Optimising land use in Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia : modelling ecosystem benefits and land use dynamics

The rising global population has increased the demand for food, renewable energy and other materials. Yet at the same time to meet this demand requires land and the amount of available land is finite. Considering the importance of land and ecosystems in providing benefits for human, I conducted four independent research on the socio-economic and biophysical aspects of ecosystem service, in Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The first three independent studies were used to understand ecosystem management under decentralised forest governance in Indonesia and its influence on ecosystems, ESs and the benefits that different beneficiaries receive. The fourth study combines the outcomes from the previous three studies to assess and select the most appropriate areas for conservation and community development. As the results, I show the applicability of the ecosystem services concept and land-use modelling in optimising land-use under certain decentralised forest governance systems. My thesis’ results were obtained through the application of methods and steps that integrated a comprehensive set of qualitative and quantitative analyses to support land-use optimisation in the Kapuas Protected Forest Management Unit. My results can inform decision makers on the options of land-use optimisation and the consequences of their management decisions regarding land-use intensification, nature conservation and local economic conditions. I show how land-use optimisation provides an important step in preventing further land degradation and ecosystem loss

Who Benefits from Ecosystem Services? A Case Study for Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

There is increasing experience with the valuation of ecosystem services. However, to date, less attention has been devoted to who is actually benefiting from ecosystem services. This nevertheless is a key issue, in particular, if ecosystem services analysis and valuation is used to support environmental management. This study assesses and analyzes how the monetary benefits of seven ecosystem services are generated in Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, are distributed to different types of beneficiaries. We analyze the following ecosystem services: (1) timber production; (2) rattan collection; (3) jelutong resin collection; (4) rubber production (based on permanent agroforestry systems); (5) oil palm production on three management scales (company, plasma farmer, and independent smallholder); (6) paddy production; and (7) carbon sequestration. Our study shows that the benefits generated from these services differ markedly between the stakeholders, which we grouped into private, public, and household entities. The distribution of these benefits is strongly influenced by government policies and in particular benefit sharing mechanisms. Hence, land-use change and policies influencing land-use change can be expected to have different impacts on different stakeholders. Our study also shows that the benefits generated by oil palm conversion, a main driver for land-use change in the province, are almost exclusively accrued by companies and at this point in time are shared unequally with local stakeholders.</p

Governance, Decentralisation and Deforestation: The Case of Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

The implementation of the decentralisation policies in Indonesia, which started in 2000, has fundamentally changed the country’s forest governance framework. This study investigates how decentralisation has influenced forest governance, and links the forest governance to deforestation rates at the district level. We measure and compare the quality of forest governance in 11 districts in Central Kalimantan province in the periods 2000-2005 and 2005-2010 and relate forest governance to deforestation rate. This study shows that decentralisation has led to marked differences in forest governance between districts and that deforestation rates is strongly related to the change of forest governance. We recommend revisiting the Indonesian forest governance framework to ensure more checks and balances in decision making, better monitoring and increased transparency, with particular support for Forest Management Units as a new tool for forest management, and government support to facilitate the design and implementation of REDD+ projects

Effects of soil subsidence on plantation agriculture in Indonesian peatlands

Several million hectares of Indonesian peatlands have been converted to plantations, with oil palm being the most important plantation crop. This has contributed to the economic development of Indonesia. At the same time, it poses environmental challenges. An as yet insufficiently understood concern is that the drainage required for cultivation of peatlands causes soil subsidence. Subsidence progressively increases flood risks in plantations and will, over time, render peatlands unsuitable for cultivation since oil palm and other plantation crops are sensitive to waterlogged conditions. This paper assesses subsidence and flood risk in the main peatlands of Sumatra, and examines when peatlands will become unfit for crop production. We show that, under current management, 21% of oil palm production will be lost due to flooding, and 17% of oil palm plantations in East Sumatran peatlands will become unfit for agriculture in the coming 30 years. Over time, all peatlands will be lost for agriculture. With reduced drainage, these effects can be postponed, but not avoided. In the medium and long term, the only sustainable and economically profitable option for Indonesia is to use peatlands for no-drainage land use including crops that do not require drainage (paludiculture). This also strongly reduces the carbon footprint of cultivating in peatlands. Profitable no-drainage land use options have been tested, but their scaling up urgently needs further support from the government, industry, and international donors to materialize

