Jl. Dadali No. 32, Bogor 16161, PO Box 310/Boo, Bogor 16003, Indonesia Phone: 62 251 357 222, Fax: 62 251 357 961
www.burung.org
ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION IN PRODUCTION FORESTS:
Reversing the trend of
Natural Forest Depletion
Ecosystem restoration is a new model of
conser-vation and forest management that aims to avoid
further deforestation and degradation of Indonesia’s
natural forests, hence reversing the current trend of
forest degradation and clearance. In addition to
pre-venting further emissions of greenhouse gases from
forest degradation, the process would also increase
carbon sequestration in the long run as the
ecosys-tem is restored. Given the vast area of production
forests that exist in Indonesia, concessions for
eco-system restoration provide a new and innovative
way to conserve rainforests and store carbon.
The future of Indonesia’s forests is at stake. At this time, approximately 53.35 million hectares of natural forest is allocated for production forest. Unfortunately, these production forests are frequently unsuccessfully managed, leading to severe degradation and deforestation of the concession. In addition to unsustainable forest management practices and boundary
conlicts with local communities, the site is often abandoned
when it is no longer economically feasible to continue timber extraction. Further degradation and encroachment frequently ensues, facilitating the ultimate conversion of natural forest to timber plantations.
Despite the disturbance to natural ecosystems, many degraded production forest concessions remain extremely valuable for biodiversity, especially as they are located in areas of rapid forest conversion. Therefore, Burung Indonesia and the Indonesian Government (Ministry of Forestry) have been working together to implement ecosystem restoration in pro-duction forests as a new way to maintain lowland forests. This initiative aims to reverse the trend of natural forest depletion in Indonesia’s production forests.
FIRST LOCATION OF ECOSYSTEM
RESTORATION CONCESSION
SOURCE: INDONESIA MINISTRY OF FORESTRY SOURCE: BURUNG INDONESIA Ministry of Forestry
In June 2004, the Indonesian Government issued the Min-ister of Forestry decree No. SK 159/Menhut-II/2004 on ‘Ecosystem Restoration in Production Forests’. This regula-tion introduced a new type of license for the management of designated production forests – the license for ecosystem restoration. In January 2007 the Ministerial Decree was con-verted in an amendment to the government regulation No. 6/2007 approved by Parliament and signed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia. This regulation formalized the new
category of “ecosystem restoration concessions”, simpliied
the procedures for allocation and extended the duration of the concession to 100 years.
The irst site for such a concession has now been
desig-nated in Southern Sumatra and covers an area of 101,000 ha. A joint effort of Burung Indonesia, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and BirdLife International will manage the area. This initiative will halt further forest degra-dation and prevent permanent conversion to other forms of land use. In the near future, this innovative approach needs to be expanded in other areas of production forest to make
a signiicant contribution to Indonesia’s efforts to safeguard
livelihoods, forests and biodiversity, and to mitigate climate change through reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation.
Ecosystem restoration aims to reverse the current trend of natural forest depletation in production forest
(from C to A)
A B C
