Advocacy groups in West Kalimantan are focusing their energies on the oil palm sector and environmental and social conflicts, but industrial forest permits (HTI) that sustain the pulp and paper industry could also be playing an equal role in such issues.
Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) West Kalimantan chapter director Anton P. Widjaya said 47 HTIs spanning 2.3 million hectares had been issued in West Kalimantan. He added that 360 villages were located inside the HTI concession areas.
“Advocacy for pulp and paper is a new thing for us, so we must learn from local and international circles,” he told The Jakarta Post recently on the sidelines of a Consolidation Workshop for Civil Society Advocacy for Pulp and Paper, organized by Walhi in Pontianak.
HTIs have the potential to trigger human rights violations, horizontal conflicts and limit access to farmland for the local community.
There are also impacts on the environment due to clear cutting during forest conversion, allowing HTI concession holders to harvest timber before planting it.
“They then plant trees of fast-growing varieties, such as acasia and jabon, which can be harvested in just four or five years time,” said Anton.
In the workshop, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) Asia director Laf Cadio suggested campaigns as a form of advocacy.
Cadio said the international community was very concerned with basic human rights issues and environmental sustainability.
“International buyers should be advised not to buy pulp material originating from social and environmental controversies, and advocacy should be given to well-known companies so the effects can be telling,” said Cadio.
He warned that market campaigns alone might not resolve the problems, but were one of several strategies. Moreover, the demand for paper is so high, while law enforcement at the local level remains very low.
He said advocacy should also be encouraged at the local level, which allows changes in government policies to be more in favor of the people and fairer law enforcement on social and environmental perspectives.
“The local community living around HTI concessions should be empowered. Advocacy groups should conduct studies, lobby policymakers and enhance communications with the media,” said Cadio.
Greenpeace Asia forest campaigner Zulfahmi said huge profits derived by the pulp industry had encouraged new Asian investors whose environment perspectives were unclear.
“The investors no longer come from Europe and the US. Recently, a bank in China disbursed its capital. We don’t know whether or not it cares about the environment,” said Zulfahmi.
In his experience of providing advocacy in Sumatra, none of the HTI concession holders could be brought to court as the cases only involved individuals from the companies, mostly employees.
Walhi West Kalimantan once dealt with a criminal case in a HTI concession area in Sejirak village, Sintang regency, in 2010, when a concession holder filed a report against members of the community who were cultivating land in the concession area.
Walhi West Kalimantan staff member Hendrikus Adam, who was then providing advocacy to the residents, said 13 villagers were detained by the Sintang Police.
Adam said they were cultivating land inside HTI concession areas but added the farmers could not be blamed right away.
“Access to farmland for the residents is getting smaller, forcing them to cultivate inside HTI concession areas. They have no other alternatives to seek a living, and no one cares about their future,” he said.
Walhi focuses on advocacy amid pulp and paper tensions
Most popular
-
News / Policy & Finance
Singapore rolls out new industry benchmark for sustainable finance skills
As the city-state seeks to expand its sustainable finance workforce over the next few years, the sector’s national … -
News / Energy
Half a million hectares of Indonesian forest under threat from nickel mining, study finds
The race to electrify transport is causing extensive deforestation in Indonesia, a Mighty Earth report finds. Will the … -
News / Policy & Finance
‘There shouldn’t be an international tradeable unit of biodiversity’: The Nature Conservancy CEO
Jennifer Morris, who heads up the global conservation outfit, rules out preserving nature through internationally traded biodiversity credits … -
News / Waste Management
Hong Kong single-use plastic ban stirs debate over affordability of alternatives
The city's disposable tableware ban which comes into force today has spooked small retailers who fret about the … -
News / Carbon & Climate
Innovations in cricket protein and aviation fuel win The Liveability Challenge 2024
Ideas from Vietnam and the Netherlands claimed the grand prizes at the sustainability innovation competition for the first … -
News / Energy
Carbon credits for coal phase-out likely not price competitive against wider market, need state buyers: CIX chief
Energy storage and just transition costs would make such novel credits several times more expensive than the typical …