Letter: Don’t blame locals, Mr. Minister!

Published at The Jakarta Post

| Wed, 07/20/2011 10:29 PM

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan concluded: “Rampant illegal logging involving local communities” (www.thejakartapost.com, July 17).
Again the minister tries to blame local communities for his incapability to manage forests, which is the main responsibility of his ministry.
Here’s a flash back: In Central Kalimantan, prior to the introduction of the forest concession system in the early 1970s, transmigration program and private plantation estate in 1980s, we did not have any problems with illegal logging and forest destruction.
Local communities were living in harmony with the forest although local farmers opened small forest areas for limited
agricultural activities. But, following the activity, those farmers replanted opened land with commercial trees or products such as rubber, rattan, fruit trees, etc... for future cash saving, which also all amounts to forest rehabilitation.
One amazing thing done by local people is that they have engaged in forest rehabilitation without receiving a single rupiah in assistance from the government budget. From this perspective, we can conclude that local people have a high capability to rehabilitate forests with their own efforts and resources as well as without support from global-sponsored schemes like REDD+.
But on the other hand, since the introduction of forest concessions, and transmigration and plantation estates, forests in Central Kalimantan have experienced massive deforestation and degradation problems.
The government has also generated lucrative sources of money from those activities such as reforestation funds, export taxes, land tax, etc., and all those funds and taxes are managed by the central government and supposed to be partly used for forest rehabilitation activities, but it is hardly heard that government-led reforestation activities have succeeded on the ground, and they then try to find scapegoats for their failures by saying that deforestation, forest destruction and fires are all carried out by local communities.
I think it would be better for the minister to send preachers to his own department to preach instead of sending those preachers to local communities. I think his staff need this kind of preaching the most so that their morals and behavior improve.

Alue Dohong
Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan

Lokakarya Teknis Praktek Terbaik Pengelolaan Lahan Gambut Berkelanjutan Tingkat ASEAN Berakhir Sukses

Press Release (21062011) – telah dimuat pada Harian Umum Tabengan tanggal 22/06/2011)

Lembaga Pengkajian, Pendidikan dan Pelatihan Lingkungan Hidup (LP3LH) berkerjasama dengan Global Environment Center (GEC) selaku Executing Agency ASEAN Peatland and Forests Programme (APFP) baru-baru ini menyelenggarakan kegiatan lokakarya teknis bertajuk: “Technical Workshop on Best Management Practices for Sustainable Peatland Management”, yang dilaksanakan pada tanggal 15-18 Juni 2011 di Palangka Raya, Kalimantan Tengah, kata Alue Dohong, Direktur LP3LH dalam press release-nya yang disampaikan pada harian ini.

Kegiatan lokakarya teknis diikuti oleh 31 orang peserta yang berasal dari 8 negara Asia Tenggara yakni Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philipina, Thailand dan Vietnam. Kegiatan lokakarya teknis meliputi penyajian tentang teknik pengelolaan lahan gambut secara berkelanjutan dari nara sumber ahli, kegiatan kunjungan lapangan dan presentasi studi kasus pengelolaan terbaik lahan gambut berkelanjutan oleh masing-masing negara, imbuh Alue Dohong.

Selanjutnya tambah Alue Dohong, nara sumber kegiatan lokakarya teknis terdiri dari tiga orang yaitu Dr. Suwido Limin, Alue Dohong dan Dr. Darmae Nasir yang kesemuanya merupakan ahli dan praktisi gambut dari Universitas Palangka Raya (UNPAR). Materi yang disampaikan nara sumber meliputi antara lain: Overview of Peatland Management, Introduction of Peatland Water Management, Fire Prevention and Control, Rehabilitation of Degraded Peatland, Community Livelihoods, dan Multiple Use of Peatland.

Untuk memperkenalkan kepada seluruh peserta tentang isu-isu nyata pengelolaan lahan gambut dan bagaimana cara penanganan isu tersebut secara bijaksana dan berkelanjutan, maka seluruh peserta diajak kunjungan lapangan ke Laboratorium Alam Hutan Rawa Gambut (LAHG) dan Kalampangan Zone, Blok C eks PLG, yang kesemuanya dikelola oleh CIMTROP UNPAR. Selanjutnya, pada hari terakhir lokakarya teknis, setiap negara mempresentasikan studi kasus pengelolaan terbaik lahan gambut berkelanjutan di negara masing-masing.

Dari lembar evaluasi pelaksanaan kegiatan lokakarya yang didistribusi dan dibagikan kepada seluruh peserta untuk diisi, hampir 95% peserta menyatakan bahwa penyelenggaraan, pelayanan logistik dan kunjungan lapangan oleh panitia lokakarya sangat baik dan sangat memuaskan. Sekitar 90% peserta menyatakan memperoleh pengetahuan baru tentang bagaimana mengelola lahan gambut secara berkelanjutan dan bijaksana dari para nara sumber dan berjanji untuk mereplikasi dan menerapkan pengetahuan yang didapat selama kegiatan lokakarya teknis di negara masing-masing, imbuh Alue Dohong mengakhiri press release-nya.

Peserta Technical Workshop on Best Management Practices for Sustaiable Peatland Management Tingkat ASEAN (Photo: Alue Dohong)