By Moira Moeliono
Work by theCOLANDs team in the Kapuas Hulu Regency has continued to focus on collaborative planning with the Danau Sentarum Catchment Area (DTA-DS) group. As part of this work, CIFOR-ICRAF had organized three workshops in 2022 and 2023: the first, to develop a vision; the second, to develop a Theory of Change (ToC); and third, develop criteria and indicators. However, for implementation and/or integration into development activities, the planning document must be legalized by the district government. This requires agreement, if not approval, from the provincial level.
Therefore, as a final step, COLANDS organized two workshops and a series of meetings with provincial sector agencies in Pontianak, capital of West Kalimantan province. Objectives were to inform and consult with provincial stakeholders to complete data and information required for the DTA-DS management plan and finalize the criteria and indicators for DTA-DS collaborative monitoring.
The first workshop was a one-day activity on 4 September 2023 to present results of the three earlier workshops at district level. The next day, the team split in two groups and met at the offices of each sectoral agency for deeper discussions on the DTA-DS management plan, to obtain institutional support, and to better coordinate programs and activities. The second workshop, held over two days, 6 and 7 September 2023, was intended to adjust and finalize principles, criteria and indicators.
Overall, the meetings went very well, with participants acknowledging the importance of the management plan and expressing openness to collaborate on its implementation. The development of a framework for collaborative monitoring is in the interest of the province – indeed, is part of its tasks. The West Kalimantan Province Environment and Forestry Service has committed to facilitate further processes to synergize programs and activities among sectors and agencies within the West Kalimantan Provincial Government and the District Government of Kapuas Hulu.
However, there are concerns that policies might change and that budgets might be insufficient. Despite an overall willingness to collaborate, government hierarchy makes that difficult. Tight budgets are always a constraint, as is the frequent need to ask provincial authorities to officially support or facilitate activities. Data, even spatial data, is not shared freely. In terms of spatial data, constraints are due to the fact that the DTA-DS is a national strategic program and therefore, is under the purview of the national government – the Indonesian National Land Agency (ATR-BPN) and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) as the main agencies in charge.
Various levels do not consult each other frequently during planning, even though provincial agencies appear to be open to including district proposals in their planning and budgeting. Provincial agencies have said proposals can be submitted online but if possible, consultation meetings at the district capital are preferred. These meetings clearly facilitate information-sharing among the different levels, reinforce the understanding of each other’s roles, and hopefully lead to better coordination and collaboration. The conclusion was that more communication is needed.
A fifth workshop, the last of the overall series, was held on 23 February 2024 in Putussibau, Kapuas Hulu, where the regional secretary presented the final collaborative management plan document to the stakeholders for feedback. The principles in managing the Danau Sentarum Catchment Area – collaborative management considering traditional knowledge, environmental sustainability, improved well-being and capabilities, and improving connectivity – were the result of stakeholder discussions in the earlier workshops. The regional secretary emphasized the uniqueness and value of the DTA-DS and the importance of environmental governance that requires better collaboration, mutual support, better coordination, integration, synchronization and synergy among all stakeholders in working to develop the DTA-DS.
Training follow up
COLANDS had organized several trainings in 2023, including measuring water quality and fish monitoring, and biodiversity for teachers. As a follow-up, discussion groups developed, especially around the first topic of water quality and fisheries. The biodiversity group has been less active but teachers are thinking of ways to provide lessons on both biodiversity and on how to build appreciation of local knowledge of biodiversity and its uses.
Partnership
The Riak Bumi Indonesia Foundation continues to support COLANDS Indonesia activities, including:
- Collaborating with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Alliance of Customary Communities of the Archipelago (Alliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara), Riak Bumi has successfully facilitated the recognition and protection of customary forests in three locations: the hamlet of Kedungkang, and the villages of Ngaung Keruh and Janting. The Bupati, or head of the regency, has issued decrees to legally recognize the existence of customary law communities of Ngaung Keruh and Kedungkang, followed by technical verification by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry – the process to get a ministerial decree. One requirement to legalize a customary forest is clear boundaries acknowledged by all neighbouring villages and or customary community. The Janting customary forest has not yet been approved because one of its neighbouring villages has not yet agreed on the customary territory boundaries. In fact, because one village has not agreed on boundaries, the government village funds for all these villages cannot be disbursed.
- Riak Bumi also continues to facilitate tengkawang production as well as activities promoting the tree and its nuts. The Tengkawang network has been strengthened and linked to work conducted by Tanjung Pura University in Pontianak. A tengkawang festival was organized in October 2023 to coincide with the mast fruiting (reproduction) of the tengkawang trees. The festival was supported by COLANDS, the provincial Environment and Forestry Agency, NGO Forestwise, and the GIZ Global Biodiversity Framework (BioFrame).
- Riak Bumi also continued to strengthen the upstream-downstream collaboration along the Labian-Leboyan watershed by focussing on the critical problem of waste. To this end, a campaign to clean waste from the waterways each Friday was organized. As well, Riak Bumi organized a training in how to draft village regulations and facilitated the drafting of a regulation on waste management. However, implementing such a regulation might not be possible if there is no suitable waste dumping site as well as regular waste collection and processing facilities. More work is clearly needed.
