Janna On The Forest Trip

The end of the forest project: brochure and conference

2009-12-03T22:43:00.007+07:00

My probably last post on this blog. Yesterday, my project ended with a conference in the European Parliament called "How to get REDD right?". A lot of interesting speakers participated in the cross-party event and the brochure summarizing my forest project was presented. The electronic version of the brochure can be found here (or just look for the google group "Forests - A Triple Source of Life")
Hope you enjoyed following this blog!

Janna

Mamirauá: Conservation, Sustainable Development and Research

2009-08-26T22:46:00.006+07:00

(Dolphin-Photo: The Boto Project, Mamirauá)

"The conservation of biodiversity goes through deep issues of social justice and life quality improvement for the less favoured population." (José Márcio Ayres, Uakari monkey researcher and initiator of the reserve)

Mamirauá was the first Sustainable Development Reserve in Brazil and serves until today as model for other areas in Brazil as well as abroad. Instead of expelling the 12 000 people living in the reserve, as is normally done in natural reserves, where no people are allowed to live, the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute was created, seeking to combine conservation and research about the biodiversity-rich site, develop ecotourism and sustainable development in a participative way together with the local communities.

The area of 1,124 mio hectars hosts a biodiversity hotspot of floodplain forest, which is the only place in the world where the Uakari monkey and the black-headed squirrel monkey live, the place with the highest density of jaguars and home to other endangered species such as the manatee and the pink river dolphin. The Pirarucu, the biggest fresh water fish in the world, was due to it´s popularity and commercial value on the brink of extinction when the reserve was created and has now become abundant again thanks to a sophisticated fishing management plan. Commercial fisher boats from outside are not allowed in anymore and detailed zoning and timing regulates the local fishing activities. Direct marketing of the fish in Manaus circumvents middlemen and brings reliable high prices to the local communities. At the same time, the system allows for control of the amounts and kinds of fish extracted. A similar system is applied to sustainable small-scale logging. Had the reserve not been created and the Pirarucu been extinct, it´s likely that the unsustainable logging habits which had taken roots before would have accelerated. Scrupulous timber traders had made local people dependent on them by swapping staple food against the logs at exchange rates which threw the local people into constant debts. “Using the forest so that it lasts forever” is the new slogan.

Nowadays, apart from sustainable fishing and logging, ecotourism and the marketing of handicraft provide the major sources of income. The Uakari Ecolodge at the heart of the reserve is co-managed by the locals who also ripe the benefits. One part of it goes directly to the communities involved, another to sustain the system of voluntary local eco-guards. Programmes to improve the sanitary and health situation, especially maternal health, schooling and family agriculture as well as radio communication have further improved the standard of life in the reserve. While most activities are currently confined to the focal area of the reserve where the majority of the people live, outreach to the rest of the area, as well as the recently created neighbouring reserve Amanã are under way.

The Amazon´s Hopes for REDD

2009-08-26T22:39:00.003+07:00

In between my two project visits, I spend a few days in Manaus interviewing a range of actors working to preserve the Amazon rainforest and render development more sustainable. Even though many people are on holidays, I´m able to meet up with representatives of the State of Amazonas, the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), the opposition and NGOs.

While views on the effectiveness and coherence of the actions taken so far by the federal government and the state governments differ, all actors share the hope for some kind of international financing mechanism to be established soon to channel more funds to the Amazon. One government official quotes the powerful Governor of the State of Amazonas, Eduardo Braga, with a message so outspoken, that it´s not used officially anymore, but still represents the views of many Brazilian officials and politicians: “We are providing all those environmental services for free to the world, now give us the money for it.”

Government officials and NGOs equally voice concerns that a future REDD mechanism must be constructed in a way that the money reaches the forest people and not be “eaten up” under way by expansive carbon consultants, institutions and other intermediaries. Another concern is that the REDD mechanism must carefully balance rewarding reducing emissions and preservation, so as not to create deforestation incentives and pressure on areas which are up to now not directly endangered.

It becomes clear that Brazil is faced with a dilemma: as a developing country, it tries to follow the model of industrialized countries and other developing countries to draw heavily on its natural resources, especially the rainforests, in the hope of advancing economically. In addition, many politicians and state officials of all ranks have stakes in the destructive economic activities in the Amazonas. A recent Greenpeace report reveals that cattle ranching is with 80% the most important source of deforestation in the Amazonas. A big share of the meat and leather produced is exported all around the world, including Europe. The Brazilian government plans to double the share of Brazil in the world meat trade even though the country is already the leading exporter. The Federal government holds shares and finances the expansion of the major slaughterhouses in the Amazon. The Federal as well as the States` governments further infrastructure projects in the rainforest which threaten the precious natural heritage.

At the time I visit the Amazonas Parliament, the green deputy is accusing the State´s government of being involved in a major corruption scandal, where 300 Million Reais were paid to ghost companies in order to build a hydrological plant, but the companies disappeared without accomplishing their task as soon as they had touched the money.

On the other hand, both State and Federal governments publish ambitious plans for saving the Amazon rainforest. State Programmes like the Bolsa Floresta and the Juma Reserve REDD project represent innovative approaches to support forest people in the preservation of ecological services, self-organisation and the development of economic alternatives. The amounts available are however way to low to achieve the objectives, as all interlocutors agree. Sufficient means to control and enforce forest laws are also desperately lacking in the vast and remote lands and waters of the Amazon. It becomes evident that the Amazon can only be saved in a concerted state, national and international effort, spelling out clearly the responsibilities of each level and actor including the control and sanctioning mechanisms. Part of such an agreement must also be the improvement of policy coherence, so that development and economic activities do not undermine the conservation objectives, but rather contribute to them.

