The Sundaland Hotspot Briefing Book
Transcription
The Sundaland Hotspot Briefing Book
The Sundaland Hotspot Briefing Book Prepared for: Improving Linkages Between CEPF and World Bank Operations, Asia Forum, Medan, Indonesia—June 23-25, 2005 SUNDALAND HOTSPOT BRIEFING BOOK Table of Contents I. The Investment Plan • Ecosystem Profile Fact Sheet • Ecosystem Profile II. Implementation • Overview of CEPF’s Portfolio in the Sundaland Hotspot o Charts of Portfolio o Map of CEPF Regions • Project Map • List of Grants III. Conservation Highlights • E-News • Other Highlights IV. Leveraging CEPF Investments • Table of Leveraged Funds C E P F FA C T S H E E T Sumatra Sundaland Biodiversity Hotspot CEPF INVESTMENT PLANNED IN REGION $10 million QUICK FACTS Sumatra has the most mammal species (210) of any Indonesian island. Sumatra has 465 resident bird species, of which 14 are unique to the island. Birdlife International classifies 34 Important Bird Areas on Sumatra, 54 percent of which are outside protected areas. Less than 40 percent of Sumatra’s original natural forest remains. World Bank experts predict that Sumatra’s lowland forests will be gone by 2005, if current rates of deforestation continue. As Sumatra loses its lowland forests, it also is losing the extensive ecological services and wealth the forests provide. Local communities will be the hardest hit: Millions of Sumatrans depend on these resources for their livelihood and basic needs. To date, the Indonesian government has declared more than 70 conservation areas on Sumatra. However, most are not secure. The Indonesian island of Sumatra contains an extraordinary wealth of natural resources and habitat diversity. It is part of Southeast Asia’s Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, one of the 25 richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on Earth. These biodiversity hotspots cover only 1.4 percent of the planet yet contain 60 percent of terrestrial species diversity. The island is home to more than 10,000 plant species, mostly in lowland forests. It is also the only place in the world where elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, clouded leopards and orangutans are all found. Sixteen of its 210 mammal species are unique to the island, including the Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran rhinoceros and Sumatran tiger. THREATS Indonesia is at the epicenter of the global deforestation crisis. Indonesia lost some 20 million hectares of forest from approximately 1985 to 1997. Since then, experts believe another 5 million hectares or more may have been lost, with rampant illegal logging occurring even in protected areas. Other threats include decentralization; oil palm plantations; illegal hunting and wildlife trade; road construction; mining; and civil conflict. CEPF STRATEGY Within the Sundaland hotspot, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) focuses on Sumatra, as the biologically richest and most threatened area. CEPF targets four geographic areas: Seulawah–Leuser–Angkola; Siberut Island; Tesso Nilo–Bukit Tigapuluh; and Bukit Barisan Seletan. CEPF chose these four areas based on the amount of remaining species-rich lowland forest; Myanmar Thailand Vietnam Cambodia Philippines Brunei M a l a y s i a S u m at ra Siberut I n d o n e s i a CEPF-funded area Sundaland hotspot Australia CEPF focuses on the island of Sumatra within the Sundaland hotspot. 1 91 9 M S TR EE T, N W, W A SH I N G TO N, DC , U SA 2 00 3 6 1 . 2 0 2. 9 1 2. 18 08 FA X 1. 2 02 .9 12 .1 0 45 J u l y 20 02 www.cepf.net The CEPF strategy focuses primarily on enabling key actors at local levels to practice good forest stewardship with adequate skills, coordination, collaboration, incentives and political voice. In Sumatra, CEPF seeks projects at the district level and below, with the aim of building alliances among conservation-minded individuals, nongovernmental organizations and private sector interests. It provides mostly small- to medium-sized grants to civil society. The CEPF investment strategy, called an ecosystem profile, will be funded over five years, beginning in 2002. STRATEG IC FUNDING DIRECTIONS The CEPF strategy for Sumatra ensures funding is directed where it is needed most and where it can do the most good. CEPF investments on the island are guided by four strategic directions. Each project must be linked to one of these to be approved for funding: 1. enhance stewardship of forest resources at district level and below. 2. empower civil society to organize in favor of conserving biodiversity. 3. build alliances among conservation-minded groups in civil society and the private sector. 