Preparing Sira - Manggroholo Village Forests Facilitator

Training Participant, Bentara Papua, Province Department and Community from Sira-Manggroholo. Photo: Bentara Papua

In Manokwari, 18 - 20 August 2016 Bentara Papua (local NGO based in Manokwari) in collaboration with Samdhana Institute and supported by Good Energies Foundation facilitated intensive training to understand A - Z of village forests policy and facilitation requirement. The overall objective of this 3 days training was to build a complete understanding and knowledge about village forests scheme and sets up collaborative ways forward of field activities in Sira and Manggroholo - South Sorong. Eko Dharmawan the village forests facilitator whose been working in this policy and facilitation since 2010 with Flora and Fauna International (FFI) taking a lead of all the process and discussion in Bentara Office. Join in this training the representation from Sira and Manggroholo - the two villages in West Papua that continuously working with Bentara Papua, Green Peace and Samdhana Institute on village forests facilitation. They includes: the head of two villages, the field facilitator Mr Arkilaus Kladit, chief of village forests management body (LPHD) of both villages.  

Both Sira and Manggroholo have got the legal designation areas through Ministry of Forestry Regulation (SK Menhut) in 18 September 2014 that cover total areas of 3,545 ha. Recently they are waiting for the governor Decree about forests management licenses that submitted in May 2016 to secure the legally of Long Term Village Forests Management and its implementation.  Mr. Herman Remetwa the head of Community Development units at Forestry Department of West Papua Province in his session mentioned that it licenses is now in the table of legal unit at Government office and expected to be released by September before the ministry of forestry decree ended. In addition he added that it is a time to build a productive collaboration to help community in Sira and Manggroholo as model for West Papua. Forestry Department at provinces level will puts on program and their budgets to co-partnering in supports this initiative so this bridge of activities are a positive momentum to connecting the program.

Eko was comprehensively shared the knowledge that written in the village regulation and experience he and FFI gots from Kalimantan. Some keys component he was presented were:

• Definition and principle values of villages forests and it relevant to Sira and Manggroholo contexts. He summarizing the detail norms with keys prerequisites that each facilitator should understand about village forests. 
• Long term management plan of village forests (RPHD) includes the ways how village management body (LPHD) how take a lead of the process in the ground. Making sure that the plans are properly developed based on specific potential products in the villages are the core. The plan should also clearly describe the business plans and detail land zoning arrangement. 
• Forests products uses, marketing and their legal contexts in village forests scheme 
• Social consolidation by the community - taking case from Kapuas Hulu that he facilitating. It is going well because community is doing this policy seriously and lead the process on the ground 
• Collaboration with keys government units. Specifically the roles of Ministry of Forests, Forestry Department at Province/District and Village development units at provinces and district. Eko is also shared the possibilities of access fund through village fund that since last year have been distributed. 

All the training was closed with a reflection by each participant. Yunus Yumte, the Samdhana Papua Program coordinator joined in the last day shared his knowledge and organization reflection they learned from the project in Kaimana that closed in 2014 that basically about commitment and active participation of all keys village forests actor. He also reminding the community that they are in the front line to determine whether this initiative would works progressively of not and advised both Bentara and Village forests management body to putting high attention of creating new facilitator from the villages. As addition Mr. Arkilaus kladit raised their expectation to see these two village could works well with active facilitation by Bentara Papua, Green Peace and Samdhana Institute. 

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Opini : Sago in Papua and Their Current Investment

Natural Sago Plots in Kais South Sorong, West Papua

In the new Year of 2016, Indonesia President Mr. Joko Widodo (JOKOWI) visited and officially opened the biggest modern Sago Factory in Indonesia belong to PT. Perhutani Persero. Eventhough there is no clear info who is the owners and legal manager of the concession now but since 2013 about 40,000 ha of Sago plots in Kais, Metamani and Kokoda of South Sorong District has been granted for big commercial sago industry. As confirmed by the the General Manager PT Perhutani in Kompas January 1/2016 that they targeting to manages 30,000 Ton of sago starch every year. The total 150billion rupiah investment is targeted to gets the annual revenue up to 100 billion rupiah from their overall annual production. Japan, chine and Taiwan become the targets of investment markets that PT Perhutani has putting.

