World Report

East Kalimantan Environmental protection is a high priority

The authorities in Kutai Barat are working to promote sustainable forestry

utai Barat in the province of East Kalimantan is one of the most remote and exciting areas on the island of Borneo.
The island is a place of adventure and natural beauty. It is the third-largest island in the world after Greenland and Papua. With approximately 15,000 species of flowering plants, Borneo is as flora-rich as the whole of Africa. Kutai Barat is located in the centre of this vast ecological resource.

The kabupaten is not an easy place to get to, says Bupati Rama A. Asia. “There is still a lack of infrastructure such as main roads and we don’t have any flights to or from the region yet.”
In spite of this, the area is developing quickly. Bupati Asia is fighting to regain control of the district’s forests from central government and the logging companies who obtained their licences from Jakarta.
“The central government can’t see what is going on,” he explains. “If the state wants to maintain sustainable forests it must delegate authority to the district government.”

Mr Asia believes that the best people to look after Kutai Barat’s forests are the indigenous people who live in them. “They are concerned about the trees that they have planted here. So they will maintain the forest,” he says.
A project that could lead the way in providing Borneo’s forests with both an economic and an ecological future
has been set up in the Kedang Pahu watershed area. It is home to indigenous Dayak tribes that have been cultivating and sustainably harvesting rattan for centuries. Their expertise, which is shared by only one other tribe in the world, could help Kutai Barat increase its output of rattan and rattan products into a global market ethat generates and estimated £3.7 billion per year.

Rama A. Asia
Bupati of Kutai Barat
‘We want to preserve our culture and environment for future generations’

Another project that shows how modern business can compromise with indigenous values is the recent agreement made by London Sumatra, a UK-based developer of a palm oil plantation. The company secured the land rights it needed by agreeing to make local people shareholders in the joint venture.

This project is in line with Mr Asia’s vision for opening the district up while preserving its dynamic ancestral culture. “This is fundamental. The people do not wish their environment to be destroyed by people from outside the region. They want to preserve their culture and environment for future generations.”

A prime location
Bulungan is one of the northernmost kabupatens of Indonesia. The agriculturally-rich district is found on the north-east coast of the island of Borneo in the province of East Kalimantan.
The province is one of the most accessible parts of the entire Kalimantan region as well as being the most industrially advanced. Bulungan itself is a district of forested hills that stretch back into the interior of the island from Tarakan, the industrial capital.

H. Anang Dachlan Djauhari
Bupati of Bulungan
‘To us, investors are our partners and we should guarantee their security’

H. Anang Dachlan Djauhari, Bupati of Bulungan, is eager to encourage investors to bring new resources into the kabupaten. “We hope that domestic and foreign investors will come to our region. We need them to support our oil and gas industries, coal mining, forestry, tourism and palm oil production. We will provide them with guarantees of security, law enforcement, facilities and tax holidays,” he says.

“To us, investors are our partners. We should guarantee their security so that they can carry out their business without any disturbance.”
His policy has the potential to develop into a virtuous circle. The more investors come, the more secure the kabupaten will be, and it will become a better place to invest. It is already well set up from the point of view of transport. There are four airports and two commercial ports. The district government is conducting a study into building a third seaport.

Bulungan is rich in agricultural produce. The list of crops that thrive here is a long one. Coffee, coconut, cacao, pepper, hazlenuts, cashews, rice, corn, soybeans, mung beans, cassava and other root crops are all under production. The district also boasts important mineral reserves, mainly oil, gas, coal, methanol and gold.
In addition, there is massive potential for adventure tourism. Bulungan is still home to some traditional Dayak tribes known as Orang Gunung, or mountain people.

Mr Djauhari recognises that the infrastructure and facilities are currently insufficient for mass tourism. But he says: “It is still an interesting place to visit.”