Another day, another rupiah. Week 1 -- Part 2

I should probably save the cynicism for later in the internship, but right now I am not getting much work done as we are still in the planning stages of what I will do exactly. I really want to do a good job here and don’t want to feel as though I am wasting any time or money. On the other hand I should be aware of the different pace of life and the heat doesn’t always put me in a good mood either.

I’m still settling into the workplace and also looking for accommodations is taking up a lot of my time. But I’ve been reading over reports given to me by LATIN and am starting to get an idea of what they are about and how they achieve their objectives.
At first I assumed that a NGO that was involved in forestry issues would be all about conservation and preservation of the forests. But LATIN is more focused on making sure that the resources of the forest are managed in a sustainable manner that provides for the communities that live in and around the forests. While LATIN does recommend that certain areas of forest be preserved as natural forest, habitat for wildlife and as water sources, they also recommend that certain areas be used for the planting of crops to provide for the community. As the economy grows in Indonesia the population is moving towards the urban areas and manufacturing and service industries start to take precedence over agriculture. This leaves rural communities to be ignored and their needs marginalized and not represented in government policy.

This is where LATIN comes in to help empower the rural community to formulate sustainable resource management plans and to facilitate negotiations between the government and the community so that the needs of the community are addressed in government policy.

The government appointed forestry company Perhutani seems to be LATIN’s arch nemesis in the arena of natural resource management. Perhutani oversees the management of 30 million hectares of forest on the island of Java and they tend to focus their energy and policies towards economically valuable resources such as teak and mahogany trees that can be harvested for wood. This leaves community access to the forest in question and the needs of the rural communities that have traditionally lived of the land are ignored. LATIN works with the community to develop a plan to present to Perhutani that includes designating land for their use, as well as identifying land to be preserved and benefit sharing plans to distribute the gains from the natural resources.
LATIN also encourages the community to develop its skills and resources so they are using the forest in a sustainable way that benefits them for the work they are doing. This has been evident in the village of Saninten where LATIN worked to develop a community based natural resource management plan that included designating land to be used to grow herbs that are then processed into an herbal medicine that is sold in the city.

This is only a superficial summary of the situation and the work that LATIN does, but I’m sure that by the time my internship is over I will have a much more in depth understanding of the issues and the stakeholders involved. And I’m also sure that by that time you will all be sick of hearing me talk about nothing but community based natural resource management plans. At least I will have moved on from my obsession with the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra though.