Forest Products and Local Forest Management in West Kalimantan, Indonesia: Implications for Conservation and Development ISBN 90-5113-056-2 ISSN 1383-6811 © 2002 Tropenbos International The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Tropenbos International No part of this publication, apart from bibliographic data and brief quotations in critical reviews, may be reproduced, re-recorded or published in any form including print photocopy, microform, electronic or electromagnetic record without written permission. Cover photo (inset) : Dayaks in East Kalimantan (Wil de Jong) Printed by : Ponsen en Looijen BV, Wageningen, the Netherlands FOREST PRODUCTS AND LOCAL FOREST MANAGEMENT IN WEST KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT Wil de Jong Tropenbos International Wageningen, the Netherlands 2002 Tropenbos Kalimantan Series The Tropenbos Kalimantan Series present the results of studies and research activities related to sustainable use and conservation of forest resources in Indonesia. The multi-disciplinary MOF-Tropenbos Kalimantan Programme operates within the framework of Tropenbos International. Executing Indonesian agency is the Forestry Research Institute Samarinda (FRIS), governed by the Forestry Research and Development Agency (FORDA) of the Ministry of Forestry (MOF) Tropenbos International Wageningen The Netherlands Ministry of Forestry Indonesia Centre for International Forest Research Bogor Indonesia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The field research that lead to this volume was funded by Tropenbos International and by the Rainforest Alliance through their Kleinhans Fellowship. While conducting the fieldwork, between 1992 and 1995, the author was a Research Associate at the New York Botanical Garden’s Institute for Economic Botany. The research was made possible through the Tanjungpura University, Pontianak, and the Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia. While conducted the fieldwork, the author received valuable assistance from the Social Forestry Development Project in Sanggau, West Kalimantan and its, then, team leader Ernst Kuester. Since 1995 the author has been a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research. A number of people have helped reviewing chapters of this volume. Mirjam Ros- Tonen, Tom Schroeder, Wim Dijkman and Freerk Wiersum reviewed the full draft of the volume. Arild Angelsen reviewed Chapter Three. Doug Sheil, Herman Savenije and Paul Burger reviewed Chapter Five, Arild Angelsen and David Kaimowitz reviewed Chapter Six, Eivind Sandbukt reviewed Chapter Seven and Carol Colfer reviewed Chapter Eight. SUMMARY Rural forest managers in tropical countries have used and traded forest products as long as historical annals recorded this. They also conserved forest for the sake of sustaining the supply of these forest products. These realities have drawn the attention to forest commodities among development and conservation practitioners. It was expected that increasing forest product trade could increase the income of the rural poor living in or close to tropical forests. The international tropical forest conservation movement, in turn, foresaw that commercialisation of forest products could contribute to conserving tropical forests. This volume critically investigates the proposition that commercialisation of forest products contributes to both enhancing people’s income and to conservation of tropical forests, using evidence from a case study from West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The volume draws the main conclusion that promoting commercialisation of forest products often leads to a shift of the dominance of this trade by outside entrepreneurs. Even where local people manage to control the trade, the conservation impact on tropical forests is only indirect. By studying detailed examples of local forest management in three indigenous villages in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, the volume concludes that the conservation of tropical forests through forest products commercialisation is most likely to happen when local producers shift to active management of forest products in anthropogenic forests. The long-term impact of such local forest management depends importantly on how local or regional economies develop. Land use intensification may take place on some parts in the landscape, whereas previously intensively managed