Mapping monetary values of ecosystem services in support of developing ecosystem accounts

Ecosystem accounting has been proposed as a comprehensive, innovative approach to natural capital accounting, and basically involves the biophysical and monetary analysis of ecosystem services in a national accounting framework. Characteristic for ecosystem accounting is the spatial approach taken to analyzing ecosystem services. This study examines how ecosystem services can be valued and mapped, and presents a case study for Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Four provisioning services (timber, palm oil, rattan, and paddy rice), one regulating service (carbon sequestration), and two cultural services (nature recreation, and wildlife habitat) are valued and mapped in a way that allows integration with national accounts. Two valuation approaches consistent with accounting are applied: the resource rent and cost-based approaches. This study also shows how spatial analysis of ecosystem accounting can support land use planning through a comprehensive analysis of value trade-offs from land conversion

Participatory modelling to improve partnership schemes for future Community-Based Forest Management in Sumbawa District, Indonesia

As part of its Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) Programme, the local government of Sumbawa District in West Nusa Tenggara Province of Eastern Indonesia initiated a partnership programme between the Forestry District Agency and tree grower cooperatives in 2002. The partnership scheme aims to reduce illegal logging and forest encroachment on abandoned state plantations initially developed in 1986. However, the cooperatives have no secure full rights to harvest the mature teak trees (Tectona grandis) inside the plantations, as important incentives to maintain their commitment. This paper aims to explore the potential benefits of different scenarios, as the basis for convincing the Ministry of Forestry (MoF) to give full secure rights to the local communities. In this study, we used a participatory modelling approach, to identify problems and to define future scenarios of partnership arrangements with the local key stakeholders. This research used the concept of system dynamics modelling, which included the two concepts of systems thinking and resilience. As a management tool, the visualisation of the management alternatives and their associated impacts had stimulated the community's awareness of the importance of protecting the teak plantations from illegal logging and forest encroachment. The simulation results have also shown how granting local communities a full secure access to manage the state forest does not necessarily reduce the revenue for the government at all levels

Land-use trade-offs in the Kapuas peat forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Forest ecosystems provide benefits to people locally and globally. Sustainable management of forest resources is required to ensure continued supply of these benefits, but complex social-ecological processes are often a constraint to the design of such forest management strategies. In this study, we developed a model of adaptive forest zonation to facilitate forest ecosystem management. We employed the ecosystem services concept and a land-use change model to identify potential areas for conservation and for economic use in the Kapuas Protected Forest Management Unit in Indonesia. Local people actively participated in this study to jointly define management zones and stakeholders’ associated rights and responsibilities. Our results show that a stakeholder agreement facilitated the reduction of threats to forest ecosystems and increased local awareness of the need for forest ecosystem conservation. Compared to current forest zonation, we show that the availability of an economic development zone in adaptive forest zonation could potentially increase ecosystem benefits for local communities by about 40% through rattan and jelutong collection and agroforestry rubber and jelutong production. Although our results are specific for the Kapuas District, the methodology of adaptive forest zonation can be applied more generally. We recommend our methods be included in guidelines for zonation and management plans to help improve sustainable forest management practices of all forest management units in Indonesia

Independent oil palm smallholder management practices and yields : Can RSPO certification make a difference?

Smallholders are a substantial part of the oil palm sector and thus are key to achieving more sustainable production. However, so far their yields remain below potential. The Roundtable on Sustainable Oil Palm (RSPO) aims to include smallholders in sustainability certification to strengthen rural livelihoods and reduce negative environmental impacts. This study aims to determine if and how certified smallholders perform differently from their non-certified counterparts in terms of management practices and yields, and to what extent this is related to RSPO certification. Certified smallholders had significantly better management practices in terms of planting material (tenera) and fertiliser use (16.8 vs 4.8 bags ha-1 yr-1) and had significantly higher yields (22.5 vs 14.5 ton fresh fruit bunches ha-11 yr-11, corrected for palm age). Planting material and harvesting frequency significantly explained higher yields. These differences could not be attributed to certification per se but were probably due to pre-certification conditions, including strong group organisation. It remains a question as to how sustainability certification can be a driver of change by including smallholders who have relatively larger yield gaps, and who lag behind in eligibility criteria for certification