Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA)
Protecting orangutan habitats, increasing forest carbon stocks, and empowering local communities through sustainable livelihoods and community-based forest management.
Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA)
Introduction
The Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) Kalimantan is a cooperation program between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the United States, established through a debt-for-nature swap mechanism to support forest conservation, particularly in Kalimantan. The agreement was signed on 29 September 2011, with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia (WWF Indonesia) serving as Swap Partners. The program funds are administered by the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Yayasan Keanekaragaman Hayati Indonesia, or KEHATI).
The TFCA Kalimantan Program aims to protect important biodiversity, improve the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities, reduce emissions and forest deforestation and degradation, and support the implementation of REDD+ in Indonesia. The program aligns with and supports the Berau Forest Carbon Program (PKHB), a partnership involving the Berau Regency Government in East Kalimantan, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), other government institutions, non-governmental organizations, and donor agencies. Together, these partners seek to develop a pilot program to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and increase carbon stocks through sustainable forest management, forest conservation, ecosystem restoration, and forest rehabilitation (REDD+).
To support the objectives of the TFCA Kalimantan Program and the Berau Forest Carbon Program, Yayasan Operasi Wallacea Terpadu (OWT) signed a grant agreement with KEHATI under Contract No. 001/02/01/02/234569/TFCA2/CYC.1/IV/2014, dated 4 April 2014. The project, entitled “Developing a Community-Based Management Model for the Sungai Lesan Protected Forest (HLSL),” was initially implemented over a period of 4.5 years, from 1 June 2014 to 31 December 2018.
The project had three main objectives:
Protecting and improving the productivity of the HLSL landscape as a source of carbon stocks and sequestration, environmental services, biodiversity, and watershed protection.
Developing sustainable, low-emission, non-extractive livelihoods based on non-timber forest products (NTFPs), crop cultivation, ecotourism, and renewable energy.
Replicating good practices in HLSL management at the regional and national levels.
Expected Project Outcomes
The project, facilitated by OWT, sought to achieve eight outcomes:
Strengthened natural resource governance at village and regency levels.
Secured the status of the Sungai Lesan Forest as a protected forest area.
Increased carbon stocks and carbon sequestration.
Reduced land-use and forest-area conflicts.
Increased environmental conservation initiatives led by communities, students, teachers, local community groups and NGOs, and the private sector.
Increased the income of communities living around HLSL.
Replicated good natural resource management practices beyond the project area.
Established sustainable financing for HLSL management.
Over time, the HLSL ecosystem, one of the important watersheds in Berau Regency, has become increasingly surrounded by oil palm plantations. Expansion over the preceding two years had opened up the forest's buffer zone, which naturally served as a core orangutan habitat, although the area was legally classified as Areal Penggunaan Lain (APL), or Other Land Use Area. This change intensified human–orangutan conflict, with orangutans increasingly moving along roads in search of food and feeding on young oil palm shoots, including those on PT Global's plantations. The opening of the buffer zone also provided easier access for illegal loggers, further threatening the protected forest.
Forest clearing and other pressures around HLSL over the same period seriously affected the habitats of several important wildlife species, particularly orangutans. This was indicated by the discovery of numerous nests and orangutans outside the forest area, especially along the Sidobangen–Merapun village boundary in the Amporo area, near the Kelay–Samarinda provincial road.
Research also indicated a decline in reported orangutan population density in HLSL: 3.69 individuals/km² (Plasma Nutfah, 2005), 1.564 individuals/km² (TNC, 2006), 1.73 individuals/km² (OWT, 2015), and 0.39 individuals/km² (BKSDA East Kalimantan, 2017). Without coordinated action, these pressures could further reduce the viability of the HLSL orangutan population and worsen human–orangutan conflict, a highly sensitive conservation issue.
In response to emerging challenges in protecting and conserving HLSL, OWT recognized that the original project period, scheduled to end in December 2018, would not provide sufficient time to address the new management issues. OWT therefore submitted a proposal for a No-Cost Extension (NCE). The proposal was approved by the TFCA Kalimantan Administrator through an addendum to Contract No. 001B/02/01/02/234569/TFCA2/CYC.1/XI/2018, dated 16 November 2018, extending the project period from 1 January to 31 October 2019.
The TFCA project was implemented in four core villages—Sidobangen, Lesan Dayak, Merapun, and Muara Lesan—and four replication villages: Panaan, Merabu, Long Gie, and Merasa. The project adopted four implementation phases to achieve its objectives:
Diagnostic Study Phase: Assessed existing initiatives, identified gaps, determined key interventions requiring initiation or strengthening, and established baseline conditions.
