EC Contract No: ENV/2006/130-531

Promoting the Conservation and Sustainable Management of the Lowland

Forests of south Central Kalimantan

Supported b

Supported by funds from: European Union, Orangutan Foundation & Australian Orangutan Project

This project is a collaboration between Orangutan Foundation (UK) and Yayorin (Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia), supported by the Natural Resources Conservation Bureau (BKSDA) of Central Kalimantan

for the conservation and sustainable management of Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem

Pangkalan Bun, 2012

Project Summary: Executive Summary of the Action during 2007-2011

and Recommendations for the Future Management of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem

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LIST OF CONTENTS

Page

Executive Summary of the Action ................................................ 3

Recommendations .................................................................. 6

Conclusions ........................................................................... 8

Foreword by Indonesian Minister of Forestry ....................................

(from the Project Evaluation and Lessons Learned Report)

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Further details for reports ......................................................... 11

Photo gallery ......................................................................... 12

This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union and the

Orangutan Foundation (UK) under EC Contract Number ENV/2006/130- 351. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as

reflecting the views of the European Union.

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Executive Summary of the Action

The Overall Objective of this project was: Maintenance of functioning tropical forest ecosystems in the context of a protected area network that supports sustainable rural development.

The project was carried out in the Districts of Kotawaringin Barat and Sukamara in the Province of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, from January 2007

December 2011. The main project office was in

Pangkalan Bun, capital of Kotawaringin Barat, with a support office operated in the district capital of Sukamara.

The project was implemented as a co-operation between the three partners of the Action: Orangutan Foundation, Yayorin, and the Conservation Area Section-II of BKSDA-Kalteng, the Government s Regional Agency for Conservation of Natural Resources. The provincial office of BKSDA-Kalteng acted as the Government s supervisor of the project, approving the overall five-year work plan and each year s annual work plan for implementation in the field.

The focus of the project was the conservation of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, which is under the authority of BKSDA on behalf of the Government s Directorate General for Forest Protection & Nature Conservation (PHKA), under the Ministry of Forestry. The Reserve covered some 56,584 hectares of mainly tropical peat swamp forests, containing some 36.5 million tons of carbon, and was established in 1998 from three former logging concessions. It has a lake that is a breeding sanctuary for many species of migrant birds, and is used by PHKA as an official release site for orangutans.

Four main Activities were conducted over the duration of the implementation period:

1. Protection of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve. 2. Capacity building activities within local government and rural communities. 3. Rehabilitating degraded forest land. 4. Community-based education and awareness raising.

These Activities, together with their component Sub-activities, were completed as planned and according to the targets set, leading to the achievement of the project s three Specific Objectives:

SO 1. Strengthen the protected area network of Central Kalimantan. SO 2. Improve the capacity of stakeholders to sustainably manage

and mutually benefit from the protected area network. SO 3. Establish income-generating mechanisms that support forest conservation.

During the implementation period, illegal activities inside the Reserve were brought under control, with illegal logging eradicated during the final two years, poaching greatly minimised, and fires started within the Reserve eliminated. As a result of this progress, and in combination with the success of the targeted support of the education and awareness campaign, the project has provided a major platform for BKSDA to be now capable of continuing the patrol work to protect the Reserve effectively within the limitations of its own resources

one of the main anticipated sustainability features. Nevertheless, bush fires started outside the western boundary of the Reserve and spreading towards it through wind action were still problematic, requiring constant vigilance and mitigation efforts.

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Many of the activities involved working together with local communities surrounding the Reserve in the Districts of Kotawaring Barat and Sukamara, and accordingly, the village councils and district governments became unofficial partners in the project.

This was especially the case for the establishment and smooth running of the demonstration projects to provide practical demonstrations of sustainable income-generating mechanisms for local farmers based on mixed organic agro-forestry without reverting to the previous unsustainable slash-and-burn practices. Through the technical support outreach to local farmers groups, more than 90% of families in surrounding villages adopted the techniques and practices advocated in the demonstration projects. This was a major contribution to the capacity building of communities surrounding the Reserve so they could follow sustainable livelihood practices without the previous unsustainable exploitation of the Reserve s natural resources.

