Save the heart of Borneo

Save the heart of Borneo

Siswo Pramono
The Hague

The three Bornean countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei
Darussalam -- should develop an integrated conservation policy in
order to save the very large blocks of interconnected forests on
the island of Borneo. Such a trilateral policy is critical to
sustainable development in, and hence the prosperity of, the
entire island.

Such an integrated policy, however, is not unprecedented.
Through the Yaoundi Declaration of 1999, for instance, the
central African states Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo,
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon committed themselves to conserve the
incalculable natural riches of the Congo Basin forests. Borneo's
forest, which is also very rich in biodiversity and natural
resources, deserves the same protection.

In 2000, an eco-region study revealed the accelerated rate of
environmental degradation on the island of Borneo. According to
the Indonesian forestry ministry, the country has an average
annual deforestation rate of 2.83 million hectares.

And according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), about 55
percent of forest in the lowlands of Kalimantan (the Indonesian
part of Borneo island) has vanished. If the destruction is not
halted, within a decade the whole forest in the lowlands will be
destroyed.

In 2001, despite some bilateral tension, Indonesia and
Malaysia managed to intensify cooperation on the protection of
Borneo's forest. And in 2003 the three Bornean countries figured
out the possibility of convening a workshop about Borneo.

In April 2005, the government of Brunei Darussalam hosted the
workshop "Three Countries -- One Conservation Vision". The
results were, among others, an action plan to promote the
Declaration of the Heart of Borneo. The initial step toward the
formulation of the declaration is expected to happen in 2006.

While the realization of this ambitious plan is somewhat slow,
it is by no means unattainable. The provisional scope of the
Heart of Borneo initiatives would encompass an area of 225,000
square kilometers, consisting of 23 national parks in the
Indonesian, Malaysian and Brunei sides.

Most of these national parks are located along the border of
Indonesia's Kalimantan and Malaysia's Sarawak and Sabah (and
thus, geographically speaking, they are really located in the
"heart" of the island of Borneo). The national parks (or the
proposed protected areas) on the Indonesian side include Danau
Sentarum, Bukit Baka Bukit Raya, Betung Kerihun, Gunung Muller,
Kayan Mentarang and Sebuku Sembakung.

The merits of the Heart of Borneo initiative notwithstanding,
there are some daunting questions that must be thoroughly
addressed.

First, since most of the proposed conservation areas in the
Heart of Borneo are located across the territories of Kalimantan,
Sarawak and Sabah, the success of the initiative relies on the
strength, stability and productivity of the bilateral ties
between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Second, and still within such sensitive bilateral issues, the
proposed area of the Heart of Borneo must be protected from
illegal logging. Despite some successes in operations against
illegal loggers on the Kalimantan side, Indonesia and Malaysia
should improve the existing cooperation in patrolling their very
long shared border with about 150 points susceptible for the
illegal transport of logs.

Third, illegal logging aside, the Heart of Borneo initiative
has always been threatened by the (illegal) conversion of forest
into other land uses, such as oil palm plantations, in particular
those conversions that are conducted in violation of existing
regulations on environmental impact analyses (AMDAL).

Fourth, the Heart of Borneo initiative requires a great deal
of funding. For Indonesia, financing such a huge program from its
already very limited national budget would be a hard political
decision to make. As such, Indonesia should intensify
environmental diplomacy to ensure the inflow of foreign funds or
donations.

Fifth, a good environmental policy must be based on well
coordinated scientific research. And, as it concerns such a very
large and complex area as Borneo, an international research
consortium focusing on the island is a necessity. In this realm,
the University of Mulawarman in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, or
the Indonesian Institute of Sciences in Jakarta, could assume the
role as research coordinator.

Seventh, an effective public relations campaign for the Heart
of Borneo is also a necessity. The media should educate the
public on the importance of the Heart of Borneo initiative for
the people in Borneo and beyond.

Last but not least, with the implementation of regional
autonomy in Indonesia (i.e. Kalimantan) and the fact that regions
are now actively engaged in various foreign relations
initiatives, "collaborative management" is key for the success of
the Heart of Borneo initiative.

Such a "collaborative management" should be able to help
mitigate, and resolve, various conflicts of interest between the
central and regional governments; between government(s) and local
communities; among the local communities; and between local and
foreign partners.

To save Borneo's forest and hence to promote the sustainable
use of its natural resources, the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi
applies, that "the earth has enough to satisfy the need of all
the people, but not for satisfying the greed of some".

This article reflects the personal views of the writer, who is a
minister counselor at the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague.