GLA-ToC Inclusive and sustainable forested landscape management in West Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi Provinces in Indonesia - Lariang watershed

Indonesia accounts for the third largest forest area in the world (ca. 127 million ha) , with designated forest lands covering 60% of its land area, yet it also has one of the highest rates of deforestation globally (around 1.17 million ha per year). To date, economic growth has been sustained through a strategy which builds on the use of Indonesia’s abundant natural resources. Commodities comprise more than half of exports, and agriculture (15%) and mining (12%) are key contributors to the national Gross Domestic Product. Agriculture and forests are vital for livelihoods, and employ more than a third of the working population. Millions of people (33,000 villages) depend on the forest and forest commodities for their livelihood without any recognition of access and/or use of the natural resources. However, in 2015, the government launched an ambitious program targeted at allocating 12.7 million hectares of forests to be managed by communities through social forestry schemes, more than 2.5 million hectares each year. The GLA partners in Indonesia have selected three landscapes which represent the general problems and livelihoods strategies in the country very well: ‘Mudiak Baduo’ in the West Sumatra Province, ‘Gunung Tarak’ in the West Kalimantan Province and ‘Lariang’ in the Central Sulawesi Province. The three landscapes face the following shared issues: (1) a rapid expansion of agro-commodity oil palm and other land-based investments at the expense of forests; (2) tenure insecurity and long arduous bureaucratic procedures for obtaining Social Forestry (SF) permits; (3) uncertainty about what communities will do with their SF permits and how they will use forest environmental services to create better lives; and (4) lack of forest-based sustainable livelihood options surrounding conservation areas which has led to rampant illegal logging and encroachment.