The District Government of Sukmara also entered the compost production waste recycling demonstration project into the Adipura national awards for the cleanest small town for two successive years, in 2010 and 2011.

The capacity of stakeholders to sustainably manage the Reserve through capacity building activities within local government agencies, especially SKW-II BKSDA, was greatly improved through the preparation of a long-term management plan for the Reserve and surrounding buffer zone area, which was supported upon the request of stakeholders during a multi-stakeholder meeting, as a collaborative venture involving all the main stakeholders.

The project also achieved several other landmarks that will provide a lasting impact and legacy into the future.

(i) As a direct result of technical inputs provided by the project, the conservation area of the Reserve was increased by about 8,000 hectares (about 14% of its previous official size). The inputs were provided to the local District Government of Kotawaringin Barat and the provincial evaluation team for the revision of the spatial plan for Central Kalimantan. The change was enacted by the Ministry of Forestry through Decree No SK.292/Menhut-II/2011 of the Minister of Forestry in May 2011.

(ii) A 500 m buffer zone was agreed around the outer boundary of the Reserve on the northern and western boundaries, through a joint agreement signed between the Head of BKSDA-Kalteng and the two oil palm plantation companies whose concessions lay adjacent to the Reserve, witnessed by the Heads of the District Government for Kotawaringan Barat and Sukamara, and subsequently incorporated into a Decree by the Director General of PHKA. This agreement helped facilitate the maintenance of the ecological functioning of the Reserve by preventing any developments in the buffer zone, and in particular preventing any drainage channels being dug around the Reserve that could otherwise have seriously harmed the Reserve s proper ecological functions.

(iii) Further to technical inputs by the project to the District Government of Kotawaringin Barat, a proposal for an 8,000 ha oil palm plantation to be developed along a strip of land adjacent to the eastern boundaries of the Reserve was rejected in favour of an alternative plan for a Community Forest development; another decision greatly facilitating the maintenance of the ecological functions of the Reserve.

(iv) A multi-stakeholder joint declaration was signed on 8th November 2010 that committed all stakeholders, including all District Government agencies, to implement sustainable and environmentally sound development policies that supported the management and conservation of

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the Reserve, to protect its biodiversity, maintain its ecological services and improve the welfare of communities surrounding the Reserve.

(v) The legal basis for managing the Reserve to maintain its proper ecological functions through supportive District and National Government policies and an action plan was approved by the adoption of a long-term management plan for the Reserve supported by the Ministry of Forestry, Governor of Central Kalimantan, Provincial Head of the Development Planning Board (Bappeda) for Central Kalimantan, Head of the District Government of Kotawaringin Barat (Bupati Kobar), Head of the District Government of Sukamara (Bupati Sukamara), Head of Bappeda for Kotawaringin Barat District, and Head of Bappeda for Sukamara District. This management plan was considered the first of its kind to be prepared in Indonesia through a proper collaborative process with the main stakeholders represented on the working team and public consultations at the district and provincial levels. It was enacted through a Decree of the Director General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA) of the Ministry of Forestry No SK. 259/IV-Set/2011 on 22 December 2011.

Taking into account these impacts and the main results achieved as detailed in the main report, they indicate that the project s Overall Objective was achieved in particular that the ecological functions of the Reserve were maintained and embedded in supportive development policies that promote the welfare of the surrounding rural communities, both at the point of project closure and with long-term impact through being embedded in key policy directives.

The original budget for the Action was 1,279,910 with the maximum commitment of the European Commission set at 1,023,910 and the funding contributions set as EC (80%), the Orangutan Foundation (16.1%) and Australian Orangutan Project (3.9%). Kingston Smith LLP from London was appointed as auditors through a competitive tender procedure. The total eligible expenditure they verified was 1,135,872 amounting to 89% expenditure of the original budget.

Monitoring of the project was carried by BKSDA-Kalteng on behalf of the Government of Indonesia and the Delegation of the European Union to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam and ASEAN. In addition to supervision missions by the EU Delegation themselves, they also launched two Results Oriented Monitoring (ROM) Missions by independent consultants (in October 2008 and November 2009).