Capacity-Building Phase: Strengthened the capacities of communities, village governments, village facilitators, and local partners through training, mentoring, outreach, and technical assistance.
Collaborative Management Phase: Established collaborative management arrangements involving relevant stakeholders to support the achievement of project objectives.
Exit Strategy Phase: Gradually phased out project facilitation to ensure that communities and stakeholders could independently continue the initiatives and support provided by the project.
Achivement
Over the approximately five-year project implementation period, 99% of planned activities were achieved, covering the following activities:
(1) Diagnostic Studies, including: a Study on the Capacity Status of Village Governments; the Status of HLSL Designation; the Status of the HLSL Ecosystem; the Environmental Awareness Status of Communities Surrounding HLSL; the Livelihood Status of Local Communities; a Survey on the Potential for Micro-Hydropower Plants (PLTMH); a Study on the HLSL Orangutan Population; a Study on the Potential HLSL Wildlife Corridor; a Study on the Potential Threats of Invasive Plants around HLSL; and a Study on HLSL Carbon Stocks.
(2) Capacity Building, including: Training on Nursery Development and Seedling Production; Training on Organic Fertilizer and Pesticide Production; Training on Edible Mushroom Cultivation; Training on Palm Sugar Production; Training on Watershed Management and Rehabilitation; Training on Village-Owned Enterprise (BUMDes) Management; Training on the Preparation of Village Medium-Term Development Plans (RPJMDes) and Village Regulations (Perdes); Gender Training; Proposal Writing Training; Village Financial Administration Training; Land Rehabilitation Training; Participatory Mapping Training; Forest Health Monitoring Training; Forest Carbon Stock Calculation and Measurement Training; Mangar Tea Production Training; Plastic Waste Craft Training; Ecotourism Management and Tour Package Development Training; Forest Protection Training; Graphic Design and Filmmaking Training; and others.
(3) Collaborative Management, including: the establishment of village nurseries at seven locations (Sidobangen, Lesan Dayak, Muara Lesan, Panaan, Longgie, Merabu, and SMK 4 Berau); assistance with edible mushroom (white oyster mushroom) cultivation in Sidobangen; agroforestry assistance in Sidobangen, Muara Lesan, Lesan Dayak, and Longgie; the establishment of an inoculation house for mushroom seed production and assistance with mushroom seed production in Sidobangen; assistance with the preparation of Village Medium-Term Development Plans (RPJM Kampung) in Sidobangen, Lesan Dayak, and Muara Lesan; assistance with village financial administration in Sidobangen, Lesan Dayak, and Muara Lesan; awareness campaigns; HLSL restoration; HLSL protection patrols; assistance with HLSL ecotourism implementation; preparation of the HLSL Management Strategic Plan; establishment of the HLSL Forum; exhibitions of good practices; and other activities.
(4) Sustainability, to ensure program sustainability, assistance was provided in preparing the HLSL Management Strategic Plan in collaboration with the Forest Management Unit (KPH) and all members of the HLSL Forum. The strategic plan includes various strategies for sustaining activities and securing funding. Throughout the project, a total of 4,243 people benefited, comprising 2,894 men (68%) and 1,349 women (32%). Of the total beneficiaries, 1,051 participated in training activities, comprising 672 men (64%) and 379 women (36%). Several of the project's outcome achievements are summarized below:
(1) Outcome I: Achievement of this outcome was demonstrated by, among other things: (i) increased capacity of village governments in village development planning and village financial administration, as evidenced by all supported villages successfully preparing participatory Village Medium-Term Development Plans (RPJM Kampung); (ii) improved village financial administration, demonstrated by the villages' ability to disburse village funds in installments, a process that requires proper administrative documentation; (iii) improved functioning of village offices, enabling them to provide better services to communities; (iv) increased capacity of the Forest Management Unit (KPH), which, with OWT's assistance, successfully prepared the HLSL Management Strategic Plan covering planning, utilization, protection, conservation, and rehabilitation of HLSL; and (v) the KPH's participation in various training activities, which strengthened its technical capacity in HLSL planning, utilization, protection, conservation, and rehabilitation.
