities when elites use such information for short-term gain. The Katingan Project is committed to a policy of transparency. It will go to great lengths to ensure that information on the projects, activities, progress, and results are openly available.
7. Before the project started, communities in the project zone area were approached as potential future partners before any formal applications were made. Village communities have always been engaged at all levels of the project's operation. The Katingan Project provides opportunities for involvement ranging from participation in planning and mapping initiatives to direct employment (in junior and senior positions, on a full-time, part-time or casual basis).
8. There are few opportunities for training and capacity building within the project zone. The Katingan Project will implement a comprehensive program of training and capacity building, which is partly linked to the engagement of communities in specific activities such as business and agriculture development. As an example, the project will seek to develop junior and unskilled staff to take on more responsibilities over time.

Area-based Criteria for Biodiversity Benefits

Intact and un-drained peat swamp forests are one of the most threatened habitats in Indonesia. Between 1995 and 2003, over 30% of such forests were lost or severely degraded. The project zone is estimated to contain globally significant populations of many and qualify as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). The zone contains 61% natural mixed peat swamp forest and 7% freshwater swamp forest. In these forests, over 380 animal species and 300 plant species have been recorded. It also contains one of the largest remaining intact and continuous areas of mixed peat swamp forest outside of protected areas in Indonesia. The zone has natural transitions to other ecosystem types, including freshwater swamp forest and heath forest. In addition to the peat swamps, freshwater swamp forests and seasonally flooded river plain forests are also rare and endangered. Project activities are designed to protect and enhance high conservation value areas consistently, and so, as a result, no adverse impacts are anticipated, and no mitigation measures are anticipated. The effects of project activities on all high conservation value areas will be constantly monitored, and if at any point negative impacts are indicated, will immediately take remedial action.

Assessment of Relative Failures of the Project

Rumi Naito, a Ph.D. student in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at the University of British Columbia (UBC), focuses on behavioural psychology applied to conservation and natural resource management in tropical landscapes. She was hired as a consultant for the Katingan Project and was actively involved in the project's design phase. Her work involved coordinating with external partners, such as external researchers, government agencies, foundations, universities, etc. In addition to communicating and coordinating with them, she occasionally assisted researchers on the field, restoring peatland ecosystems.

According to Rumi Naito, while the Katingan Project is highly successful, but many challenges have been faced along the way. These challenges include funding issues (insufficient funds), communication challenges, and peatland fires.

Funding Issues

The government took five years to approve the Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC) since the model was still new in Indonesia, and it cost PT RMU a lot of money.  They went through several layers of process, including working with regional governments and local communities after the central government approved the project. In spite of this, they were able to secure funding for the project through foundations and private investors.

Communication/Practice Change Issues

The conventional method for clearing land and preparing it for planting was slash and burn. With climate change, fires have become a serious concern. The farmers' traditional practices, however, have been very difficult to change, as they have been doing them for a very long time. Because of this, the Katingan Project had to introduce and educate non-burning methods.

Peatland Fire Issues

Peatland fires posed a serious threat to the project area. They were mainly caused by land-use practices, but external factors can also escalate them. Aside from discarded cigarette butts causing fires, El Nino conditions in Kalimantan made the land more flammable, which made mitigating peatland fires very difficult. PT RMU took this issue seriously, taking steps to prevent peat drainage and control fire risk through fire management, land-use management, and community development.

Conclusion

As a community forestry case study, the Katingan Project demonstrates how important relationships between the community and external partners are. According to the law, the local communities do not own the project site, but they have been extracting timber from it long before PT RMU arrived. Even though the communities were considered to be logging illegally, PT RMU acknowledged that some of them make a living from commercial logging and respected their customary rights to access forest resources in the region. To mitigate conflicts, PT RMU communicated with each community to balance restoration and exploitation and pushed them to create a community map. Additionally, PT RMU had promised to develop a sustainable future for the communities by providing them with opportunities tailored to their needs, either financially, through training, or in other ways. One of the ways that the bottom up approach is carried out is through the annual meeting between PT RMU, Yayasan Puter Indonesia, and each village community representative. Stakeholders meet to plan how each village community will allocate the funds they receive from PT RMU. The meeting is not only about economic activities, but also about community development. For example, building a school or a mosque, or setting aside land for agriculture, etc. They have implemented several micro-finance projects that enabled small businesses to receive funding, empowering local female groups through education on finance. Communities can also apply for grants to fund various initiatives, including small artisanal projects, such as weaving and handicrafts.

The key to the long-term success of the Katingan Project is the mutual understanding of the project's goals and objectives between PT RMU and the community around the project area. Some projects disconnect with the local communities due to logistical reasons, such as managers in big cities and community members in rural areas. However, the Katingan Project had many local employees in the region building relationships since before the project started. Having solid plans and being incredibly persistent, the project's leaders have gained lots of support from multiple stakeholders including the local communities.