Clarifications to the original logical framework and activity targets were incorporated into a revision to Annex 1 of the Contract, which was approved through Addendum No 1 on 8th July 2010; whilst the eligibility of costs for a final evaluation and preparation of reports after the end of the implementation period was approved through Addendum No 2 to the Contract on 21st November 2011.

A final independent evaluation of the project was carried out by a team from the National University of Indonesia (UNAS) Faculty of Biology, whilst an internal Project Evaluation Report was prepared by the project to summarise the main achievements and lessons learned, together with views of stakeholders. This was produced in Bahasa Indonesia with a Foreword by the Minister of Forestry and distributed widely to local stakeholders, as well as being available in English on the Orangutan Foundation website (www.orangutan.org.uk).

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Recommendations

Based on the Lessons Learned from the implementation of this project, and in addition to the need to continue the routine activities that have been carried out, some specific recommendations are given below that are important for the management of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem in the future.

A. Recommendations for BKSDA Central Kalimantan, local governments, and NGOs

Reserve protection 1. The implementation of routine patrols each week throughout the year, specifically along the canals

that could provide access for illegal loggers, needs to be continued.

2. The operation and management of the guard posts as the basis of the patrol system needs to be continued.

Reserve boundaries 3. Border patrols and socialization of the Reserve boundaries to communities who live around the

reserve should continue to be implemented. 4. Maintenance of the reserve boundaries needs to be continued.

Fire prevention 5. Fire-monitoring patrols need to be implemented in the dry season when carrying out routine patrols,

to help detect and prevent outbreaks of fire. 6. Involving the Community Fire Awareness group (Masyarakat Peduli Api) in patrolling activities

should continue to be implemented, including improving their skills and providing operational support.

Improving co-ordination and integration 7. Regular co-ordination with agencies related to the protection of the Reserve needs to be continued.

Reducing conflicts with wildlife 8. Socialization regarding the species of wildlife that are protected by law should continue to be

implemented in the villages around the Reserve to mitigate and prevent human-wildlife conflicts.

9. A special rescue team needs to be established within the provincial BKSDA-Kalteng and empowered to make the process of wildlife evacuation effective.

Community development 10. Regular meetings with communities around the reserve should continue to be implemented related

to issues concerning conservation of the Reserve and efforts to increase the economy of communities in a sustainable manner.

11. Management of the demonstration projects

on mixed farming by the Tempayung Village Government, and on processing organic waste into compost by the Sukamara District Government

should be continued as a place of learning for the communities. Support to communities and farmer groups to run or develop activities in the demonstration plots are also required.

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Involvement of stakeholders 12. Stakeholder meetings should continue to be held at least once a year to involve stakeholders in the

management of the Reserve, both as a mechanism to overcome the problems being faced and also to get inputs from stakeholders for the implemention of the Reserve s Long Term Management Plan.

13. Coordination meetings in each district should be carried out to facilitate implementation of the Reserve s Long Term Management Plan.

Land rehabilitation 14. Natural regeneration in the western region and enrichment planting with orangutan food trees in

the eastern region needs to be enhanced.

15. The reforestation area inside the Reserve needs to be safeguarded, including continuing the nurturing and maintenance of the stock of saplings that were replanted.

16. Planting banana trees as firebreaks should continue to be implemented along the boundary of the Reserve on the western and northern sections (since firebreaks created by making drainage ditches are not suitable for the local conditions).

Raising awareness 17. Raising awareness about conservation of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve should continue to

be implemented in the villages which are directly adjacent to the Reserve.

18. Local subject matter for the environmental education syllabus in schools needs to be prepared by the Department of Education in the hope that environmental education can be integrated within the formal education syllabus.

Development of limited ecotourism 19. Support for the development plan for limited ecotourism in Danau Burung integrated with other

tourism in Sukamara should be continued, including support to prepare a Limited Ecotourism Master Plan.

Strengthening the Reserve s legal basis 20. Proposals for changes in land status (HP and HPK) and determination of the new size of the Reserve

needs to be implemented as a follow-up of the Decree of the Minister of Forestry No. SK.292/Menhut-II/2011.