Boat trip down the Rio Negro

2009-08-20T01:20:00.003+07:00

I write these lines in a coffin, that´s at least how it feels like to be in a cabin on the public boat from the Rio Jauperi to Manaus. It´s too small to enter with your rucksack, smells like dust and mould. As there is no window or aeration, it´s very hot apart from the few hours when the boat drives quickly enough for the energy to be turned on – which is seldom the case, we mostly advance at pedestrian pace. Still, such a cabin is considered to be a luxury and very expansive (200 Reais, about 80 Euro). Most of the other passengers only buy a hanging space for their colourful “rede” (hammock), which can, in spite of the cool sea breeze, be just as stiffling and even more uncomfortable, with hammocks hanging very narrowly next, over and under each other. Yesterday evening, a speed boat brought me from the Xixuau reserve to the next port. I was prepared for what was to happen: we arrived at 17:30h and the public boat was to arrive at any time between 20h and 4h in the morning. My wish to eat something and to go to the toilet in between was incomprehensible to the locals: neither restaurants nor public toilets seem to be know in this port where many people regularly wait for 10 or more hours for their boat. In the end, we found a woman who was willing to cook for us and let us use her bathroom. Satisfied, we followed the open-air Evangelist church performance until we were afraid that the ear-splitting loudspeakers of the preacher in ecstasy would cause a tinnitus. We hung up our hammocks on the floating pontoon and waited for the boat which arrived “punctually” at 4:10 am. It could have been a peaceful period if you had not always to watch out for the children who, due to lack of other divertissement, played “throwing the sandals of the people sleeping in their hammocks into the river”, to listen to the snorers’ choir and from 1 am onwards loud radio music.

Life on boat is peaceful, everybody is waiting for our arrival in Manaus hopefully between 15 and 20h while the ever green rainforest passes by. Fortunately, I have developed over the past week a new sense, needed to detect when food is served, because as I already discovered repeatedly in Xixuau, when you come a few minutes too late, there is little to nothing left. There are a variety of dishes at choice, 3 different kinds of chicken, 3 other meat dishes, noodles, spaghetti and rice. The only vegetables, cucumbers, apart from the obligatory “fejoada” (beans), are already finished when I arrive. I´m glad I have brought apples and take care not to read the remaining pages of my book too quickly.

On the Way to the Rio Jauperí

2009-08-20T01:06:00.003+07:00

Our boat trip to the Xixuau Reserve off Rio Jauperí gives us a first taste of travelling the water ways, the typical means of transport in the Amazonas, if you cannot afford a plane. The landscape around is beautiful, but everything takes much longer than expected. The first hours on the boat are pleasant. After the engine being broken and ours not moving from a spot in sight of Manaus for 24h, we start loosing a bit ourpatience, as we lack clean water as well...However, finally, Plinio, the President of the Reserve and organiser of our trip releases us with a speed boat: only 7 hours, and we reach our destination.

The Xixuau Reserve Fighting against Political Obstacles for its Existence

2009-08-20T00:49:00.010+07:00

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One of the two model forest projects I´m going to visit in the Brazilian Amazonas, is the Xixuau-Xiparina Reserve, located in the South of the Brazilian state of Roraima. Compared to the project sites I visited in Indonesia and Cameroon, this reserve is huge – 172 460 hectares with only about 100 people living in it, they plan enlarge it even to 630 000 hectares. The enlarged reserve would encompass about 850 “Caboclos” - that is Brazilians who originate in other parts of the country and came to live along the rivers of the Amazonas over the past century, encouraged by the Brazilian government in an effort to “develop” and open-up the biggest rainforest of the world. At the time of my arrival, the decree for the creation of this enlarged Extractive Reserve of the Lower Rio Branco-Jauaperi River was supposed to be already signed by President Lula. Instead, Chris Clark, Scottish-native co-founder of the reserve (together with local caboclo Plinio), was once more summoned to the police. About 50% of the budget of the reserve goes into legal and political defence against continuing accusations which seem to be without factual grounds, calculates Clark. Regular raids by highly armed military and police men have never produced any evidences of crimes such as drugs and arms smuggling, pharmaceutical piracy, spying for foreign governments or even training of “eco guerrillas” in the reserve. A number of death threats have earned Clark the invitation to be enrolled in the national personal defence programme which he declined to accept in order to continue his present lifestyle. A decision not without risks as many famous defenders of the environment and of the people have been murdered in the Amazon in the past. But the support of diverse reputable organizations and individuals in Brazil and abroad including the WWF and the former Environmental Minister and Lula’s contester for the next presidential elections, Marina Silva, have helped sustaining the reserve.

Only a tiny fraction of the vast reserve consisting of untouched primary forest is under use by the community, about 30h. Exploitation of the natural resources is forbidden, logging only for own-use of the community. Fishing and small-scale farming provide basic food stuff, topped-up by income from activities such as ecotourism and nature documentaries. With the help of donors, a number of projects have been realized which considerably improve the livelihoods of local people. 3 primary schools are operating, a nurse is in training, the health post is well stocked and malaria has practically been eradicated in the area. Communication with the outside world is facilitated by a satellite telephone and internet powered by solar panels. Future projects scheduled to be realized as soon as the legal situation is secured are a secondary school, a forest college, a research center, diversification of economic activities for instance to apiculture (beekeeping) and improving the functioning of the eco-farm.

The nature and wildlife of the reserve are extraordinary and can be explored by canoe or on foot. Small river dolphins and big alligators can be seen swimming in the Xixuau river right in front of the main settlement every day. Giant otters, anacondas and river turtles are further fascinating creatures populating the rivers while the tree tops are full of various species of monkeys and birds.

The Caboclos of Xixuau are good neighbours with the much bigger community of the militant Waimiri Atroari Indians. When commercial fishing boats invaded the area and considerably diminished the fish stocks, the Indigenous sank one of the boats, putting effectively an end to this kind of unsustainable exploitation.

