SBY Sees Kalimantan as the ‘Lungs of the World’

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has issued a regulation that sets aside for conservation 45 percent of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo Island, to be the “lungs of the world.”

In a press release, the president’s office said the plan would ensure that local ecosystems were protected and the biodiversity of the island allowed to flourish, though it offered few details.

The regulation, issued on Jan. 5, seeks to promote the sustainable use of the island’s resources, the president’s office said. But the decree does not specify whether the area in question would be tropical rain forest or other forms of vegetation.

The plan sets out an ambitious network of conservation areas linked together by a series of “ecosystem corridors” to enable the growth of diverse flora and fauna.

It also regulates and intends to strengthen rules surrounding protected areas, rehabilitate degraded areas and control agricultural expansion.

It is unclear how this plan will fit in with a government push to see Kalimantan become self-sufficient in energy and a national energy producer by 2025.

Kalimantan is at the center of a rush to mine its vast coal reserves, which environmental campaigners say has devastated its geography.

“Kalimantan will also become a center for plantations of palm oil, rubber and other sustainable forest products,” the release said.

The presidential regulation also says that four outer islands  in Kalimantan — Sebatik, Gosong Makassar, Maratua and Sambit — will see transportation access and communications improved, as well as a number of lighthouses built.

Deddy Ratih, human advocacy manager for large-scale plantations at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the government should produce the details of the plan, including the definition of “lungs of the world.”

“If we are talking about forested area in Kalimantan, areas that are real forests … they only cover about 30 percent [of the land],” he said.

He said the government should first settle the many ongoing land disputes in Kalimantan before setting up an ambitious new spatial zoning plan.

Coordination and communication between the central and regional governments is a massive problem, with district heads continuing to issue mining and plantation permits, while the central government still believes Kalimantan is 80 percent forest, he said.

Wisnu Rusmantoro, the Heart of Borneo national coordinator for the World Wildlife Fund Indonesia, hailed the president’s commitment to conservation, adding that he thought 45 percent forest coverage was sufficient for Kalimantan.
Fidelis E. Satriastanti | January 20, 2012. Jakarta Globe