forests may be left to themselves. Seven chapters that discuss different aspects of forest product trade and forest management in West Kalimantan support these conclusions. Indigenous swidden agriculturists in Kalimantan usually incorporate forest management in their portfolio of economic activities. This type of land-use, however, is closely integrated with the swidden agriculture cycle as it competes for land and labour. Management of swidden fallow secondary forests may include conversion towards extensive tree crop production when there is the threat that fallow land may turn into Imperata grasslands. Conversion of swidden fallow land into extensively managed rubber gardens may lead to an effective increase of land under forests. Specific forest management practices, like protection and tending of trees in which honey bees nest, can be used in reforestation efforts. Some of these types of managed forests maintain a complex structure and species diversity that is sufficiently high to consider their contribution to conservation. RINGKASAN HASIL HUTAN DAN PENGOLOLAN HUTAN LOKAL DI KALIMANTAN BARAT, INDONESIA: IMPLIKASI UNTUK KONSERVASI DAN PEMBANGUNAN Para pengelola hutan di negara-negara tropis sudah memanfaatkan dan melakukan perdagangan berbagai jenis hasil hutan sejak lama sekali ketika sejarah mulai mencatat kegiatan ini. Mereka ini juga melestarikan hutan supaya berbagai hasil hutan yang berasal dari dalamnya dapat diambil terus-menerus. Kenyataan ini telah menarik perhatian terhadap komoditas hasil hutan di kalangan para praktisi pembangunan konservasi. Peningkatan perdagangan hasil hutan diharapkan dapat memperbaiki pendapatan masyarakat pedesaan yang tinggal di dalam atau di sekitar hutan tropis. Kalangan internasional dalam gerakan konservasi hutan tropis juga melihat bahwa komersialisasi berbagai jenis hasil hutan berpotensi untuk memberikan sumbangan bagi konservasi hutan tropis. Publikasi ini berusaha melakukan investigasi secara kritis mengenai pandangan bahwa komersialisasi berbagai jenis hasil hutan berpotensi meningkatkan pendapatan bagi masyarakat dan juga bagi konservasi hutan tropis, dengan menggunakan bukti-bukti dari suatu studi kasus di Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia. Tulisan ini menyimpulkan bahwa promosi komersialisasi berbagai jenis hasil hutan sering menyebabkan perdagangan ini menjadi lebih didominasi oleh kalangan pengusaha dari luar. Bahkan ketika penduduk lokal sanggup mengontrol perdagangan ini, dampaknya bagi konservasi hutan tropis hanya bersifat tidak langsung. Dengan mempelajari contoh-contoh pengelolaan hutan oleh penduduk lokal secara mendetail di tiga desa di Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia, dapat disimpulkan bahwa konservasi hutan tropis melalui komersialisasi berbagai jenis hasil hutan kemungkinan besar hanya terjadi ketika para produsen lokal terlibat aktif dalam pengelolaan berbagai hasil hutan di hutan-hutan yang dikelola manusia. Dampak jangka panjang dari pengelolaan hutan secara lokal ini sangat bergantung pada bagaimana perekonomian lokal dan regional berkembang. Intensifikasi pemanfaatan lahan mungkin terjadi di sebagian dari lanskap, sementara hutan yang sebelumnya dikelola secara intensif mungkin akan dibiarkan saja. Tujuh bab dalam buku yang menguraikan berbagai aspek yang berbeda dari perdagangan hasil hutan dan pengelolaan hutan di Kalimantan Barat ini mendukung kesimpulan di atas. Para peladang berpindah asli di Kalimantan umumnya juga melakukan kegiatan pengelolaan hutan dalam portfolio kegiatan perekonomian mereka. Namun jenis pemanfaatan lahan seperti ini terkait erat dengan rotasi dalam sistem peladangan berpindah karena kedua kegiatan ini (pengelolaan hutan dan berladang) saling bersaing dalam hal lahan dan tenaga yang diperlukan. Pengelolaan hutan sekunder yang sedang diberakan mungkin juga dilakukan dengan melakukan konversi untuk penanaman tanaman perdagangan, khususnya jika ada potensi ancaman bahwa lahan bera ini akan beralih menjadi lahan alang-alang (Imperata). Konversi lahan yang sedang diberakan menjadi kebun karet yang dikelola secara intensif mungkin akan meningkatkan luas lahan yang ditumbuhi hutan. Praktik- praktik pengelolaan hutan secara khusus, seperti perlindungan dan pemeliharaan pohon-pohon yang digunakan sebagai tempat bersarang lebah, dapat dimanfaatkan dalam upaya penghutanan kembali. 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