But there are big question appearing here at the customary community those in de facto claim the sago plots as their land rights about the benefits and cost of impacts they would gets from the investment. Jokowi on his opening speech pointed out his wishes to the industry could bring social changes at the community level. Despite of their positive targets in bringing up economic growth and revenues to the state the high targets of exploitation of natural sago could creates ecological problems or event raw material scarcity. West Papua provinces actually has experienced with sago Industry in Arandai Teluk Bintuni about 12 year ago ran by PT Jayanti Group that exploited large number of sago trunk without proper replanting or sustainable plantation plan. The overcapacity of Industry and in consistent calculation of natural sago production make the quick scarcity from the initial planned. 

Papua is the mother of Sago and become the most richest sago plots in the world with total about 1,25 million ha as confirmed by Bakorsurtanal in 1996 and remain validated by Flach, Karafir et all  in 2006. Jayapura, Waropen, South Sorong, Bintuni Bay and Merauke are the major place with larges sago plots. Not only large in areas the sago in Papua is also richest in species or variety. 2006 International sago symposium in Jayapura on their report showing surprising number which are more that 30 sago specifies in Papua with Metroxylon Sagu and Metroxylon rumphii as the two famous species and their spread from the coast line to 700 m above sea level. When Yunus Yumte did his research in South Sorong 8 years ago he found that mature sago trees could reach the diameter of 64 cm and tall without leave up to 27 m within he calculated that total sago powder that community could produce from one mature sago tree up to 800kg. This mostly harvested and extracted in 2 weeks using traditional technique.

Ecologically sago plots/forests are part of the vulnerable ecosystem because it is the natural wall for sea water infiltration, abrasion because of gradual wave, and regulator of fresh water to the people. Sago is also home of big number of biodiversity includes birds, swamp snake and wild pigs. Socially sago is the symbol of culture for Papuan, natural building material and source of foods for people. Which means changing sago purposes into industry will enormously changes its social and ecological functions. So expanding sago plantation in Papua is about understanding the social and ecological vulnerability of changes.

Sago for local Foods, Traditional extraction by IPs in Kais, South Sorong - West Papua

From my perspective and understanding the natural sago behavior that have limited lifetime the concept and designing of sustainable sago plantation with social orientation may needs to be putted as the key principle on its investment protocol before expanding the licenses. The correlation of community livelihood, rights and claim to sago plots should also aknowledge important to meets what Jokowi has wished. At least several early steps should be build includes:

1. Clearly understanding the ecological behavior and function of sago plots in each targeted investment sites. Place like Kais, Kokoda and Metamani for me is high vulnerable with floods because of theirs geographic position and waters that stored in sago plots. The plots that also in unity with swamp forest includes nipah palm trees is a home of large number of biodiversity. 
2. Sago for sustainable local foods stock. Delineating and secure the community foods plots at the beginning is crucial to provide a guaranty for sustainable local foods. large scale sago plantation should able to maintain the values and cultures of social assets includes local food security for generation. Not captured all the plots for industry and transform people consumption patterns into other non sago foods
3. Sago for mitigate the impact of climate changes to secure carbon in big amount. Even though only few study available about the carbon stock in Sago but sago that growth wildly in the swamp forests secure big amount of carbon. Transforming sago to other land uses purposes would directly realize amount of carbon to the air.

As addition to the since Sago is one of Papua symbol so having a regulation that protects and monitor the uses of sago for industry and legally binding to apply sustainable management plantation approaches are crucial to maintain the social, ecological and cultural value of Sago to Papuan. Further understanding the rights of IPs and their dependency to sago production are crucial to appropriately develop a partnership management mechanism and agreeing on benefit sharing of the rights to land and sago plant.

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