4. assess impact of conservation interventions at district level and below. © Haroldo Castro the estimated time remaining before that forest disappears; the number of existing successful conservation programs present; and the presence of potential conservation partnerships. ABOUT US CEPF is a joint initiative of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. The partnership aims to dramatically advance conservation of Earth’s biodiversity hotspots—the biologically richest and most threatened areas. A fundamental goal is to ensure that civil society, such as community groups, nongovernmental organizations and private sector partners, is engaged in biodiversity conservation. CEPF acts as a catalyst to create strategic working alliances among diverse groups, combining unique capacities and eliminating duplication of efforts for a coordinated, comprehensive approach to conservation challenges. HOW TO LEARN MORE For more information about CEPF and how to apply for grants, visit www.cepf.net. 1 91 9 M S TR EE T, N W, W A SH I N G TO N, DC 2 00 36 , U S A 1 . 2 0 2. 9 1 2. 18 08 FA X 1. 2 02 .9 12 .1 0 45 J u l y 20 02 www.cepf.net Ecosystem Profile Sumatra Forest Ecosystems Of the Sundaland Biodiversity Hotspot Indonesia final version december 11, 2001 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION THE ECOSYSTEM PROFILE BACKGROUND 3 3 4 PRIORITIZATION OF SUMATRA WITHIN THE HOTSPOT 4 LEVELS OF PROTECTION FOR BIODIVERSITY 6 SYNOPSIS OF THREATS 7 DECENTRALIZATION 8 ILLEGAL AND LEGAL LOGGING 8 OIL PALM PLANTATIONS 8 ILLEGAL HUNTING AND WILDLIFE TRADE 9 ROAD CONSTRUCTION 9 MINING 9 CIVIL CONFLICT 9 SYNOPSIS OF CURRENT INVESTMENTS 10 MULTILATERAL DONORS 10 GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 11 NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 12 CEPF NICHE FOR INVESTMENT IN SUMATRA 15 CEPF INVESTMENT STRATEGY AND PROGRAM FOCUS 16 ENHANCE STEWARDSHIP OF FOREST RESOURCES AT DISTRICT LEVEL AND BELOW 17 EMPOWER CIVIL SOCIETY TO ORGANIZE IN FAVOR OF CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY 17 BUILD ALLIANCES AMONG CONSERVATION-MINDED GROUPS IN CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR 17 ASSESS IMPACT OF CONSERVATION INTERVENTIONSAT DISTRICT LEVEL AND BELOW 17 SUSTAINABILITY 18 CONCLUSION 18 2 INTRODUCTION The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is designed to better safeguard the world's threatened biodiversity hotspots in developing countries. It is a joint initiative of Conservation International (CI), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. CEPF provides financing to projects in biodiversity hotspots areas with more than 60 percent of the Earth’s terrestrial species diversity in just 1.4 percent of its land surface. A fundamental purpose of the Fund is to ensure that civil society is engaged in efforts to conserve biodiversity in the hotspots. An additional purpose is to ensure that those efforts complement existing strategies and frameworks established by local, regional and national governments. CEPF will promote working alliances among community groups, NGOs, government, academic institutions and the private sector, combining unique capacities and eliminating duplication of efforts for a more comprehensive approach to conservation. CEPF is unique among funding mechanisms in that it focuses on biological areas rather than political boundaries, aiming to maximize biological survival through the establishment of a portfolio of projects which all contribute, where possible, to an integrated landscape-scale program of conservation. It will also focus on transboundary cooperation when areas rich in biological value straddle national borders or in areas where a regional approach will be more effective than a national approach. CEPF aims to provide civil society with an agile and flexible funding mechanism complementing funding currently available to government agencies. A key step in the development of this ecosystem profile was a series of three stakeholder consultation workshops, each lasting two full days. Consultations were held in north, central, and south Sumatra to compare conditions and to cover the island’s major biogeographic zones. One workshop was hosted by an international NGO, another by a national NGO, and a third by a provincial university. Participant mix favored local NGOs and community leaders, but included representatives of academia, district parliaments, district managers, forest industries, the military, and agencies responsible for protected areas. The process also entailed a three-day consultation with natural scientists and economists. A total of 223 people were consulted in the development of this ecosystem profile. The information gathered from these stakeholder consultations led to CEPF’s decision to focus support at the district level and below. Geographic priorities were identified by CEPF and its advisors based on the highest levels of threat to the areas of highest biodiversity, and on existing opportunities to establish strategic partnerships and enhance successful projects and programs already underway. In summary, CEPF offers an opportunity to promote the conservation of some of the most important ecosystems in the world — places of high biodiversity and great beauty. CEPF will promote the engagement of a wide range of public and private institutions to address conservation needs through coordinated regional