The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

with sufficient means are moving out of the area. Those whomust remain are barely surviving and live under extremelydifficult, unhygienic conditions.Based on available data from initial site visits, cultural valueslinked to the Project Area and its surroundings appear to be verylow or nonexistent. For Muslim communities, local areas ofcultural importance include mosques and graveyards (which arenot considered sacred as they often are in the Dayakcommunities of Kalimantan). All ethnic Dayaks encounteredwere Muslim. A very small number of Christians reside in thearea (less that 1% in Desa Telaga Pulang) and no churches wereencountered.It is expected that any villages located close to the Project Zoneon the east side of the river have experienced similar floodingand meet their livelihood needs in a similar manner to those inthe Project Zone. Even if communities to the east were stillplanting rice or other crops, it is highly unlikely that farmerswould travel the distance across the river, as there are few areassuitable for planting. Nevertheless, it is possible thatcommunities on the east side of the river have rights to someland inside the Project Area. It is also possible that occasionalforays into the forest in the Project Area occur, but this tooseems unlikely, given that (i) they are Muslim and hunt at verylow levels (in some cases not at all), and (ii) current land coverindicates there is greater availability of forest on the east side ofthe river for harvesting of non-­‐traditional forest products.Based on the foregoing information, all communities on theSeruyan River from Bahaur, near the northeastern boundary ofthe KUCC oil palm plantation south to Tanjung Rengas, in thevicinity of the southernmost proposed oil palm plantations, willbe included in the Rimba Raya Project Zone. This conservativelyincludes all residents who may have access to the Project Area,regardless of their minimal expected use of the area, given thatthey reside on the Seruyan River. This river, forming the easternboundary of the Project Zone, provides the only access to RimbaRaya, which remains roadless.Distant communities using the Project Area. Communitiessituated at some distance from the Project Area are most likelyto use the Project Area for illegal logging, especially in thesouthern portion of Rimba Raya and Tanjung Puting NationalPark, where illegal logging is reported to be ongoing. Forexample, one coastal community inside the National Park andwest of Rimba Raya, Segintong Luar, was established specificallyas a logging community in the 1990s. Further surveys in theproject vicinity will be conducted, and any communitydetermined to rely heavily for its livelihood on illegal logging inthe Project Area will be included in the Project Zone. Other usesof the Project Area (e.g. hunting and collection of other non-­traditionalforest products) are thought to be minimal based ondata collected during recent social surveys.“The price of anything is the amount oflife you exchange for it”-­‐ Naturalist and PhilosopherHenry David Thoureau21