According to Clark, the reserve shows that it is possible to live good in the forests without deteriorating them. 800 Reais, about 300 Euro, per family as monthly income is sufficient to make them preserve nature, if infrastructure, health services, education and communication means are provided. Payments for environmental services, including for avoided deforestation, could be an important element of the income of those forest people. If such basic services and income are not ensured, local people are likely to move away, leaving the forest vulnerable to destructive exploiting activities of outsiders or even participate in such activities themselves.

The enlarged reserve is supposed to form one day part of a long “ecological corridor”, stretching via several other reserves to the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve -my next destination.

Manaus, a modern, Mediterranean city at the heart of the Amazon

2009-08-07T19:45:00.001+07:00

After having read the travel account “My Amazon”, I wonder if I had not wrongly chosen my base for the next month. The author Juan Madrid describes Manaus as antipode to the pleasant city of Belem, the second important town at the other end of the river. Fellow travellers assure me, it´s the other way round and I start believing them after just one day.

Thiago, young assistant to the only green Member of the Parliament of the State of Amazon, get´s time off to show me around and help with travel preparations. The city boosts a number of remarkable buildings from the turn to the 20^th century, the “golden age” of Manaus. Exploiting its monopoly for rubber production at the expanse of the life millions of enslaved workers, Manaus became within a few years one of the richest and most modern cities in the world. Many of the old buildings are better preserved than Art Deco houses in Brussels and the city is still so modern that many sights could easily be found in Western Europe or America. The port is the life line of this vibrant place, which can only be reached by air or water.

The vast green tropical rainforest surrounding the city and stretching over the entire state is to 97% preserved. The contrast to the neighbouring state Pará, where large-scale deforestation is rampant, is according to Thiago not only due to its seclusion. Rather an alternative economic model, not based on the exploitation of natural resources, but on the development of other industries, furthered by a tax-exemption, marks the difference.

At night, the city is probably most pleasant, when a gentle wind takes away the heat of the day, squares and buildings are illuminated and a Mediterranean flair takes over. In front of the newly renovated Palacette Provincial, which hosts 5 interesting exhibitions for free with excellent French- and English-speaking guides, a brass band entertains the public, playing in a romantic pavilion in the midst of a park of water and plants. More people are even attracted by a band playing famous Brazilian folk songs on the large square belonging to the splendid Teatro Amazonas. People dance and enjoy a traditional shrimps dish while the most popular songs are echoed by the entire audience, about 200 voices. It can be felt that this part of the city is safe even at night, and fortunately my hotel is just a stone throw away.

I am flying

2009-08-07T19:32:00.001+07:00

The flight from Brussels via Madrid and Sao Paulo to Manaus is the longest and most exhausting of all my flights. Still, it turns out to be much more relaxed and interesting than I expected it to be. We leave Brussels in bright sunshine, it´s a pleasure to see the Royal Greenhouses, the Atomium and the Cathedral of Koekelberg from close from the air. A few minutes later, I see the typical Western European landscape consisting of green squares; cities scattered in between. When approaching Madrid, the view has considerably changed. Yellow, brown and grey are the dominating colours of the mountains, the desert and the fields. Only a handful of green spots, orderly planted trees in rows can be seen.

Flying over the Amazon forest coming from the South-East, you can see what the “deforestation frontier” is all about. Huge colourful squares eat up the green rainforest. The further you go to the North, the fewer those squares become. Here, large and long rivers wind up their path through the endless green to meet the biggest and mightiest of all rivers on Earth: the Amazon.

Next to me in the aircraft sits Silvia, a young Brazilian women on her way back from a congress of Jehovah´s witnesses in Paris. This young trader in jewellery astonishes me with her sound knowledge of the causes of destruction of the rainforest, world trade and politics. Her profound foreign language skills only glimpse up when she traces back the etymology of words to their Chinese origin to help me with my poor Brazilian Portuguese. In Brazil, just as in Cameroon, religion plays an important role in life. It´s easier to found your own church than your own business – three followers are enough. It seems to me that in societies with little order and security, religion provides people with structures, values and guidance in life. In Nairobi, the church was one of the few trustworthy, calm and secure places in the middle of disorder, dirt and dust.

Chefferies and Sultanat of West Cameroon

2009-07-28T00:20:00.003+07:00

After so many forest trips, we decide to spend our last days on a cultural journey to visit the traditional kingdoms (chefferies) of West Cameroon. We went to the Chefferie in Bafoussam, Bandjoun and the Sultanat of Foumban. Astonishing was to hear how much power the traditional kings still have knowadays over their subjects. Also interesting was the differences in how the new king is chosen when the king dies. In Banfoussam, newborn babies (he got about 150 children from 50 wifes) of the king are screened by the notabilities for "signs" of a necklace on their skin, if found, it is secretly noted and not announced until the day of the funeral of the king. In Bandjoun, the notabilities chose amongst the children of the king the most capable (exceptionally, it can also be a woman or brother). In Foumban, its the Sultan himself who decides which of his sons will follow him on the throne.

Exploring the Dja UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and finding nothing

2009-07-21T17:51:00.004+07:00

After having visited two communities situated just outside the Dja Reserve, we decide to go trekking within the reserve in the hope to being able to take pictures of the wildlife which is supposed to be abundant in this UNESCO Biosphere and World Heritage site. The conservation of the reserve has been supported by ECOFAC, a programme of the EU for outstanding Central African Forests since 1992. As we are told by ECOFAC staff in Lomié that the ECOFAC office in Samaloum is the better entry point, we head towards this little town at the northern Dja border.

We pay a lot of money to cover our driver, car, accommodation, food, equipment and the 4 people who are going to accompany us: an eco-guide, an eco-guard, and two bearers. As agreed, we are ready early in the morning to start our journey to encounter buffalos, and monkeys, hopefully gorillas, chimpanzees or even elephants. The next hours are a hard test for our patience. The eco-guard disappears with our car, the guide disappears once and again for personal grounds and stays behind. When we finally reach the entrance of the reserve at 11am, he tells us that the animals are now sleeping, that´s why we cant see them.

