Carbon-stock estimation in three types of coal post-mining reclamation at East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan

The success of a reclamation process could be evaluated by calculating the carbon stocks in the area. Carbon stock is an ecosystem service that can be assessed quantitatively. The reclamation process in the coal post-mining area in East Kalimantan needs to be assessed by comparing it to the reference area. The aim of this study was to determine the value of carbon stock in the three types of coal post-mining reclamation areas (Type A: without shade trees, Type B: with one species shade trees, Type C: with more than one species of shade trees), then compared to the natural forest area used as the reference site. The research was carried out by making plots inside the reference site and in the reclamation areas, at the tree, poles, and sapling stages. The results were analyzed descriptively and statistically for each reclamation type refer to the conservation area. The results showed that reclamation type C, with older year plant, had higher carbon stock compared to Type B, or Type A, ie. 51.9 t C/ha, 37.8 t C/ha, and 2.9 t C/ha respectively. However, the carbon stock in the three types of reclamation area is still much lower, than the conservation area which reaches 296.8 t C/ha. Thus, the older and more diverse species planted in a reclamation area plant, the higher carbon stock saved. Moreover, planting shade trees can also help increase the value of carbon stocks in a reclamation area

KEBUN RAYA INDROKILO BOYOLALI: KONSERVASI EX-SITU HUTAN HUJAN DATARAN RENDAH JAWA BAGIAN TIMUR

It just took four years for Indrokilo Boyolali Botanical Garden (KRIB) from the initiation to its launching, making it as one of botanical gardens in Indonesia with the fastest development. Despite the young age and the small extent of the garden with only 9,35 ha, KRIB has played the five roles of botanical garden, namely conservation ex-situ, research, education, tourism and ecosystem services. Currently, the garden has 1368 specimens of plant collection belong to 81 families, 196 genera, 278 spesies and 215 of the specimens are still unidentified. Many facilities and point of interests have been built in the garden, among them are the iconic Pasingsingan gate, Mahesa Jenar statue and the replicas of Noah Arch and Niagara waterfall. More than 38.000 visitors have visited KRIB in 2019 alone with some of them are for school excursion and teaching purposes. Two lessons learned from the success story of KRIB when developing a new botanic garden are the high level of commitment by the top leader manifested in budget and institutional policy supports, and the strategic location and ease of accessibility of the garden

Enhancing feasibility: incorporating a socio-ecological systems framework into restoration planning

Forest restoration is the counterforce to deforestation. In many parts of the world it mitigates forest loss and degradation, but success rates vary. Socio-political variables are important predictors of effectiveness of restoration activities, indicating that restoration strategies need to be locally adapted. Yet, contextual assessments of the biophysical, social and political characteristics of forest restoration are rare. Here, we integrate a social-ecological systems framework with systematic decision-making to inform forest restoration planning. We illustrate this approach through a prioritization analysis in a community-based forest restoration context in Paser District, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. We compare the solutions of our integrated framework with those identified on the basis of biophysical criteria alone. We discover that incorporating a socio-political context alters the selection of priority areas. While the social feasibility and political permissibility can be enhanced, ecological benefits are likely to be reduced and/or opportunity costs of alternative land uses are to be increased. Our conceptual framework allows the appraisal of potential trade-offs between social and ecological outcomes of alternative options, and has the potential to evaluate the efficiency of existing policies. Empirical testing in a range of contexts is required to ensure broad applicability and transferability of our conceptual framework

Vegetation diversity and stand carbon stocks in Wana Wisata Tampora, Situbondo, East Java

Forest degradation and industrial development have a negative impact on the global climate. Forest vegetation plays a role in absorbing CO2 emissions in the air. The aims of this research are to determine vegetation community structure, plant diversity indices, and estimation of stands carbon stocks in Wana Wisata Tampora, Situbondo district, East Java. The research was conducted using the transect method and measured the diversity indices including Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H'), richness index (R), and evenness index (E), while the carbon stock was estimated using an allometric equation. The results showed that the diversity index value at the ground cover layer was considered high (3.18), while saplings and trees were moderate (2.68 and 2.60). The results of the stands carbon stocks estimation have shown an average value of 145.94 tonnes/ha. Plant species with high Important Value Index (IVI) and carbon contributor including Schleichera oleosa (83.97 and 56.49 ton/ha), Lannea coromandelica (58.88 and 32.35 ton/ha), Tectona grandis (24.72 and 8.5 ton/ha), Azadirachta indica (20.72 and 8.27 ton/ha), and Acacia nilotica (9.40 and 8.39). The results of the research will be useful for local governments as the basis for the development of Wana Wisata Tampora and the management of flora biodiversity

