The meeting was a first of its kind held in a beautiful country. Very little was known to me about this place, other than war. However, war and ethnic conflict seems to be slowly giving way to local enterprise and a sincere effort to “build the nation.” Bosnia and Herzogovina produces many herbs, berries and mushrooms, collected from the temperate wild. Amongst the Balkan countries Romania leads in the trade of these products – used mainly for food, condiments and herbal teas.
The meeting was in the idyllic surroundings of Teslic, a three-hour drive from Sarajevo – where people from about 40 countries came together for discussions. I could however, see very little participation from South and South East Asia, except for a few Indians, one Chinese and one Thai participant. The discussions revolved around the importance of wild collection for communities, its growing market share and trade. The opening plenary session highlighted the report The Overview of Production and Marketing of Organic Wild Products commissioned by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and set the stage for a constructive conference.
Another aspect discussed in a lot of detail was “sustainability” of wild collection. This was also the session in which Mathew, my colleague presented the case of Keystone. There was a felt need to put into place ecologically sound principles for sustainable harvest of these wild products. It was felt that local solutions, using indigenous knowledge and a monitoring protocol in place were important aspects. Discussions centered on the role that standards play in guaranteeing sustainable use, a guarantee both for collectors and consumers.
There was interesting display of local products from Bosnia – mainly made of herbs and a host of information on initiatives from all over the world.
LP3M is a fairly new organisation, hardly five months old and undertaking their very first major conference on a highly sensitive issue in the province of Kalimantan, if not the whole of Indonesia. The government has earmarked 3 million hectares of forest and fields on the border of Kalimantan and Malaysia for palm oil plantations which has sparked major debates and opposition across Indonesia. Appropriately, the seminar was on “The impact of large scale palm oil plantation on NTFP production and swidden cultivation in the district of Malinau, East Kalimantan.”
LP3M pulled off a remarkable feat in organising the seminar with only three core staff with assistance from two part-time staff. LP3M also has a partner in “crime” which is a little unorthodox, namely the Catholic church. Six priests from the local diocese assisted LP3M in chairing and ensuring the smooth flow of the seminar. About 200 local community members, leaders and cultural leaders from Malinau and Nunukan districts in East Kalimantan attended the seminar in January 2006.
The unofficial start of the seminar was the night before where mass was held followed by personal introductions of the participants and organizers. There was also dance and song and this helped everyone get to know each other before the heavy discussions began the next day.
The opening of the seminar was officiated by the District Regent, a rare event in view that the District Regent is supporting companies to start clearing forest for large-scale palm oil plantations in Malinau. The seminar was introduced to him a few weeks earlier, where he learned that Malinau district was part of the NTFP-EP’s video on eaglewood harvesting and cultivation.
When he reached the seminar he was greeted by the village heads and organizing committee and accompanied by traditional dances from the Dayak and Flores ethnic groups.
However, the District Regent spurred on his support for the federal government’s decision on palm oil with the main argument that it was good for local economy. Later the Head of Forestry in Malinau provided statistics that indicated much of Malinau district was covered in forest and there were no palm oil plantations yet in Malinau. Since Malinau district has claimed to be a Conservation District, this should be a good indication of its success. Instead, the Head of Forestry stressed the lack of palm oil plantations as a sign that Malinau district was economically behind. Specific questions on palm oil plantations by the local communities were not answered or rather side stepped for the main general claim of local economic good and there was an abundance of forest left to be exploited.
After the state’s view was put forward, a representative from the Catholic church spoke on the church’s position on the issue. It was inspiring to hear that the church sees us as stewards of all God’s creations and has actively put forward a programme to return Kalimantan to its heyday of natural wonders. It has taken on the action to both green and preserve Kalimantan’s natural resources through its “Plant a Thousand Trees” movement.
The next day, representatives from Padma, an Indonesian NGO, and Pacos, a Malaysian NGO shared the experiences of local communities facing land evictions due to palm oil conversion and those whose land had been converted to palm oil. Padma shared cases in West Kalimantan where palm oil conversion has been rapid and almost complete and the many economic, social and environmental problems faced by the local communities and transmigrants who have been relocated to the area due to the palm oil plantations. This was later supported by a local community member from that area, one of the few villagers still holding on to his land and fighting off palm oil conversion. He describes his land as an island in the sea of palm oil trees and shared the struggles he faced due to this change. When Pacos shared its local experience, the participants felt that Malaysian courts could be used to resolve land rights conflicts as it was much less corrupt and there were more explicit laws in place as compared to Indonesia. However, the palm oil plantations were owned by individuals from West Malaysia and very little economic benefit returned to the local states and districts in East Malaysia which can be seen in the relatively poorer infrastructure and economic development in those respective states.
The seminar continued with valuable information on the development and potential of rattan and eaglewood as economic alternatives to palm oil. The cultivation and resource management of both rattan and eaglewood in Malinau was shared in detail in the hopes it could be replicated in other places.
The District Regent is welcomed to the event.
Finally, the seminar ended with a joint recommendation by its participants addressed to relevant federal and district government officials. The recommendation stated that the undersigned local communities oppose the development of large-scale palm oil plantations and seek the support of the state to develop both product and markets of presently practiced swidden cultivation and NTFP production.
The seminar was long with a heavy topic but the people left armed not only with their certificates of attendance but with new knowledge. Although they were delighted in receiving these certificates for most of them it was their first time ever attending a seminar. But the smiles were also due to the new solidarity found among the different villages that attended the seminar and finally a means of addressing their problem.
CONTACT: Lembaga Pemerhati dan Pemberdayaan Dayak Punan Malinau (LP3M)
Co. Jl. Raja Pandita RT. V No. 32, Desa Malinau Kota, Malinau 77554
Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia
Tel : + 62 55321860