We keep on marching for hours in the dense forest. At the beginning, walking is not a problem, but after several hours, my headache becomes difficult to bear. ECOFAC made us pay so much that we had not much money left to buy food and water, so we had to be economic.

Over the next two days, we don’t see a single animal in this supposedly outstanding reserve – apart from heaps of ants, termites, bees and mosquitoes who don’t loosen their grip on us. Instead, we find numerous traces of poachers – elephant bones, shoes, firewood. In the village just before the entrance of the reserve, we meet a woman carrying a Mangaby baby monkey, not older than 1 ½ months. Its mother had been killed and the tiny baby given to the woman to raise it until it´s old enough to be eaten. The rangers try to persuade her to hand over the animal to be raised in an animal sanctuary in Yaounde, to no avail.

During those two days in the reserve, we get to know our guides better and can hardly conceal our astonishment. The eco-guard knows only two types of behavior: sleeping or playing to hunt mammals with his rifle. He talks about cocaine and his second job as guard accompanying trucks transporting logs. He shows high interest in the explanations of the eco-guide about different tree species in the reserve and calculates the price he would get if he felled the trees and sold them in Yaounde. Also the guide seems to be occupied with the economic value of the big trees in the reserve. He explains to us that a certain tree, even though very big and tall, had unfortunately not a very high commercial value. Unfortunately? “Yes, if you sell it you don’t get much revenue for it.”

We are happy to come back to Samaloum and ultimately Yaounde, taking home first-hand experience about the hardship of life in the forests and the difficulties to reconcile conservation on the one hand and livelihoods and the other.

First Community Forest managed by Baka Indigenous gets ready for REDD

2009-07-21T16:06:00.003+07:00

It´s not difficult to guess what is the most important economic activity in the area East of the Dja Wildlife Reserve. One truck heavily loaded with huge logs after the other comes our way as we head towards Lomié.

The only Community Forest entirely managed by Baka Indigenous in Cameroon, Buma Bo-Kpode in Nomedjoh tries to go another way. With the help of the CED and others, they developed a sustainable forest management plan which sets out alternatives to large-scale clear-cut logging. Payment for environmental services such as the carbon content of the community forest is one important corner stone of the concept.

We witness how the community trains for participative mapping and carbon inventory. Highly motivated, they embark on a 10-days trip to measure the data necessary to estimate the carbon stored in their trees. They handle compass, GPS, and measuring tape with a lot of diligence under the supervision of experienced staff.

Apart from payments for carbon sequestration, the community tries to develop other economic activities. As the Bakas are traditionally hunter-gathers, they have not yet managed to set up very productive fields. Improving farming, livestock breeding, and the production of handicraft are some of the envisaged activities, as well as exploring new chaines of marketing to improve the income for the community. With the income expected, they hope to finance a health center, an electricity generator, and better food for the elderly.

Yaounde

2009-07-15T00:59:00.003+07:00

The GTZ house is based on a little hill. A few meters further is an open-air café where artists display their oeuvres. You can have a drink while overlooking a good part of the city - very scenic!

The mentality is very different here from

Indonesia

, that much is clear.

While in Indonesia people smile all the time, here in Cameroon, people don’t smile - behavior changes from very polite, to cheerful, mocking, to what Europeans (even more Asians, I suppose) would consider as quite rude – even if meant in a joking way.

Interaction is very much facilitated for me by the fact that all people apart from very remote villagers speak some degree of French, and most English as well, even though French is nobody’s mother tongue as Cameroon counts about 270 native languages – chapeau!

Nkolenyeng: A Community Forest under Pressure from Logging, Mining and Natural Reserves

2009-07-13T02:33:00.005+07:00

Just arrived in Yaounde in the calm and pleasant GTZ house, we are informed by our local partner, the Centre pour l´Environnement et le Développement (CED): Get ready, the first field visit starts tomorrow. Here we go!

We are amazed by the effectiveness and professionalism of this Cameroonian NGO, contradicting stories we hear from other foreigners about their local partners. Still, also this NGO does depend on local partners: On the day of departure, the car rented does not show up until the afternoon, so we spend the morning in CED´s airy office, surrounded by green spaces, exploring the solar cooker and the community-made natural foodstuff and body care products.

Finally, we leave with 2 cars and 8 people to Djoum for an overnight stop, before continuing to the Nkolenyeng Community Forest the next day, just about 30 km North of the border with Gabon.

The Community of Nkolenyeng consists of around 550 villagers, majority Fang (Bantu), minority (about 60) Baka, an indigenous forest people, known for its average small statue. The Community managed to obtain their own official Community Forest, squeezed around a road by logging concessions in the North, and a natural reserve as well as iron mining concessions in the South. Looking at a forest map of Cameroon you see large areas representing the logging concessions and the tiny stretches along the roads: potential Community Forest, mostly on poor land with poor forests.

The villagers in Nkolgenyeng have established an ambitious management plan. Cacao plants in an agroforest and very limited selected logging with sustainable methods (e.g. without heavy machinery, wood transport without vehicles) are currently the main sources of income, combined with small subsistence farming by the Fang and honey production and hunting by the Baka. Now, they work on establishing detailed biodiversity and carbon inventories to receive in the future payments for environmental services such as carbon sequestration. The forest is managed by a community committee consisting of Baka and Fang, man and women.

Plants and animals to be found in the area are plentiful, including several primates amongst them gorillas and chimpanzee. If you are lucky, you can see elephants passing by.

