Jakarta Globe 27 Feb 13;
The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing nearly $4.5 million to help conserve one of the world’s most critical but threatened forest areas in the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Heart of Borneo, covering about 22 million hectares, has some of the world’s most important equatorial forests which act as ‘lungs of the earth’ but it is under threat from illegal logging and other harmful activities like poaching,” said Pavit Ramachandran, an environment specialist at ADB’s Southeast Asia Department.
An estimated 12 million local and indigenous people depend on the Heart of Borneo, the statement said, adding that each year, an estimated 1 million cubic meters of timber is smuggled out of the area, leaving destroyed forests, threatened biodiversity, lost livelihood opportunities and higher costs for forest rehabilitation. Conflicting laws and ambiguity over areas of responsibility for managing resources has left the region highly vulnerable.
The project will provide support to strengthen policies and institutions for improved sustainable forest and biodiversity management, and it will help raise the capacity of government agencies to develop sustainable livelihood opportunities, with measures such as pilot schemes for local communities to be paid for ecosystem services.
The project performance targets by 2016 include a 2 percent decrease in forest loss against a 2013 baseline, a 5 percent reduction in the incidence of wildlife poaching, and the enactment of a draft national policy and reform agenda for forest resource management.
The project will also undertake an in-depth study of supply chains related to mining, palm oil, rubber, and tourism, all of which are expanding and exacting an increasingly adverse toll on forest resources.
The project, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Forestry is expected to run from September 2013 to August 2016.
