Linggasana gives rise to new forest management concept

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Kuningan, West Java

When a mudslide at a hotspring resort in Pacet, East Java killed at least 26 visitors last December, state forestry firm Perhutani could no longer hide its poor management of Javanese state forests.

Families of the victims sued the firm, which oversees the tourist area, for negligence. Rampant illegal logging in the area above the hotspring had helped trigger the mudslide. The local government was also sued, but the court rejected the lawsuits.

Critics said Perhutani had not only had failed to curb illegal logging, but had encouraged the illegal practice by planting commercial trees on land that was designed to protect the soil of water catchment areas. Perhutani had also not involved local people in managing the forest.

In certain areas such as the Kuningan regency in West Java, the illegal logging of state forests no longer has the chance to increase as Perhutani has begun managing the forest with the help of the local people and government.

The new concept is known as community based forest management. The success of the concept can be seen in Linggasana village in Kuningan, where at least 100 poor farmers have been able to plant fruit and other trees alongside pines and other harvested trees since last year.

Said, a 60-year-old farmer, who manages 0.3 hectares of land in the state forest, said he benefited a lot from the change in state forest management.

"Before 2002, I was afraid of entering the state forest as the rangers were always suspicious of us. The forest management also used to force us to grow certain fruits that we could harvest in two years," he told reporters over the weekend.

"But now I can grow trees like banana, durian, avocado and jackfruit to fulfill my own needs and patchouli that can be sold to businessmen for the cosmetics industry," he added.

Farmers in Linggasana and Perhutani will soon sign a profit sharing agreement for the crops of supporting trees.

In other villages, 75 to 80 percent of the profit goes to farmers and the rest to Perhutani.

A Kuningan businessman has also established a simple patchouli oil refinery capable of processing 200 kilograms per day.

The businessman exports the oil to partners in France and the United States.

Wawan, a man who runs the refinery, said the refinery employs three local people and earn profits of Rp 3 to 4 million a month.

Besides benefiting from planting supporting trees in the state forest, farmers in Linggasana will also receive a share of revenue from the harvesting of pine and the sale of latex for 30 years.

In this field, 75 to 80 percent of the profit goes to Perhutani, while the rest to farmers.

The success of community-based forest management in Linggasana has attracted the attention of foreigners.

S.P. Sasmita, head of the Forum of Community-based Forest Management in Linggasana said the visitors came from Canada, Laos and other countries.

Sanusi Wijaya K, Chairman of Kuningan-based Institute of Community Based Forestry Implementation Service (LPI) said people in Kuningan and the local government had responded well to the community based forest management scheme.

In 2001, Perhutani and the Kuningan administration signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to implement the community- based forest management to replace the centralized forest management run by Perhutani.

Perhutani and other forestry villages later signed similar MOUs.

At the end of 2002, at least 23 of 141 forestry villages in Kuningan signed MOUs with Perhutani to manage state forests together, ranging from planting supporting trees in the state forests to forestry based tourism.

In the same year, the Kuningan administration also agreed to allocate funds for the community-based forest management.

Noor Rochman, Perhutani official in charge of environment supervision in West Java, said the scheme helped Perhutani minimize conflict with local people in Kuningan at an early stage and foster cooperation with local people and the Kuningan administration in managing state forests.