Last days in Indonesia

2009-06-30T21:09:00.002+07:00

After the community visits, I stay a few more days to enjoy the beautiful Gili Islands - no vehicles apart from horse caridges, sand beaches, turquois water, swimming with the turtles, chilling out - perfect!

Sembalun (Lombok), a Community between Tradition and Modernity

2009-06-30T21:02:00.001+07:00

On the steep slopes of Mountain Rinjani, it gets very cold at night when you sleep in a rice ban. But as soon as the sun comes out, a scenic panorama is revealed. Rice, garlic, tomato, chili, cabbage fields unfold in the valley against the background of the still active volcano. The indigenous Sembalun community settling here has scarce space to live. The steeper slopes cannot be cultivated. A part of their traditional land overlaps with the Mount Rinjani National Park, other areas where turned into big, privately- owned, plantations. A huge state-of-the-art greenhouse in the middle of the land traditionally used by the Sembalun for cattle ranching, on the territory of the national park further reduces the land available.

The introduction of modern large-scale agribusiness and private land ownership has over the last decades considerably devastated the natural resources, diminished the forest and threatened the water sources. The customary strict adat rules of land use became seriously eroded. Worried for their livelihoods, a group around Abdulrahman Sembahulun tries to revive the adat rules and to teach sustainable agriculture. They reached an agreement with local authorities and the national park management to base the management of the traditionally protected forest on adat rules agreed by consensus. According to the agreement, the protected forest can only be used for nature tourism, cultural ceremonies, and to harvest fruit or medicine plants for local consumption, not trade. It is forbidden to extract any kind of wood or hunt animals. Whoever wants to fell a tree needs to receive a permission, subject to a proof that 10 new trees have been planted. Newly-married couples have the obligation to plant 4 new trees and care for them.

Traditionally, of the 24 000 hectar belonging to the customary Sembalun land, only about 4000 are converted to be used for fruit and vegetable agriculture, pasture land for livestock, rice fields, settlement and harvest stocks. The remaining area is remains for the biggest part intact nature, consisting mainly of forests. In recent times, cattle running free have become a problem, together with forest fires, damaging the intact or freshly reforested areas.

A Night in an Airport Hotel

2009-06-20T10:01:00.002+07:00

In between two exciting, but strenuous trips to visit forest people, I decided to spent one night in a Jakarta airport hotel. The price (40 Euro) being well above my previous standards, I hoped for a bit of luxury and Western-style standards in a place advertised as “features of a 5 star hotel for the price of 3 stars”. It became another experience in cultural differences. The trouble started with the usual language problems in a hotel that has everything written in English only. I called 8 times to arrange my pickup from the airport, having to answer at least 20 times the same questions, but still not being understood. No matter what you say, the hotel staff has exactly 3 sentences as reaction at their disposal: What is your name? What is your position? A moment please (music).

At the check-in, I´m asked to leave a deposit of 1 million Indonesian Rupie in cash (the website mentions the prices in USD and the possibility to pay by credit card). 1 million rupie deposit for one night – that’s the equivalent of 2 internal flights in Indonesia or a bit less than the maximum amount you can withdraw at most ATMs.

The room I´m led to is enormous in size, chrome and glass everywhere – and stinks beyond description. It takes a while to explain why I don’t want to stay in a room previously inhabited by a non-stop smoker.

Finally settled, I make my way to the spa area passing through a chain of Karaoke bars. In the highly fancy showers, the first thing I see is a used (but washed) women’s tampon.

The swimming pool looks like a disco in Saturday Night Fever – the music being the same style and volume. Nobody uses the giant swimming pool. All other guests – exclusively male, old, fat and probably of Chinese origin, sit next to it and smoke, eat and chat loudly. All staff is exclusively young and female (ratio: 5 staff to 1 guest). Suddenly, I spot a female guest in the steam bath. She is wearing black leggings, a long-sleeved dress and a black cardigan. I enter the sauna and stop astonished by the shabbiness of the wood and dirt on the floor. Immediately, 3 girl-staff rush towards me to remind me that the use of towels is not allowed in the sauna. They offer to exchange my towel against a handkerchief-sized new one, wet and fresh from the fridge…In reaction to my remark that this is a bit small to sit on, they open their eyes widely: You want to sit down on the bench in the sauna??? Actually, no. I finally realize that this hotel does not advertise itself in English as it targets Western tourists, but male Asian business men.

I wonder if my Asian friends find anything strange in what I described here. Cultural differences are of course the more striking the less you expect them. I suppose my visit to an Indigenous community in Lombok tomorrow will in that sense be less surprising.

Kasepuhan: A Community living in the foggy mountains of West Java

2009-06-20T09:45:00.004+07:00

The first trip to visit forest people with Yuyun leads me to West Java, an area not far from beautiful coastal beaches where the mist turns the mountain tops into a mysterious wonderland. Going up and down the steep slopes, we pass through a rich, lush forest, which looks much more like a real rainforest than the selectively logged one I saw in the Mawas area in Central Kalimantan.

The Kasepuhan, as many indigenous in Indonesia, have been victims of a policy of designing national park boundaries without attention for the communities living in the area. When the Gunang Halimun- Salak National Park was considerably enlarged in 2003, the traditional lands of thousands of Kasepuha were included. Parts of these lands belonged previously to a state-owned forestry company, which recognized in an agreement in 1969 the traditional rights of the Kasepuhan. Now, the park management demanded from the Kasepuhan to abandon their agroforestry lands. In a recent conflict escalation, 8 community members were arrested and sentenced to prison for logging trees they claim to have planted themselves. The community hopes to resolve the conflict with the help of a newly founded commission of the local parliament.