B. Recommendations for PHKA, NGOs, and international donors

The importance of support for the future management of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve 21. Special conservation programs in areas that have the potential to absorb carbon need to be

implemented such as in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve which has a very large potential for carbon emissions (up to 36.5 million total tons of carbon within the Reserve s old boundaries, with approximately 8 million tons in the extension area).

22. Protection for the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve and other former logging concessions with orangutan habitat needs to be implemented by the government, especially considering that 75% of orangutan populations are found outside protected areas and should be subject to conservation

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actions in accordance with the Indonesian Orangutan Conservation Strategy and Action Plan 2007-2017. Since the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve is also a former logging concession, it could be a model for this purpose.

23. The memorandum of agreement on the creation of a buffer zone around the Reserve, made between BKSDA Central Kalimantan and the District Governments with the two oil palm companies whose concessions bordered the Reserve, could become a model for managing other conservation areas.

24. The collaborative process undertaken to prepare the management plan for the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve

that involved local government, NGOs, communities, and the private sector

could be a model for the preparation of management plans for other conservation areas.

Other general recommendations: ecosystem restoration 25. An information centre (comprising documentation, maps and data) about the history of logging in

former logging concessions is necessary because it is very useful in the implementation of ecosystem restoration in former logging concessions, including restoration of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

Conclusion

This project represented a classical Integrated Conservation and Development Project (or ICDP), in which the conservation activities were integrated closely with community development through capacity building and awareness-raising. Before the project began, illegal logging and forest fires inside the Reserve were out of control, and integration of remedial action programmes among NGOs, local government and central government (BKSDA) had never been undertaken. After the project was implemented, illegal activities inside the Reserve had been successfully suppressed, public awareness about the importance of conserving the Reserve had been raised, and through demonstration projects, communities surrounding the Reserve gained the capacity to generate sufficient sources to lead sustainable livelihoods; whilst inputs were received from the stakeholder meetings to overcome the problems being faced in a collaborative spirit with one vision.

Thus, by greatly decreasing the severity of problems being faced, and generating a stronger and more harmonious level of support from all stakeholders for the conservation of the Reserve, hopefully, BKSDA Central Kalimantan

as the spearhead for implementing the management, with its own resources and with more integrated support from the stakeholders

will be much more capable of managing the Reserve in a sustainable manner in the future.

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Foreword by the Indonesian Minister of Forestry

(from the Project Evaluation and Lessons Learned Report)

Peace be unto you and God s mercy and blessings as well.

Thanks to Almighty God, Creator of the whole universe with all its resources within, who has blessed us to keep on working to preserve the biodiversity of Indonesia.

We welcome the publishing of this booklet that describes in detail the activities for the management and conservation of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem, which were implemented by Orangutan Foundation and Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia as partners of the Agency for Conservation of Natural Resources for Central Kalimantan, supported with funds from the European Union for the period 2007-2011. The existence of this booklet is expected to enrich the discussions and thoughts of various parties regarding the management and preservation of conservation areas in Indonesia along with the biodiversity they contain, especially for the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

Drawing on a variety of experiences and lessons from project activities over the period from 2007-2011, activities for the management of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem in the coming years can become more focused and optimal, which in the end will not only be able to preserve its flora and fauna, but also be of real benefit to the communities.

To manage conservation areas in the future, including wildlife reserves, bearing in mind that the concern of stakeholders has been increasing, there is a growing demand to develop management collaborations.

Collaborative management is one of the requirements in the framework for reducing or eliminating conflicts, along with accommodating the aspirations or wishes of various parties to actively participate in and share the benefits and responsibilities of managing wildlife reserves. The success of carrying out collaborative management is largely determined by the commitment and agreement of all parties having an interest to realise the conservation of natural resources and their ecosystems for the welfare of the communities.

We hope the collaboration and support of various parties for the management of the Reserve will continue to be carried on, in the efforts to maintain and improve the integrity of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem, and in order to support sustainable regional development and improve the living standards of people in the surrounding area.

And peace be with you and God s mercy and blessings.

Jakarta, October 2011

Minister of Forestry Zulkifli Hasan S.E, MM

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Further details for reports

The following reports of the project are available on the Orangutan Foundation website at www.orangutan.org.uk :

1. Final Narrative Report 2007-2011. (This is a technical report following the logical framework and EC grant reporting format.)