Evaluating the effectiveness of palm oil certification in delivering multiple sustainability objectives

Industrial oil palm plantations in South East Asia have caused significant biodiversity losses and perverse social outcomes. To address concerns over plantation practices and in an attempt to improve sustainability through market mechanisms, civil society organisations and industry representatives developed the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004. The effectiveness of RSPO in improving the sustainability of the palm oil industry is frequently debated and to date, few quantitative analyses have been undertaken to assess how successful RSPO has been in delivering the social, economic and environmental sustainability outcomes it aims to address. With the palm oil industry continuing to expand in South East Asia and significant estates being planted in Africa and South America, this paper evaluates the effectiveness of RSPO plantations compared to non-certified plantations by assessing the relative performance of several key sustainability metrics compared to business as usual practices. Using Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) as a case study, a novel dataset of RSPO concessions was developed and causal analysis methodologies employed to evaluate the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the industry. No significant difference was found between certified and non-certified plantations for any of the sustainability metrics investigated, however positive economic trends including greater fresh fruit bunch yields were revealed. To achieve intended outcomes, RSPO principles and criteria are in need of substantial improvement and rigorous enforcement

Ecological Analysis of Community and Private Partnership in Tree Planting Program to Rehabilitate Degraded Lands: A Case Study in East Java, Indonesia

Community and private partnership (CPP) in tree planting initiative is potential to accelerate rehabilitation of degraded lands. Yet, empirical studies to analyse such programs are limited. Here, we analysed a CPP tree planting program in East Java, Indonesia by focusing on ecological aspects, i.e. vegetation cover changes, floristic diversity, above-ground carbon storage, and soil and microclimate conditions. Results showed that there was a striking increase in vegetation cover, yielding  a total carbon sequestration of 3,853 tons, or equivalent to the reduction of 14,140 tons of CO2 emissions. On the other hand, co-benefits in term of floristic diversity at a landscape scale was low, and soil and micro-climate conditions were still marginal. This study provided empirical evidence that collaboration between communities and private entities in tree planting program can be effective in rehabilitation of degraded lands. Improvement in land management systems applied in tree planting through the implementation of mixed gardens or complex agroforestry is suggested if aiming for co-benefits in floristic diversity and soil properties. Our study recommends a broader adoption of a similar scheme in rehabilitation of degraded lands across Indonesia

Does oil palm agriculture help alleviate poverty? A multidimensional counterfactual assessment of oil palm development in Indonesia

Palm oil producing countries regularly promote the positive impact of oil palm agriculture on poverty alleviation, despite limited evidence about the contribution of this crop on village well-being. Past evaluations that quantify the social impact of oil palm are dominated by localized studies, which complicate the detection of generalizable findings. Moreover, only a few of these evaluations are based on rigorous case-control studies, which limits the robustness of the conclusions. Here we examined the association between the development of oil palm plantations and change in objective or material well-being between 2000 and 2014 across villages in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. We applied a matching method to evaluate the impacts of oil palm plantations across different aspects of well-being, accounting for varying time delays in the accrual and realization of benefits after plantation development. Our study reveals that the social impacts of oil-palm plantations are not uniformly positive, nor negative, and have varied systematically with biophysical locations and baseline socioeconomic conditions of nearby communities prior to oil palm development. Plantations developed in villages with low to moderate forest cover, in which the majority of communities already relied on market-oriented livelihoods, were associated with improved socioeconomic well-being compared to villages without oil palm development. However, we found the opposite for plantations developed in remote villages with higher forest cover, in which the majority of communities previously relied on subsistence-based livelihoods. Overall, oil palm growing villages were more associated with reduced rate of improvement of social and environmental well-being compared to villages without oil palm development, regardless of location and baseline community livelihoods. Our findings highlight an urgent need for careful evaluation and planning in the development of oil palm agriculture in remote forested areas. For oil palm regions that have been developed, our study shows that unsustainable livelihoods, increased socioeconomic disparity, and environmental issues remain major challenges

Changing landscapes, livelihoods and village welfare in the context of oil palm development