Land-use is strictly reglemented under customary (adat) rules within the Kasepuhan community. They distinguish forest, steep slopes with bamboo groves, agroforestry areas, rice paddies and fish ponds. Rice is cultivated only for their own consumption, while a wide-range of further agricultural produces, mainly fruit and vegetables are sold to the local markets. The forest areas is divided into protected forests (60%), where entry or removal of anything is strictly forbidden without permission of the community leader. In the closed forest (20%), community members may only harvest non-timber products. The open forest (20%) is used for all other purposes (paddy rice fields, rotational agriculture, agroforestry, housing, roads, mosques etc). Most water springs are located in the sacred forest which is also home to rare animal species. The right to log is very restricted, traditionally only allowed for parts of house or furniture construction. Non-timber material such as bamboo for the walls, palm leaves for the roof and palm trunks as supporting columns is extensively used to limit the consumption of precious trees as far as possible. If timber is needed, it is trees planted by the community, not from the virgin forest, which can be felled. Degraded land is reforested.

When we arrive at the first village, we are lucky to be invited to participate in the celebration of a major event: the chief´s baby got 40 days old. We experience how the Kasepuhan merge old customs with new influences, using traditional instruments, dances and costumes alongside with microphones, videos cameras and mobile phones. Apparently, the community has managed to strike the balance between customary and modern use of resources. Customary rules still play an important role as I learn while having to wait for half a day to get an audience with the chief in order to properly bid farewell. On the other hand, young people are welcome to leave the village to study elsewhere and bring new ideas on their frequent visits back home.

Competing views on Forests and REDD: From CIFOR, to Rizaldi Boer to Yuyun Indradi

2009-06-20T09:39:00.002+07:00

The 16th of June I spent in Bogor with a marathon of meetings and interviews with Indonesian forest experts. I learned that the variety of views is as wide as known from Europe.

CIFOR
The day starts off with a series of meetings with CIFOR staff - probably the single most important reference for applied forest research world-wide. Amongst others, I get to know Robert, the Program Director for Environmental Services and Sustainable Use of Forests, who is skeptical of efforts to combine reduced emissions, biodiversity and livelihoods and tells me sometimes you have to make hard choices. I meet Yves, the Ecologist, who is convinced of the usefulness of strengthening the land tenure and management rights of local communities to preserve the environmental services of the forests, at the example of the Moluccas model, only blocked by the Indonesian central government. His colleague Carol, an anthropologist, also sees a pivotal role for forest communities. She draws attention to the the fact that even the communities practicing shifting cultivation, burn maybe one hectare of forest for it, while big companies destroy millions of hectares.

Maurice, dubbed “Mr. Palm oil”, doubts these ideas of his CIFOR colleagues. In his eyes, you have to create jobs outside the forests, in the cities for forest people if you want to prevent them from selling their land to the logging and mining companies as soon as they get land-tenure rights. He praises palm oil plantations as providers of a salary for the rural people, while Yves puts a big question mark behind the claims of palm oil companies to manage their plantations in a sustainable way.

REDD & Climate Change: From Rizaldi Boer to Yuyun Indradi
At the end of the day, I meet two Indonesians who are just back from the Bonn climate change talks: Rizaldi Boer and Yuyun Indradi. Rizaldi is a co-author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports and by many in the Climate Change community considered as Indonesian REDD coryphée. Yuyun has earned a reputation as community-forestry and biodiversity expert in the NGO community. Two men, two schools of thought. Rizaldi teaches at the Bogor Agricultural University, Yuyun studied at the agricultural faculty in Yogyakarta. Rizaldi´s main topic is creating incentive-structures for companies to reduces emissions and to include aforestation and reforestation of degraded land into REDD. Yuyun´s main concern is about recognizing the rights and sustainable forest management practices of forest communities. Rizaldi´s main message to the EU is: Open up the European carbon market for forest credits. Yuyun advocates in contrast Greenpeace´s proposal to keep the markets separate with industrialized countries taking over responsibility for avoided deforestation measures in developing countries on top of substantial emissions reductions achieved by them back home.

Only half a year remains to build bridges to overcome such cleavages of opinion for an agreement in Copenhagen which caters for as many needs and circumvents as many risks as possible.

Ramayana Ballet

2009-06-11T11:20:00.002+07:00

One of the most wonderful performances I have every seen in my life, Ramayana ballet in front of the Prambanan temple

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

2009-06-10T11:27:00.003+07:00

On my flight back from Palangka Raya, I sit next to a representative from Wilmar, an Malaysian company trading in palm oil. He´s on his way to a biodiversity forum of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in Jakarta. This forum is highly controversial , dubbed by some as greenwashers, by others as laudable, realistic economic initiative to render the production of palm oil less destructive. My interlocutor tells me, that the reason for his company to join the Roundtable was the difficulty to penetrate the EU market without it. Only 5% out of Wilmar´s about 2 million hectars are yet certified. In 5 to 7 years, they hope all plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia to be certified. But Wilmar also holds concessions outside these countries, in Africa (Ivory Coast, Uganda), and there no talk about including them in the certification process...Sounds like the certified oil is only destinated for the European market and in parallel the other growing markets, like China will be served by the non-certified palm oil.

Certification includes a huge number of criteria and indicators to be met. Wilmar tries not to repeat the mistakes of the past for instance by creating a buffer zone between its plantations and the water sheds, I am told. In Kalimantan, they have just decided not to touch 2000 hectars of land of particular ecological importance. Wilmar does not plan to buy new concessions either, but they already hold concessions for 200 000 hectars in Kalimantan, of which they only use half up to now. So they could still double their plantations....Still, the future lies in improving the yields of the existing plantations by better water management, using better species, more effective milling, according to my interlocutor.