2. Project Evaluation Report: Main Achievements 2007-2011 and Lessons Learned for the Future Management of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem. (This is an internal evaluation produced by the Project Management Team.)

This Project Summary document contains the Executive Summary from the above Final Narrative Report, together with the Recommendations, Conclusion and Foreword by the Minister of Forestry from the above Project Evaluation Report and Lessons Learned.

In addition, the following reports are available in pdf format on request from the Orangutan Foundation by e-mail at: info@orangutan.org.uk :

3. Reforestation Report: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem, Period 2007-2011. (Land rehabilitation and reforestation Report documenting the reforestation process).

4. Logging History of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

5. Lessons Learned: Results of Implementation of the Reforestation in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Ecosystem, West Kotawaringin District and Sukamara District, Central Kalimantan Province.

6. Implementation of Demonstration Projects for Communities around the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve Based on an Assessment of their Needs.

7. Project Evaluation Report. (An independent project evaluation prepared by an evaluation team from the National University of Indonesia).

8. Long-term Management Plan for the River Lamandau Wildlife Reserve Period 2011-2011, West Kotawaringin District and Sukamara District, Central Kalimantan. (This document was prepared under a joint decree between the District Governments of Kotawaringin Barat and Sukamara, the Central Kalimantan Bureau for Conservation of Natural Resources [BKSDA-Kalteng], Yayorin and the Orangutan Foundation, and is not an official document of the project. The project provided support to produce and distribute a Bahasa Indonesian version for local stakeholders.)

Except for the Final Narrative Report, the other reports were produced in Bahasa Indonesia and translated into English. They are also available in pdf format on request as follows (laporan berikut di bawah ini dalam format pdf dapat diperoleh dari Orangutan Foundation pada alamat info@orangutan.org.uk ).

9. Laporan Evaluasi Proyek: Capaian Utama 2007-2011 dan Lessons Learned

untuk Masa Depan Pengelolaan Ekosistem Suaka Margasatwa Sungai Lamandau.

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10. Laporan Reforestasi Ekosistem Suaka Margasatwa Sungai Lamandau Periode 2007-2011.

11. Sejarah Pembalakan di Kawasan Suaka Margasatwa Sungai Lamandau.

12. Lessons Learned: Hasil Implementasi Reforestasi di Ekosistem Suaka Margasatwa Sungai Lamandau, Kabupaten Kotawaringin Barat dan Kabupaten Sukamara, Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah.

13. Pelaksanaan Demonstrasi Proyek Untuk Masyarakat di Sekitar Kawasan Suaka Margasatwa Sungai Lamandau Berdasarkan Penilaian Kebutuhan.

14. Laporan Evaluasi Proyek. (Laporan independen yang disusun oleh team evaluasi UNAS.)

15. Rencana Pengelolaan Jangka Panjang Suaka Margasatwa Sungai Lamandau Periode 2011-2020, Kabupaten Kotawaringin Barat dan Kabupaten Sukamara, Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah. (Dokumen ini disusun dibawah SK bersama antara Pemda Kotawaringin Barat, Pemda Sukamara, Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam Kalimantan Tengah (BKSDA-Kalteng), Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia (Yayorin) dan Orangutan Foundation-UK, dan tidak merupakan dokumen resmi dari proyek ini. Namun proyek ini mendukung biaya pengcetakan versi Bahasas Indonesia dan pendistribusiannya kepada para stakeholder lokal.)

Orangutan Foundation 7 Kent Terrace, London NW1 4RP, UK Tel: + 44

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7724 2912 Email: info[at]orangutan.org.uk

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Website: www.orangutan.org.uk

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The Orangutan Foundation is a Private Limited Company registered in England & Wales (Company Number 4624177) with its registered office at 7 Kent Terrace, London, NW1 4RP, Telephone No. 020 7724 2912.

Yayorin Jl. Bhayangkara Km.1, Pangkalan Bun 74112, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia Tel. +62

53229057 Email: info[at]yayorin.org

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Photo gallery

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