The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

Local Perspective. Tanjung Puting National Park, located neargrowth centers for palm oil in Central Kalimantan faces animmediate threat of deforestation and degradation fromexpanding plantations. Most of the forests in the surroundingregion have already been logged, making the park and its forestbuffer (the Rimba Raya project) particularly vulnerable toaccelerated rates of deforestation.OFI has been fighting encroachment by oil palm companies intoTPNP and the surrounding buffer, including the Project Area,since 2004. A brief chronology of the major incidents in thisstruggle follows:1990. The Government of Indonesia passes an act definingthe legal status of national parks for the first time. The forestsurrounding the new National Park is designated State ForestLand, later reclassified as Production Forest and subsequentlyworked as active logging concessions.1996. The Minister of Forestry’s SK No. 687/Kpts-­‐II/1996,dated 25 October 1996, incorporates the expired loggingconcessions on the western side of the National Park into thenewly designated Tanjung Puting National Park. The landbetween the eastern border of TPNP and the Seruyan River(current Project Zone) remains Production Forest.2004. OFI first becomes aware of plans to establish four oilpalm plantations along the eastern edge of the park (currentProject Area). During a location survey of northern TPNP,they find an extension of the PT. Wanasawit plantation insidethe park borders. They also discover the PT. KUCC plantationclearing land that has not yet been approved for conversion.February 2005. The Minster of Forestry issues letter no.S.79/Menhut-­‐VII/2005, specifically mentioning the four palmoil companies which “overlap with TPNP and/or the area ofproduction forest which acts as a buffer zone to the nationalpark”, indicating the concession licenses must be revoked. May 2005. The Minster of Forestry issues letter No.S.292/Menhut-­‐VII/2005, stating that the northern border ofTPNP will be altered, excising over 30,000 hectares from thepark. In addition, the letter approves conversion of the areainto the four palm oil plantations mentioned in the Februaryletter and adds two additional concessions to the south. Theletter refers to the 2003 Provincial Spatial Plan (RTRWP) forCentral Kalimantan for the first time. Late 2005/early 2006. During fieldwork, OFI records boundarymarkers and cut lines made by PT. KUCC extending at least 1km further inside the park than approved plantation borders. March 2006. USAID (through an IDCP grant to OFI) funds thefirst of a series of stakeholder meetings to discuss land useand land management in the TPNP region. May 2006. The Provincial legislature visits Tanjung Puting,noting that the province was preparing a new (2006) RTRWP,and would accept comments/alterations to the 2003 RTRWP. March 2007. Definitive boundaries for KUCC plantation aredemarcated in the field and GIS data released to OFI. June 2008. OFI obtains Provincial Spatial Plan data (Figure 27above) demonstrating the government’s intent to modify theTPNP boundary, significantly reducing its area, and convertthe eastern park buffer area to nonforest Agricultural Use foroil palm plantation development. Remote sensing and GISanalysis showed that >3000 ha of the park had already beenconverted to oil palm (Figure 28 below). November 2008. InfiniteEARTH partners with OFI to expandguard post staff and strengthen patrols in the TPNP bufferregion (Rimba Raya Project Zone) to control unpermitteddeforestation and pursue the Rimba Raya REDD project toprevent park buffer conversion to oil palm.102