Social forest projects often regarded only as formalities

JAKARTA (JP): Forest concessionaires still consider social forestry projects to be more of a burden than a responsibility, and thus the projects rarely meet the needs of the people they are supposed to help, an executive says.

The president of state-owned forestry company PT Inhutani I, A. Fattah, said yesterday that concessionaires treat social forestry projects as formalities necessary to allow them to continue operating in their concession areas.

Fattah, whose company is also subject to the regulation, said most social forestry projects have so far failed to achieve their goal of involving people living in and around concession areas.

"The projects should empower the people and motivate them to improve their standards of living... They should feel they are part of the large forest firms operating in their region," he said.

Inhutani I, which manages forests in East Kalimantan and Sulawesi, has spent a total of Rp 861.76 million (US$374,678) since 1991 to manage social forestry projects locally known as HPH Bina Desa, or village-supervision projects. Its projects are located in Balikpapan and Tarakan, both in East Kalimantan.

Concessionaires must have social forestry projects set up before the government will issue their annual logging permits.

Fattah said yesterday that Inhutani I, in cooperation with two private firms operating in East Kalimantan -- PT Surya Hutani Jaya of the Sumalindo Group and PT Intracawood Mfg. -- will organize a two-day workshop starting next Tuesday to evaluate the company's social forestry projects.

The workshop will be held in Balikpapan and be attended by government officials, forest concessionaire executives and representatives of non-governmental organizations, research institutions and international organizations such as GTZ of Germany and the Ford Foundation of the United States.

The list of participants, however, does not include representatives of the local people living in the forest areas.

According to a representative of the Bina Swadaya organization, Josef Arihadi, many forest concessionaires do not accurately interpret the needs of the locals and conduct programs which the locals do not need.

"They also fail to provide the funds needed to help the local villages," he said. (pwn)