Linggasana gives rise to new forest management concept

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.