Last week I wrote about deforestACTION, a reality TV show and 3D movie project that will take 10 young people into Western Kalimantan to rehabilitate a rainforest, protect an existing forest, and rehabilitate orangutans.
As I wrote last week, it sound exciting; more people need to be aware of tropical deforestation issues, and reality TV and films definitely play an important role in getting attention! That being said, talk of local communities and indigenous-rights was hard to come by on the website, which made me nervous. Hopefully a great project like deforestACTION wouldn’t fall into the same trap as so many others, and kick indigenous people off their lands in the name of saving the forest….
I finally got a response from the deforestACTION team… and their answers did not do much to calm my fears. Check it out:
(Note: I am paraphrasing both the questions and the answers, the full text of the email is available here).
The Borneo Project: Who owns the land that is being used for deforestACTION?
DeforestACTION: We are setting up an organization that will be called the Yayasan Penyelamatan Indonesia (or Save Indonesia Organization) that will own the land. We will manage it with the community, and we have met with the district head, village and local leaders to develop activities with them.
Without the spin: This land isn’t going to be owned by indigenous peoples, and the team at deforestACTION isn’t going to try. While it’s great that they have been consulting with leaders in the community (goodness knows, that doesn’t always happen), it is not clear if this vital information (the emphasis on stopping “illegal” activities like traditional farming means that people will have to find totally new sources of livelihoods!) is really reaching the normal people in the villages. We need a lot more information on how communities are being engaged before we let this issue go.
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The Borneo Project: Are there any community-level conflicts over land in the project area? Have there been efforts to engage with community members above and beyond talking to the village leaders?
DeforestACTION: We have started an environmental impact assessment, and as part of that process, we will be consulting with communities. There are a lot of illegal things going on in this area. [The following is a direct quote:] “We intend to provide the local people with an ecovillage with sustainable and much better living.”
Without the Spin: So, here’s the deal: the Indonesian Environmental Impact Assessment (known as the AMDAL) is notoriously flawed. A World Bank report entitled “What’s Right With AMDAL” states that “many problems associated with AMDAL implementation are acknowledged and well documented” and specifically calls out community engagement as a place where the AMDAL needs to be dramatically improved. Relying on an infamously flawed tool is not the way that deforestACTION should be engaging the community.
But that quote really is the kicker: “We intend to provide the local people with an ecovillage with sustainable and much better living.” Really? These communities were, at one time, communities that lived sustainably off the land. We need to focus on making sure that communities can have legal rights to their land, in order to make the decisions that will support themselves in the long term, not provide them with (a painfully ironic) handout.
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The Borneo Project: Many of the indigenous people from area are swidden agriculturalists (also known as slash and burn). While swidden agriculture can be unsustainable– especially with so much land gone for palm oil plantations or degraded past usability– this is their traditional way of making a livelihood. The deforestACTION plans calls for stopping swidden agriculture in protected areas, and instead have people make their living as sugar palm tappers. Has there been any consideration for people who would prefer not to take on a new form of livelihood?
DeforestACTION: [No need to summarize here, this is their response:] “So far everybody seems completely in support. If during the consultations as legal part of the AMDAL such questions arise we will seek local input for what way to move forward under such condition.”
Without the Spin: Since it’s not clear if deforestACTION has really been consulting the community (vs. just a few of their leaders), it’s hard to know what a statement like “everyone seems completely in support” really means. Obviously, the AMDAL (the EIA) won’t be enough to ensure community support. Considering that DeforestACTION’s plans include stopping people from using their traditional land management practices and forcing them to take on a livelihood that depends on the whims of the international markets, it’s vital that communities really understand the implications
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The Borneo Project: You state in your information sessions that you are considering selling forest carbon credits from this project. Is that correct?
DeforestACTION: Yes, it is being considered.
Without the Spin: As many of you know, selling carbon from forested land it *hugely* problematic. It would take far too long to explain the problems in this blog post, so check out http://borneoproject.org/updates/2-new-great-factsheets-on-redd for more information.
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DeforestACTION has the potential of being a great force for good; they have the money and the human resources to really bring attention to the vitally important problem of rainforest destruction in Indonesia and in the tropics generally. They can’t however, ignore the rights of indigenous people during that process! DeforestACTION has some explaining to do…
How are they going to make sure that everyone knows what is going on, not just the local elites?
How are they going to go above and beyond the environmental impact assessment to make sure that people actually want to change their livelihoods, and plant sugar palm, instead of relying on traditional farming methods?
Most importantly, how is deforestACTION going to ensure that local communities get rights to their lands, and how will they ensure that communities will be able to manage their land long after deforestACTION has left the area.