Role of forest in livelihood strategy in the peat land of Central Kalimantan ex-mega rice project area

Overexploitation of natural resources leading to forest degradation has occurred due to increased human populations and economic pressures. Politics also plays an important role, for example, in the conversion of forests to rice fields on peatland in the ex-mega-rice project in Central Kalimantan. Yet, forests are important sources of livelihoods for local communities. The degradation of forests as a result of the ex-mega-rice project had considerable impact on local communities. We carried out a study in Block A (southern part) and Block E (northern part) of the project area in Kapuas district, Central Kalimantan, to assess the role of forests for local communities. The sites were chosen to represent both degraded and functional forested areas. Focus-group discussions and household surveys were conducted to collect data. The results were showed that forests were less available in Block A, since accessing forests far away was costly, not many villagers in Block A were interested in extraction of forest products. However, forests remained an important resource for poor people who had limited access to other income sources. In contrast, the forests in Block E were more available and accessible. About 35.5% of income in Block E came from gemor (a forest product) and about 57% of respondents collected it. Forest extraction reduced the inequality of income in Block A but increased it in Block E.

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