SAVING INDONESIAN TROPICAL RAINFORESTS: HUTAN DESA VILLAGE FOREST

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Indonesia, in Southeast Asia, is in a precarious position. The tropical rainforests are its greatest natural resource and they are also the most threatened. Some Indonesian tropical rainforest areas are utilised for timber harvesting and oil palm cultivation. Slash and burn land clearance is the easiest and most economical way to remove vegetation from an area slated for oil palm cultivation or other forms of agriculture. Legal resource extraction and illegal exploitation activities continue to threaten the areas. Early in 2011, the Indonesian government approved the conversion of 3 million hectares (about 30,000 square kilometers; or 7,413,161 acres; or about 11,583 square miles) of tropical rainforests, of which 1 million hectares will be used for industrial plantation to pulp and paper production. HUTAN DESA VILLAGE FORESTS Hutan desa (village forest) regulations create permanent forest estates and address forest management and village inhabitant livelihood interests. Lubuk Beringin in Bungo district, Jambi Province, Sumatra, was the first village in Indonesia to receive this protection status. The Jambi villagers fought hard to have a 2008 law activated, which protects lands as hutan desa areas. Land ownership rights and unclear boundaries are contentious is sues in Indonesia. Sometimes, the disagreements become violent and deadly. Hutan desa is a means to attempt to reduce or alleviate land rights and property line disputes. It is a long, slow, and difficult process for villagers to have their land classified as hutan desa. They must use their own financial means to apply for permits, and must delineate the area they are claiming. The villagers plea their case to authorities, while industries with greater

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financial resources also attempt to make claims to acquire the same land. CONSERVATION FUNDING Financial funding from Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) sources may provide leverage for the villagers to lobby for land-use rights and protection. REDD is a United Nations program launched in 2008 to assist developing countries prepare and implement national REDD+ strategies, and builds on the convening power and expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (UNREDD). The REDD framework finances and supports global tropical rainforest conservation programs. As with all conservation projects, financial capital is always need to sustain the global program. Tropical rainforest conservation initiatives and funding from private, commercial, and governmental sources all contribute to ecosystem protection and help to preserve the way of life for the indigenous people. Funding also helps the people to become self-sufficient.