Within the framework of the CIFOR/ICRAF/USFS project on underlying causes and impacts offires in South-east Asia, 8 sites were studied in detail by linking spatial data with socioeconomicinformation, to provide a solid basis for a scientific study of the causes and impactsof vegetation fires. This report provides the results of an analysis of the causes and impacts ofvegetation fires in the Musi Banyu Asin (MUBA) coastal swamp area in South SumatraProvince, Sumatra, Indonesia. The 250,000 ha study area can be generally classified as coastalswamps with a fringe of mangroves and nipah (Nypa fruticans) palm situated along the tidalrivers and seacoast. Inland from the coast, most of the swamp forests have disappeared due tologging (both legal and illegal), fires and transmigration development. In 1997, large-scale firesburned up to 45 % of the land area of the site, destroying most of the remaining, albeitdegraded, swamp forest. The largest, single, contiguous burnt area was almost 32,000 ha in sizeproducing much smoke in the process.
Tag: asia
Scaling up the impact of agroforestry: Lessons from three sites in Africa and Asia
This paper assesses recent lessons in scaling up agroforestry benefits, drawing on three case studies: fodder shrubs in Kenya, improved tree fallows in Zambia and natural vegetative strips coupled with the Landcare Movement in the Philippines. Currently more than 15 000 farmers use each of these innovations. Based on an examination of the main factors facilitating their spread, 10 key elements of scaling up are presented. The key elements contributing to impact were a farmer-centered research and extension approach, a range of technical options developed by farmers and researchers, the building of local institutional capacity, the sharing of knowledge and information, learning from successes and failures, and strategic partnerships and facilitation. Three other elements are critical for scaling up: marketing, germplasm production and distribution systems, and policy options. But the performance of the three case-study projects on these was, at best, mixed. As different as the strategies for scaling up are in the three case studies, they face similar challenges. Facilitators need to develop exit strategies, find ways to maintain bottomup approaches in scaling up as innovations spread, assess whether and how successful strategies can be adapted to different sites and countries, examine under which circumstances they should scale up innovations and under which circumstances they should scale up processes, and determine how the costs of scaling up may be reduced.
Are Village Forest licences for rural development or conservation? A case study from Jambi Province, Indonesia
The Government of Indonesia has initiated a forest and agrarian reform process aiming to bring at least 30% of state forests under Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) schemes (10 million ha in 2015, 40 million ha to 2019). Additional elements of this reform process include the restitution of use rights in indigenous territories and resolution of conflict over forest land.Jambi has been seen as a successful province in terms of CBFM development. One of the schemes promoted is called Village Forest (Hutan Desa). A local conservation and development NGO based in Jambi, has supported local governments to extend the Village Forest scheme. It has been recognized as a mechanism to resolve land disputes and for communities to be ready for REDD+. It has also been expected to help increase forest sustainability and improve community welfare.Governmental Regulation PP.49/Menhut-II/2008 sets the legal foundation for the establishment of a Village Forest. The objective is the welfare and development of village communities. The official body supervising the application process is the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, which receives formal proposals from the head of a district that have been drafted by an applicant village.Village Forest areas are state forests managed by a village institution through a management licence for a period of 35 years. The licence is allocated based on the administrative area of the village and can be granted over areas categorized as either ‘protection’ or ‘production’ state forests. In protection forest areas, permitted activities are limited to reforestation, harvesting of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), eco-tourism and protection efforts through REDD+ and rewards for environmental services’ schemes. Inproduction forests, the village community, besides collecting NTFPs, can harvest 50 m3 of timber per year for village use. A village that is granted the licence (Surat Keputusan) is required to establish a committee (Lembaga Pengelola Hutan Desa/LPHD) to manage it. The committee is also responsible for submitting detailed annual (RTHD) and long-term (RKHD) work plans.At the time of writing, more than 30 villages have been granted Village Forest licenses in Jambi Province. However, little research has been done into how villages manage after receiving a licence. This brief analyses the challenges and threats posed by the licence in three villages in Jambi.
Agroforestry management in Sumatra
Indonesia is endowed with rich tropical rainforests in its outer islands, including samatra,kilimatan, and Irian Jaya.These are primary forests covering more than 100 million hectares of the nation and representing 10percent of the worlds remaining tropical forest (World Bank 1998). Rapid deforestation, however, has been taking place in the country which has been the second most conspicuous in the world in terms of lost forest area. FAO (1990)estimates that forest cover of the country had declined from 74 percent to 56 percent uring the past 30-40 years . The World Bank (1990) reports that the estimated deforestation rate was 1 million hectares per year in 1990, which is 67 percent higher than in in 1981.
Landscape Partnership Asia: restoring drylands and drought-prone areas: strategy, vision and roadmap
Description: Landscape Partnership Asia (LPA) is an evolving, multi-stakeholder platform that seeks to implement performance-based investments in restoring Asian drylands and drought-prone areas. Investments will mitigate the climate crisis, build agricultural and environmental resilience, and improve livelihoods through various people-centred solutions such as institutional capacity building, farmer-managed and assisted natural regeneration, and small-to-medium enterprise and value chain development.The Partnership will involve a variety of partners, ranging from public through private to civil society. The Partnership seeks the commitment of funding,implementing, technical and political partners to mobilize resources and capacity to turn large swathes of drylands and drought-prone areas into productive and resilient landscapes. The Partnership will build on scalable restoration successes and complement national efforts to expand and accelerate the achievement of targets.