As a follow-up to the capacity building for shrimp farmers to identify the status of their ponds, the WG Revitalization of Delta Kayan-Sembakung conducted a two-day meeting to strengthen their knowledge about the Social Forestry programme on May 23-24 in Tarakan. The event aimed to provide alternative solutions for shrimp farmers, particularly concerning the legal status of ponds located within state forest areas. Resource persons from the Directorate of Preparation of the Social Forestry Area of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), the Center for Forestry and Social Partnership of Kalimantan, the Forestry Service of North Kalimantan Province, FORCLIME and WWF-Indonesia Bulungan Landscape acted as speakers at the event. More than 50 people, especially shrimp farmers who own shrimp ponds in Bulungan, Tana Tidung and Nunukan districts, and government offices and the head of villages.

In his speech, the Acting Head of the North Kalimantan Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) highlighted the massive shrimp-pond expansion in the last 25 years. At the beginning of 1991 15,870 ha of shrimp ponds were counted, whereas in 2016 the extent of ponds in the Kayan-Sembakung Delta region escalated to 149,958 ha, of which 70,707 ha are located in the state forest area. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a legal  status for the community’s source of livelihood. On the occasion, the FORCLIME Program Director delivered a speech emphasizing FORCLIME’s support for the revitalization efforts of Delta Kayan-Sembakung through a new programme focusing on wetlands, starting in 2019. In addition, FORCLIME is committed to support the development processes of the Forest Management Units (Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan-KPH) as public services in forestry sector.

During the event, the Directorate of Preparation of the Social Forestry Area explained the scheme that accommodates local people's access to forest resources, through Social Forestry and Agrarian Reform. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry prepares a strategy to accelerate social forestry by simplifying regulations, preparing the Indicative Map of the Social Forestry Area (Peta Indikatif Perhutanan Sosial-PIAPS) and establishing the Working Group on Social Forestry Acceleration (Kelompok Kerja Percepatan Perhutanan Sosial-Pokja PPS), additionally,  the access to manage Social Forestry is being ensured.

As another point on the agenda the Pokja PPS of North Kalimantan, the Bappeda team and KPH representatives visited two priority shrimp ponds in Tarakan, which are located in Mamburungan and Juwata Laut sub-districts. On the occasion, they also identified locations of shrimp-ponds that have not been documented.

Due to the meeting, the shrimp farmers gained a better understanding about Social Forestry. They understand that the legal basis for their shrimp pond areas can be obtained through the partnership scheme of the Social Forestry programme.

The follow-up of the meeting will be to facilitate the establishment of the shrimp farmer groups to propose a Forest Partnership scheme with the KPH. A major challenge encountered in the submission process is that some individually owned shrimp ponds exceed the size stipulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

For more information, please contact:
Mohammad Sidiq, Province Coordinator North Kalimantan