The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

for ladang or rubber because of the routine flooding of theSeruyan River.Village land is owned individually, with most ownership rightslacking formal documentation. In addition to the individual land,Tanjung Hanau also has 25 square kilometres of communal foreston the east side of Seruyan River. Use of this forest has not beeninstitutionalized, although local villagers are permitted to sourcetimber at a subsistence level. To date, no illegal logging has beenreported in this forest.A few NGOs, including WALHI and Sawit Watch, have made shortvisits to this village. According to the respondent, their visit wasintended to document any conflicts between communities andoil palm companies. They also carried out some advocacy work,attempting to organize villagers against oil palm encroachment.However, the community organizing activity did not yield solidresults as it was undertaken over a short period of time. WorldEducation has also worked in this village, conducting communityorganizing activities. For financial reasons, however, theactivities have stopped, and WE is currently focusing on the 5 of12 villages along the Seruyan River included in their initial workplan.5. Banua Usang. Banua Usang comes under the administrationof the Danau Sembuluh Subdistrict. It consists of 215 familiestotalling 642 people. Most of the villagers are Dayak Pante, asub-­‐group of Dayak that converted to Islam generations ago.They speak Banjar and Indonesian. Most are fishermen, as theirforest was converted to oil palm some time ago. For the pasttwo years they have been unable to clear forest for ladangbecause they must compete with the oil palm plantation for thisland. They now depend on alternatives to meet their basicneeds, including carbohydrates, protein (non-­‐fish), vitamins,minerals, and medicines. They still rely on local natural resourcesfor protein (fish), water, wood for construction materials, andfuel wood. They do not have cultural practices tied to the forest.The village has one farmer group, called Bina Sejahtera, with 100members. This group receives funding from PUAP (ProgramUsaha Agribisnis dan Peternakan), which was introduced by theAgriculture Service Office from Seruyan District. Additionally, thefarmer group has received the DAK-­‐DR assistance for planting100 ha of rubber and jelutung on land provided by the program.The planted area is not concentrated in one location.The village does not have a land use plan, but is interested inhaving an organization facilitate the process of developing such aplan. WALHI and Sawit Watch made a brief visit to this village todocument conflicts between villagers and oil palm companies. Aspart of a program put together by these two organizations, thechairman of BPD (Badan Perwakilan Desa, Village RepresentativeBody) was invited to a meeting where he exchanged and sharedhis experiences with oil palm companies with other villagers fromdifferent islands. The intent was for him to learn how toundertake advocacy work to lobby against oil palm development.6. Paren. Administratively, this village belongs to the DanauSembuluh Subdistrict. The size of the village is about 15,000hectares, including the villagers’ ladang and rubber plantationsand the village itself. The village has 227 people (113 women and114 men) comprising 116 families. Sixty percent of the totalpopulation is of working age. The villagers are mostly Muslimand ethnically Dayak Pante (95%) and Banjar (5%). Most speakPembuang and Indonesian.35