REDD discussed in Jakarta Post

2009-06-10T11:10:00.003+07:00

The Reader´s Forum of the Jakarta Post asked its readers to comment on the request of the Indonesian government to the international community to pay 4 bn USD to stop forest conversion. The letter are very interesting. "It´s ridiculous that the Indonesian government needs grants from the internationale community to avert deforestation. The problem caused by the failure of our government agencies to impose law enforcement, which has resulted in illegal logging and forest conversion in protected conservation areas, should be solved by our own authorities and own resources" is one comment. Others demand the eradication of corruption in forest governance and a solid plan of the government before pledges are requested. Again others welcome the demand, if it is used to improve the livelihoods of the local people. Seems the debate in the country is not too far away from debates in Europe about these questions....

The Mawas Project: REDD, Orangutans and People

2009-06-07T21:34:00.002+07:00

The Mawas project
The project I´m going to visit during the next days for my publication on best-practice forest management schemes combines in a unique way reduced emissions from deforestation, biodiversity and ecosystem conservation and livelihood concerns for local people.

The peat lands of Central Kalimantan store extremely high amounts of carbon, and release them when drying out, in combination with the powerful climate gas methane. Peat domes regulate the water household of the entire region. Southern Central Kalimantan is flat up to the coast. During the rain season, peat domes take in huge amounts of water like a sponge, thereby avoiding large floods.

About 3000 wild orang-utans live in the area.

There are about 100 000 people living in 58 settlements on the margins of the project area. About 40% of them are indigenous dayaks, and about 60% domestic migrants from other islands of Indonesia, such as Java, explains the Programme Development Manager Juliartia Bramasa Ottag. Those migrants are originally farmers who were hired by former dictator Soeharto for a giant rural development project in the late 1990sb. Soeharto wanted to transform the “unproductive” peat lands into mega rice fields. The project failed, but repercussions are still felt heavily in the area. Long canals were built for the rice cultivation which cut the peat domes into pieces, the water drained and the land dried out. The Mawas project works with international experts to restore such a big peat dome. The domestic migrants were left without the promised economic basis and many resorted to destructive logging, mining and plantation activities. To develop alternative, sustainable, non-destructive but still profitable economic activities with them is one of the big challenges of the Mawas project. Another challenge is the reconciliation and establishment of structures for peaceful co-existence of dayak and migrants. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, violent conflicts between these two groups erupted. For the dayaks, the Mawas management proposes to grant them rights of access to the site to continue their traditional, small-scale economic activities such as selective logging of individual trees, collection of other forest products. Unfortunately, this concept of “right to access for limited, small-scale traditional activities” is not yet recognized under Indonesian law for conservation areas. Another challenge is to ensure that such access rights are not abused by other outside actors who incite the local people to extract more than needed for their own consumption against payment. Small-scale rubber, rattan, rice cultivation, cattle ranching and fish pond maintenance on degraded land are further activities developed on the outskirts of the area. Important is the diversification and economical as well as ecological sustainability. In order to avoid the recurrence of the devastating forest fires of the past, local fire brigades are build and knowledge on fire prevention disseminated. Climate change and destructive land-use practices have made the land much more prone to large-scale fires, than it was the case in the past.

Conflicting priorities for land-use
A major problem in Central Kalimantan is the lack of coherent spatial planning. For years now, the district, provincial and national administrations pursue contradictory plans. The district level often favours more palm oil plantations (the revenues from concessions going to them), the provincial level wants to enhance settlements and agriculture and the national level advocates logging (revenues going to them) and conservation. On the ground, regulation is anyways often pure theory, with many illegal and unlicensed activities going on.

Financing Mawas by offsetting?
Apart from the governmental endorsement of the Mawas management plan, financing is a major challenge. Development cooperation funds only finance the development and implementation of a project, but do not provide long-term financial flows. Private and public investors are interested in off-setting and greenwashing their own destructive activities. Shell wants to offset its carbon footprint, the government of Australia as well in order to avoid domestic emission reductions and the roundtable on sustainable palm oil is looking for biodiversity compensation areas for its plantations. More altruistic donors are difficult to find.

Visit to the Mawas project of BOS (Borneo Orangutan Survival)

2009-06-07T21:32:00.004+07:00

BOS
BOS (Borneo Orangutan Survival)is an NGO trying to rescue the last remaining orangutans, mankinds close relatives. The word `orangutans`, stands for “man of the forest” in Indonesian. According to a legend, the orangutans are humans that pretend not to speak in order to avoid being forced to work. The orangutans live high up in the trees on Borneo/Kalimantan and a few in Sumatra. Of once millions of orangutans, only about 60 000 thousand are still alive, and if the destruction of their habitat continues, they will be extinct in some years. BOS tries to secure some safe habitats for them. They collect orangutans found for instance in the palm oil plantations, cure them, if needed (many carry human diseases or are hurt from bad treatment) and step-by-step release them to their new homes.

Palangkaraya

2009-06-07T21:28:00.003+07:00

Palangka Raya
I immediately fall in love with the architecture in Palangka Raya. Coming from the airport, we drive through newly build quarters. Construction work is going on everywhere. The houses are in traditional, style, but modern versions. The roof tiles shine in all colors, red, blue, green, with adorable wooden decorations. You can see that the city got rich recently, to a large extent due to the economic activities which destroy the rainforest: gold and coal mining, oil drilling, plantations, logging, as Nina, my friendly guide from BOS for the next days explains. She takes me to a restaurant featuring the local indigenous dayak cuisine. I enjoy rattan and grass with sweet water shrimps and fish from the rivers of the region. Delicious!

Interview with an adviser on REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) to ASEAN

2009-06-07T21:27:00.002+07:00

My visit to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta

Yesterday I met up with an adviser to the ASEAN Secretariat on REDD questions.
ASEAN is trying to formulate a joint REDD position, as it does not feel sufficiently represented by other groupings such as the G7. Indonesia as the country with the largest remaining forests (almost half of all ASEAN forest cover) and the largest total deforestation rate, was designated to take the lead.

