Integrated landscape approach to support green growth in Indonesia

Governor Cornelis is taking the lead in defining and implementing a low carbon green growth development model in Indonesia. As the coordinator of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF) in Indonesia, he has repeatedly signaled his intention to ensure environmentally and socially sustainable growth and has taken action to do so by for example bringing the province into the GCF at a very early stage, establishing a REDD+ working group for West Kalimantan and taking action against illegal licenses.

Governor Cornelis organized the event in Jakarta to emphasize the objectives for green growth to all stakeholders, including the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Rob Swartbol and the ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway H.E. Stig Traavik.

A critical component of the governor’s roadmap for sustainable development is the integrated landscape approach: companies, communities, governments and other stakeholders working together to drive coordinated change across a wide area towards economic prosperity, social inclusion and environmental conservation. The governor is now seeking to secure further projects to support his vision, and is in discussions with a number of private companies. In addition, the province will shortly commission a green growth plan which will guide the provincial government in implementation of sustainable growth.

The IDH and PT CUS partnership will serve as one example of how the province is taking action on the ground towards its goals, and provide a concrete example of how protection-protection objectives can be delivered simultaneously. PT CUS is implementing a production-protection plantation model which has seen up to 30% of plantation area set aside for conservation (i.e. around 10,000 ha). This latest partnership will focus on how the sustainable business model can be further defined and scaled up, such that it can be applied elsewhere within West Kalimantan and Indonesia.

Governor Cornelis said: “I welcome the partnership with PT CUS and IDH. It is a strong example of our collective efforts towards the sustainable development of West Kalimantan, in line with our green growth strategy for the province. I look forward to welcoming other partnerships in the future.

“Achieving sustained green growth is only possible through working in together in partnership.”

He also stressed that social inclusion and improving livelihoods of local communities is paramount to combating climate change:  "We need to empower the local guardian of the forest landscape," said the governor.

Pak Hasjim Oemar, director of PT CUS, said: “This project reaffirms our commitment to sustainable development in West Kalimantan and elsewhere. PT CUS consciously puts a holistic balance between providing benefits to society (people), pays attention to the impact on the environment (planet), in order to achieve economic gains (profit) in the company’s operations. We are proud to contribute to the sustainable development of West Kalimantan and welcome further partnerships with interested parties”.

Fitrian Ardiansyah, Indonesia country director IDH, said: “IDH is pleased to support the governor and companies such as PT CUS in creating sustainable landscapes in West Kalimantan, and demonstrating that protection and production are in fact inseparable for long term prosperity.” IDH’s work on public-private partnerships for production and protection in forest and peat landscapes in Indonesia is support by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative.

So far, the governor has led a number of actions to ensure that the green growth agenda is mainstreamed within West Kalimantan specific progress to date includes:

• The development of renewable energy projects, especially Kemiri Sunan (Biodiesel).
• Peat mapping to improve water and peat management.
• The issuance of Perdirjen (Peraturan Direktur Jenderal -Director General of Forest Production Decree) on mangrove management, and a public-private partnership project in Kubu Raya that will serve as an example for implementation of the decree.
• Progress on the development of a PERDA (provincial regulation) on “sawit berkelanjutan” (sustainable palm oil) which will legally recognise high conservation value areas/forests/peat (HCVA) protection inside palm oil concessions. The target is to produce the regulation this year.
• Progress on the development of provincial regulation on “karhutla” (forest/peat fire prevention and mitigation). While waiting for the draft to be finalised, Governor Cornelis has worked with the private sector to implement improved fire prevention activities in the province.
• Work to adapt and enhance the existing PROPERDA environmental monitoring tool to take into account the performance of companies on illegal deforestation and peat/forest fires as well as combined ISPO/RSPO components.
• Launching of a number of public-private partnerships that will demonstrate how environmental protection can be reconciled with improved productivity and overall economic growth.

The GCF was established in November 2008 and now includes 29 governors from across the world. From Indonesia, Aceh, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Papua and West Papua are members. The GCF seeks to advance jurisdictional programs designed to promote low emissions rural development and reduced emissions from deforestation and land use (REDD+) and link these activities with emerging greenhouse gas (GHG) compliance regimes and other pay-for-performance opportunities.

PT CUS 

PT CUS is a leading commodity producer and processor which has put sustainability at the heart of its business model. PT CUS is part of Pasifik Agro Santosa (PT. PAS)  group. PT. PAS is an agribusiness company of ten subsidiaries, primarily engaged in palm oil plantations, sugar cane plantation, sugar mill factory and sugar refinery industry.