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals underscore the need for improved understanding of relationships between changes in landscapes, livelihoods, and social welfare, and how these relate to tackling poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. Such assessments are especially relevant in the context of oil palm agricultural expansion, which has rapidly replaced traditional livelihoods and generates ongoing political debates around the world. Proponents of the oil palm industry have used economic objectives to justify expansion, while opponents have raised the negative socioecological impacts on communities. To assist the debate, we assessed the association between the change in land-uses and climate, the change in village primary livelihoods towards monocultural oil palm cultivation, and the change in village welfare after adopting oil palm across Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, between 2000 and 2014. We show that the change in village primary livelihoods towards monocultural oil palm cultivation during this period was associated with complex interrelations between the expansion of agricultural industries, and conducive climate and market conditions for supporting agricultural production. The shift to oil palm monoculture brought significant economic benefit to villages, but this was limited to those with past exposure to plantation management and the market economy, such as in polyculture plantation villages. For villages where the majority of communities practiced traditional subsistence-based livelihoods (farming, foraging and fishing), the economic benefit from a shift to oil palm lasted only a few years after transition, while the socioecological welfare deteriorated. Furthermore, the shift to oil palm monoculture jeopardized food security among these subsistence livelihood villages. Baseline economic and socioecological conditions of villages, therefore, critically determine the success of the oil palm sector in providing economic benefits over the long term. Our study urgently calls for considering oil palm development objectives not only in terms of regional economic gain, but also the future maintenance of socioecological welfare of village communities

Analyzing procedural equity in government-led community-based forest management

Participatory approaches to forest management have been promoted as a means of returning rights historically removed, and as a way of managing natural resources sustainably, fairly, and to improve livelihoods in communities. Top-down models of community-based forest management take the perspective that if people feel ownership over, have a voice in decisions about, and can benefit from surrounding ecosystems, then they will be motivated to maintain and protect them. However, even participatory approaches, such as community-based forest management, may not always result in clear positive outcomes for involvement in decision making and forest conservation. We examine whether an Indonesian government initiative for community-based forest management was positively associated with community members' participation in local decision making and support for conservation and sustainable management of forest resources, in the context of state-owned lands. We used household questionnaire data to compare villages with and without a community forest, and community forests over time in a case study region of West Kalimantan. Analyzing forest visitations, conservation support, and indicators of procedural equity, we found no consistent association between having a community forest and higher levels of participation in decision making or household support for forest conservation. However, well-being indicators were positively associated with more active participation. The level of support for forest conservation was also positively related to households' leadership in village institutions and higher levels of well-being, particularly subjective well-being, land tenure, and material wealth. These social-demographic factors are important considerations when designing and implementing community-based forest management, which strives for fair and just decision-making processes along with forest conservation. The findings highlight how existing socioeconomic contexts factor into local institutions, and that accounting for these in program design and implementation may help address existing social inequalities that influence achieving joint social and ecological objectives

Heterogeneous impacts of community forestry on forest conservation and poverty alleviation: evidence from Indonesia

1. Community forestry is a participatory approach aiming to achieve sustainable forest management while also reducing poverty among rural communities. Yet, evidence of the impacts of community forestry programmes on both forest conservation and poverty alleviation is scarce, and there is limited understanding of impacts across different social and biophysical contexts. 2. We applied a matching method to assess the extent to which deforestation has decreased and village well‐being has improved as a result of Indonesia's community forestry scheme, Hutan Desa (Village Forest). We assessed five dimensions of well‐being: basic (living conditions), physical (access to health and education), financial (income support), social (security and equity) and environmental (natural hazard prevention). 3. We found that Hutan Desa was associated with reduced deforestation and poverty. ‘Win‐win’ outcomes were found in 51% of cases, comprising (a) positive outcomes for both forests and poverty, (b) a positive outcome for one aspect and a negligible outcome for the other, or (c) a positive outcome for poverty in areas where natural forest had already been lacking prior to Hutan Desa tenure. Benefits to forests and people systematically differed depending on land‐use zones, reflecting subtle interactions between anthropogenic pressures and community livelihood characteristics. 4. In Watershed Protection Zones, which are dominated by subsistence‐based forest livelihoods, community forestry provided mild conservation benefits, but resulted in the greatest improvements in well‐being through improved land tenure. In Limited Production Zones, community forestry provided modest benefits for both conservation and well‐being because restrictions on timber harvest due to Hutan Desa designation reduced the financial well‐being of logging communities. The greatest conservation benefits were experienced in Permanent or Convertible Production Zones, but well‐being improvements were minimal. Here, living conditions and environmental well‐being were reduced due to pressure to intensify agricultural production under increased land scarcity in these predominantly cash crop‐oriented communities. 5. Our results highlight the spatial and contextual variation in impacts of community forestry policies on poverty alleviation and forest conservation outcomes. Crucially, our study provides vital objective information for future policy development in Indonesia and other tropical countries implementing community forestry schemes