West Kalimantan is part of Borneo Island and covers an area of 147307 km² with a population of over 4.4 million. West Kalimantan covers a forest area of 8,355,597.37 hectares (ha) – about 60 percent of the total land area. Government records show that about half of the forest area is controlled by industrial concessions such as logging and industrial plantations. The concessions were introduced since the promulgation of the Basic Forestry Law of 1967. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in mining activities and the establishment of oil palm plantations.
Many of the concessions are operating in areas inhabited by customary communities who have been using the land and forest resources for generations. Considerable conflict has surfaced between companies and indigenous communities. Many of the conflicts were resolved after a series of negotiations, and an agreement reached between local communities and companies on benefit sharing mechanisms. In addition to some returns from the concessions, the communities were also allowed to use part of their traditional land.
The implications of formal forest tenure reforms are also being seen in West Kalimantan. Permits are granted to local communities with the implementation of social forestry schemes such as Community Forestry (HKm), Community Plantation Forest (HTR) and Village Forest. These schemes are at the early stages of implementation; most of the villages that have secured the permits are at the early stages of institutional capacity development. Permits for customary forests have not yet been granted in the province.
The Sanggau district in West Kalimantan is one of the research sites of the GCS-Tenure project. Social Forestry Development Projects were established in the Sanggau district in the 1990s. In 2011, an area of 76,090 ha was allocated by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for HKM program. Since 2011, a total of Six HKm groups could secure HKm permits for an area of 5,150 ha, or about 7% of the total forestland allocated for HKM for the district. Many communities in Sanggau district are also living inside the concessions and have negotiated benefits and land use rights with the companies.
Map of Sanggau District and Allocation Land Forest for HKm (Source: BPDAS, FORDA/ITTO Project)