In Indonesia, a major hindrance to effectively curb deforestation is the fragmented competences over forest issues. In Kalimantan, where I go today, local governments continue to hand out licenses for coal mining on land, which is declared conservation forest by the national government. The decentralization of competences a few years ago showed mixed results: many local and regional politicians are closely linked to the businesses which engage in large-scale deforestation activities. I´m reminded that Indonesia is only a young democracy, where democratic scrutiny and oversight by the people does not (yet?) function very well.

Asked for the priorities to tackle deforestation in Indonesia effectively, I am told that first and foremost, the different policies of the different state actors need to be brought into line and contradicting decisions on forest use eliminated. Another vital stepping stone would be a reformed, clearer tenure right, with improved rights for local people and communities and simplified procedures for them.

Her main hope for Copenhagen is accordingly a firm and clear agreement on REDD, including a new forest definition which distinguished between natural, pristine forests as conservation priority and other forests (plantations, a/reforested land). She insists that we cannot have REDD without good governance. Therefore, FLEG remains relevant and inseparable with REDD and should be one of the building blocks of REDD.

Concerning the new Indonesian regulation on REDD (the first of its kind worldwide), I hear that a main immediate purpose is to regulate the various ongoing voluntary REDD activities for carbon-offsetting in the country. With this regulation, the national government wants to stop foreign investors to by-pass it and to negotiate directly with the sub-national administration. The regulation is to set national standards and to ensure a share of the revenues for the national level.

Asked whether different aspects of forest governance such as biodiversity and livelihoods are dealt with in the ASEAN REDD network discussions are denied. As in general, competences over these different forest-related issues are fragmented in ASEAN. Putting forest governance on a higher political agenda is seen as the only way to incorporate these different aspects and reach effective and coherent policies. Another problem is the lack of donor interest in funding regional, trans-national approaches.

2nd day in Jakarta

2009-06-07T21:03:00.002+07:00

Ok, I admit, Jakarta is a very exhausting city. No way to get around as pedestrian, you don’t even manage to cross the street or walk 50 to 100 meters on a side-walk. There are just no traffic lights foreseen for pedestrians and side-walk end after a few meters, leaving you the choice to continue walking directly on a street with very dense traffic (without any traffic breaks) or calling a vehicle to transport you. Its hard to breath, the fumes from the traffic are heavy.

Problems to adapt physically
After 3 days, my body has still problems adapting to the time difference, the very different daily rhythm (people get up very early in the morning, often after the morning prayer at 4am and go to bed early) the heat and steamy air (it´s about 36 C), the constant quick changes between heat outside and air-conditioning inside buildings and cars, the air pollution (my nose is running non-stop), the food (tummy revolting)…I write these lines at midnight, being happy that I have been able to sleep a few hours between 20h and 23:30h, knowing that the muezzin will wake me up at 4h again, if I manage to sleep until then…

Kind, open people
There are hardly any foreigners in Jakarta. People look at me with curiosity, children and adults alike. Some try to enter into contact, in Bahasa Indonesian (it´s indeed very difficult to get along without the language, even drivers of the reputed bluebird taxis, recommended by tourist guides, don’t speak a word of English nor do they necessary know to read an address or a map) or English. The percentage of women wearing the Indonesian-style head-scarf which leaves the face free, but not a glimpse if hair is about 50% I guess in Jakarta, and it starts already in very early childhood.

First day in Jakarta

2009-06-03T10:47:00.003+07:00

Interesting new encounters already on the flight and first eve in Jakarta. I spend the flight next to a very friendly woman working for the German(socialdemocrat) Friedrich Ebert foundation in Jakarta. She gave me a crash course in Indonesian culture and language. In theory, Bahasa Indonesian is not very difficult, but after hours and hours of trying, the unfamiliar words dont want to stick in my memory. In particular the expression for `thank you` (terima kashi) and the many different ways to say `good morning` (always closely watch your watch to chose the right form). The Friedrich-Ebert foundation works a lot with trade unions on questions like workers rights and minimum salary.

Once in Jakarta, I`m impressed by the city at night. Jakarta was described to me as a moloch, a monsterous city you should avoid as far as possible. But now I enjoy the glittering city, stretching my head as far back as possible to try to get a glimpse of the top of the high-rise buildings.

The evening in my very basic losmen (guesthouse), I get to know a Belgian and an Dutch-Indonesian guy. they take me out to a local street-side restaurant. The food comes from a particular city on Sumatra, Padang. It`s particularity consists in the fact that it is composed of many different dishes, none of them containing any veggies, only meat, sauce, rice. Another particularity of this region of Sumatra is that local people practice the matriachat. We spend the eve chatting in Dutch. The two friends came to Indonesia for a special business: they want to hire cheap Indonesian workforce for Dutch companies who are to work in the Middle East on oil plants. According to them, Indonesians can touch this way a salary 10 times higher of what they get in Indonesia (about 100 euro/month). They also work in collaboration with the trade unions to hire their staff.

On the way home, we pass under a train bridge. People sleep on tables on the street, next to the bridge. Not long ago, I`m told, these homeless still lived under the bridge which protected them from the heavy rains. Now a company bought the space, put a fence around and uses it as a parking space. Expansive cars can now park on the newly sealed clean ground, the homeless have lost their improvised shelter.

Now I got to leave, off to my first interview in the ASEAN Secretariat.

Welcome to "Janna on the Forest Trip"

2009-04-29T02:06:00.000+07:00

Dear reader,

This blog is meant to note my impressions on a three months´ trip to Indonesia (June), Cameroon (July) and Brazil (August) in the summer of 2009. I am going to visit best-practice projects in forest management in these countries. The aim is to publish afterwards a brochure with the working title: "Forests - A triple source of life. How to sequester carbon, preserve biodiversity/ecosystem services, and enable sustainable development for forest-dependent people."

Have fun following my trip to encounter extraordinary people and discover breathtaking nature in three exciting countries!