Community based Management in Kerinci - Seblat National Park and Development of Sustainable Community Enterprises in Non-Timber Forest Products
18 June 2020
This project is a consortium project between the WALESTRA Foundation as the project lead and the LiVe Foundation as a consortium member, with funding support from the Rights and Resources Group through the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) project, starting on July 1, 2020.
Outcomes
Strengthened community capacity in managing conservation areas and businesses based on sustainable non-timber forest products on at least 150 ha in the Kerinci Seblat National Park (in Jambi and Bengkulu province).
The proposed project aims to take advantage of regulations and politics related to community opportunities to obtain legal recognition of the right to manage conservation areas (National Parks), as well as to build discourses and learning examples that community rights based conservation area management can be a medium for resolving tenure conflicts over forest areas, preventing loss of biodiversity, building climate resilience and food security, and encouraging the welfare improvement of forest edge-communities.
The proposed project will be able to reinforce findings from the field that legal recognition of community rights to manage conservation areas is important for improving management of conservation area, and can become reference for the state to strengthen rights based forest management model in conservation areas (National Parks).
The proposed project will be located in buffer villages of Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) in Kerinci district of Jambi Province and Rejang Lebong district of Bengkulu Province. KSNP is part of the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS) with an area of nearly 1.4 million hectares that stretches across the provinces of Jambi, West Sumatra, South Sumatra and Bengkulu, which are currently listed as world heritage in danger by the world heritage committee.
Roads construction, mining, illegal poaching, encroachment forest areas, and conversion of forest areas to be converted into agricultural land and monoculture plantations (cinnamon, coffee and rubber) are real pressure that threatens the sustainability of KSNP presently. A study by Purwanto (2015) states that from 1990 to 2014 total forest cover changes of KSNP converted to agriculture and plantations carried out by the community amounts to 130,322 ha1. IUCN in IUCN (2020) shows that KSNP forest cover lost during the 2011 - 2017 period was 21,570 hectares.
In Kerinci district of Jambi Province, the proposed project will facilitate the issuance of legal documents from the KSNP management authority to Kerinci adat people (at least 20 families will directly benefit) of Renah Kasah village to manage at least 50 ha of forest in the KSNP area.
In Rejang Lebong district of Bengkulu Province, the project will facilitate strengthening of 4 Environmental Care Women Groups (KPPL):
1. KPPL “Maju Bersama” in Pal VIII Village, Bermani Ulu Raya Subdistrict, Rejang Lebong Regency, with 25 members from mixed communities, namely adat Rejang, Sundanese and Javanese: has signed a conservation partnership on 10 ha with the KSNP management authority with a community empowerment scheme for the utilization of non-timber forest products, namely edible ferns and kecombrang (wild ginger).
2. KPPL “Karya Mandiri” in Tebat Tenong Luar Village, Bermani Ulu Raya District, Rejang Lebong Regency, with 15 members from mixed communities, namely adat Rejang and Serawai: has signed a conservation partnership on 10 ha with the KSNP management authority with a community empowerment scheme for the utilization of non-timber forest products, namely bamboo and pulutan (Urena lobate, medicinal plant).
3. KPPL “Sumber Jaya” in Karang Jaya Village, Selupu Rejang District, Rejang Lebong Regency, with 40 members from mixed communities, namely from adat Rejang, Lembak, and Javanese: is in the process of building a conservation partnership with the KSNP authority for an ecosystem restoration scheme on an area of about 38 hectares for trees planting, including jackfruit and avocado trees.
4. KPPL “Sejahtera” in Sumber Bening Village, Selupu Rejang District, Rejang Lebong Regency, with 42 members from mixed communities, namely from adat Rejang, Lembak, and Javanese: is in the process of building a conservation partnership with the KSNP authority for an ecosystem restoration scheme on an area of about 42 ha for trees planting, including jackfruit and avocado trees.
Scope of work :
1. Facilitate the issuance of legal documents by the management authority of the Kerinci-Seblat National Park providing legal access to communities in managing the Kerinci-Seblat National Park area in project location
2. Facilitate the establishment of a Joint Business Entity for Women's Groups based on non timber forest products
3. Facilitate Business Management Capacity Building
4. Launching of Cooperative Business and Policy Dialogue related to the development of women's group businesses
5. Producing book of Story of Change from Kerinci and Rejang Lebong and Dissemination of the book
6. Workshop to share lessons learnt in encouraging conservation partnership scheme in KSNP area