(2) Outcome II: Achievement of this outcome was demonstrated by the clarification of HLSL's legal status during the TFCA project through the issuance of Ministry of Forestry Decree No. SK. 3924/Menhut-VII/KUH/2014, dated 14 May 2014. The decree designated 13,565.58 hectares of forest within the Muara Lasan Forest Group, comprising: (1) 10,240.82 hectares of Protected Forest and (2) 3,324.76 hectares of Production Forest.
(3) Outcome III: Achievement of this outcome was demonstrated by an increase in HLSL carbon stocks during the TFCA project, based on the following: (i) an increase in carbon stocks of 3.4 tonnes/ha between 2015 and 2017, based on Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) plots; (ii) the absence of disturbances affecting HLSL through illegal logging, land clearing, or land fires during the period; (iii) land rehabilitation activities within HLSL carried out by Berau Coal and through the TFCA project, with planting contributing to increased carbon stocks; (iv) the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) releasing orangutans into HLSL and conducting forest protection patrols, thereby contributing to the maintenance and increase of HLSL carbon stocks; and (v) Nemdoh Nemkay conducting regular HLSL protection patrols with financial support from the village, similarly contributing to the maintenance and increase of HLSL carbon stocks.
(4) Outcome IV: Achievement of this outcome was demonstrated by the absence of disturbances within HLSL and its buffer zone throughout the project period. The installation of information boards in buffer-zone areas where community boundary markers had previously been found had a positive effect, preventing the opening of land for community plantations in those locations. The installation of intermediate boundary markers between HLSL boundary posts also made information about the forest boundaries more accessible to local communities. Furthermore, awareness-raising activities about HLSL's protected status and community understanding of the prohibition against damaging protected forest areas directly and indirectly contributed to preventing land clearing by communities within HLSL.
(5) Outcome V: Achievement of this outcome was demonstrated by, among other things: (i) village governments' commitment to supporting HLSL conservation through Village Medium-Term Development Plans (RPJM Kampung) and village funds allocated to forest protection and management; (ii) regular HLSL protection patrols conducted by the Nemdoh Nemkay Community Group (KSM); and (iii) the establishment of an Environmental Lovers Group initiated by SMK 4 Berau, which conducts activities every Thursday. To support these activities, assistance was provided in establishing a school nursery and facilitating school-initiated planting activities.
(6) Outcome VI: Achievement of this outcome was demonstrated by, among other things: (i) continued management of oyster mushroom cultivation in Sidobangen by the Family Welfare Movement (PKK) group, which has increased members' incomes; (ii) income generated from pepper harvests and the sale of pepper seedlings cultivated by farmers, particularly in Sidobangen; (iii) the production of Mangar tea in Merapun; and (iv) the launch of HLSL ecotourism, with HLSL becoming one of the 14 ecotourism destinations included in the “Opwall Season.” This initiative connects forest ecotourism with marine tourism on Derawan Island and other islands in Berau Regency, with support from Opwall Ltd, an international conservation and ecotourism organization from the United Kingdom that brings students from various countries to the area annually in June–July.
(7) Outcome VII: By the end of the project, this outcome had not demonstrated significant tangible achievements compared with the other outcomes, as no other location had replicated the Protected Forest management model developed through the project. Nevertheless, several initiatives had been established, including: (i) creating connectivity between forest tourism in HLSL and marine tourism on Derawan Island, with management undertaken by communities through Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMKam); and (ii) developing an institutional model for protected forest management involving four components: the Production Forest Management Unit (KPHP) as coordinator; the HLSL Forum for planning and oversight; an inter-village enterprise for forest utilization through Social Forestry mechanisms or utilization permits issued by the KPH; and local Community Groups (KSM) responsible for forest protection, conservation, and rehabilitation. This model was expected to inspire replication of protected forest management practices, particularly in Kalimantan. Replication of community livelihood activities, such as pepper cultivation, had also begun outside the four core project villages.
Outcome VIII: Achievement of this outcome was demonstrated by, among other things: (i) the inclusion of Kelay Subdistrict, where HLSL is located, as Tourism Development Area (KPP) 4, designated for nature tourism and ecotourism under Berau Regency Regional Regulation No. 3 of 2018 concerning the Regional Tourism Development Master Plan for 2016–2031, creating opportunities for sustainable funding to support HLSL protection; (ii) the annual “Opwall Season” ecotourism activities in June–July, facilitated by Opwall, which provide income for local communities while supporting the long-term protection of HLSL; and (iii) the approval of the 2019–2024 HLSL Management Strategic Plan by the West Berau Production Forest Management Unit (KPHP Berau Barat), supporting the availability of management funding for the following five years.
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