East Kalimantan Environmentally Sustainable Development Strategy

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the lack of a strong system, the particular challenges of how long-term armed conflict had shaped
claims about customary rights, and the loss of physical records due to the disaster. This exercise
shows that land titling and spatial planning mix complex, historical, social, economic, and political
issues, and that close community support is essential for these initiatives. The backbone of such a
system is a community engagement approach that undertakes community-based land mapping
and land adjudication, builds institutional capacity at the local level, ensures the process is done in a
fair and transparent manner, and clearly communicates the benefits to the local people.
Environmental Impact Assessments (AMDAL) are very important tools for managing spatial
planning and the process of licensing and permitting. But the role of assessments also needs to
be strengthened, so that they provide a rigorous consideration of environmental concerns before
licenses are issued. Assessments should be broadened to include a specific focus on carbon
emissions and peatlands.
Box 11 discusses Indonesia’s Spatial Data Infrastructure and Box 12 introduces the concept of
High Conservation-Value Forest.
Indonesia’s Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)
Good planning is impossible without high-quality data, broad sharing of data, and transparency.
Indonesia is making an effort to address these challenges through the development of a Spatial
Data Infrastructure (SDI). The Ministry of Forestry is leading on the data management for the
Forest Estate through development of the Forest Resource Information System. There are currently
several pilots of the SDI, but all are located in Java. Berau Government, TNC, and partners have been
exploring the potential for an SDI pilot as part of BFCP.
High Conservation-Value Forest
The concept of High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) emerged as part of the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) standard for forest management to guide the identification of areas with exceptionally
important social, cultural, or environmental value and to implement a system of management and
monitoring to guarantee that this value would be maintained or enhanced.
DRAFT
Today, HCV is used for spatial planning in Indonesia at the national or provincial level, for guiding
plantation development to minimize negative ecological and social effects from natural forest
conversion. During the IUP or Izin Lokasi process, HCV areas are identified by developers in
their submissions. and developers are required to set aside and protect HCV land as part of their
permits. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil looks at compliance with HCV plans in assessing
plantations for sustainability certification. Banks consider plantations’ records here as part of due
diligence to assess loan requests.
Box 11
Box 12
MRV AND CARBON ACCOUNTING
National MRV standards and systems are likely to be a key components of a global deal on REDD
and REDD+. East Kalimantan will need a technical support unit is needed to develop a basic MRV
system for the province, and ensure that it is consistent with eventual national efforts. The MRV
system will need to establish the province’s baseline and create basic proxies for lowered carbon
emissions (such as reduced deforestation), used to assess reduction efforts and to monitor
impact. The need for such a system has already been established in the Norway-Indonesian
Partnership, which is intended to make payments for verified emissions, in its later stages. Brazil’s
Amazon Fund, for example, already raises money on the basis of avoided deforestation achieved