Aiming at capacity development in terms of SFM through forest certification (FSC) , FORCLIME collaborates with The Borneo Initiative (TBI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).  The team conducted site visits in three forest concessions within the Forest Management Unit (FMU) Berau Barat on February 29 until March 4. The three forest concessions are PT. Damai Utama Timber (UDIT), PT. Wana Bhakti Utama (WBPU) and PT Aditya Kirana Mandiri (AKM). The activity is one of FORCLIME’s strategic area ‘SFM’ that is located in the FMU Berau Barat in East Kalimantan. The support has been initiated since 2013 to obtain the SFM certificate from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

The FMU Berau Barat  covers approximately 780,000 hectares. Almost 50% of the area is categorized as limited production forest (Hutan Produksi Terbatas – HPT) and production forest (Hutan Produksi – HP). Within the FMU Berau Barat there are 12 forest concessions (natural forest/plantation forest). Therefore, the implementation of SFM by concessions is crucial to mitigate climate change.

During the preparation phase the concessions are conducting (i) some trainings to improve human capacity and (ii) a study on High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF). However, there are some obstacles and challenges the companies have to deal with in order to obtain the FSC certificate, for example related to work safety and environmental management. Hence, a more detailed work plan will be set up  with the goal of moving towards the main assessment for FSC certification in 2016. The immediate next step of the forest concession companies is conducting meetings between the management of the companies with their collaboration partners TBI and TNC in order to address the urgent issues at hand.

For further information, please contact:
Tobias Goedde, Strategic Area Manager for Sustainable Forest Management
Suprianto, Technical Advisor for FMU development, Berau office
Budi Susanto, Technical Adviser for GIS, Berau office