efforts. The Ecosystem Profile The purpose of the ecosystem profile is to provide an overview of the causes of biodiversity loss in a particular region and to couple this assessment with an inventory of current conservation activities in order to identify the niche where CEPF investment can provide the greatest incremental value. The ecosystem profile is intended to recommend broad strategic funding directions that can be implemented by civil society to contribute to the conservation of 3 biodiversity in the targeted region. Applicants propose specific projects consistent with these broad directions and criteria. The ecosystem profile does not define the specific activities that prospective implementers may propose in the region, but outlines the conservation strategy that will guide those activities. For this reason, it is not possible or appropriate for the ecosystem profile to be more specific about the site or scope of particular projects or to identify appropriate benchmarks for those activities. Applicants will be required to prepare detailed proposals that specify performance indicators. In summary, the ecosystem profile is a five-year investment strategy intended to guide CEPF grantmaking. The grants and grantees will define the specific interventions supported by CEPF. BACKGROUND The Sundaland Hotspot covers the western half of the Indonesian archipelago, a group of some 17,000 islands stretching 5,000 kilometers along the Equator between Asia and Australia. The hotspot includes some of the largest islands in the world and is adjacent to three other hotspots: Wallacea to the east, Indo-Burma to the west, and the Philippines to the north. Together, these four hotspots constitute one of the two greatest concentrations of terrestrial and freshwater species diversity on Earth — the other being in northern South America. Sundaland encompasses some 1.6 million square kilometers, dominated by the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The topography includes high mountain ranges, volcanoes, alluvial plains, lakes, swamps, and shallow coastal waters. Indonesian alone is home to 10% of the world’s known plant species, 12% of all mammals, 17% of all birds, 16% of all reptiles and amphibians, and 25% of all fish. Sundaland has six endemic bird areas, as well as 15,000 endemic plant species, 139 endemic bird species, 115 endemic mammal species, 268 endemic reptile species, and 280 endemic freshwater fish species. Prioritization of Sumatra Within the Hotspot Sumatra, which measures 1,800 kilometers long and 400 kilometers wide, is the focus of CEPF’s first investment in Sundaland because it arguably holds the hotspot’s highest levels of biodiversity under the most severe threat. Sumatra has the most mammals (210 species) of any Indonesian island. Sixteen species of mammal are endemic to Sumatra, and another 17 are endemic to the adjacent Mentawai Islands. Sumatra’s endemic primate diversity per unit area is unmatched anywhere on Earth. Eight endemic mammals in Sumatra and the Mentawai Islands are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and on the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Sumatra’s bird list numbers 582 species, of which 465 are resident and 14 are endemic, making it the second richest biogeographic region for birds in Indonesia after Papua. According to BirdLife International, there are 34 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) on Sumatra, of which 54% are outside protected areas and 18% are in critically threatened lowland forests. Of 300 Sumatran reptile and amphibian species, 69 (23%) are endemic. Sumatra’s freshwater systems hold 270 species, of which 42 (15%) are endemic. Most of Sumatra’s endemic plant species are found in lowland forests below 500 meters, though only about 15% of the total may have been recorded to date. Less than 40% of Sumatra’s original natural forest remains. The rate of deforestation currently averages 2.5% per year, and is most acute in the species-rich lowland and hilly-lowland forests. Scientists predict that all of 4 Sumatra’s lowland rainforests will be gone by 2005. 5 Levels of Protection for Biodiversity Indonesia, and Sumatra in particular, is no newcomer to the concept of conservation. In fact, conservation has been the focus of considerable attention since the Dutch colonial era. In 1997, at the time of Indonesia’s economic crisis, the government was spending between $22 million and $33 million per year on protected areas, up to 20% of which came from international donors. To date, the Indonesian Government has declared 73 conservation areas on Sumatra (see Table 1 and Figure 1). However, even existing protected areas are not secure, and many, if not most, are losing their forest cover in the face of relentless pressures. Table 1: Protected areas in Sumatra CONSERVATION AREA Nature Reserves Wildlife Reserves Game Parks Grand Forest Parks National Parks Recreation Parks Marine Recreation Parks Total NO. HECTARES 30 14 5 5 7 10 2 73 47,190 628,657 129,650 81,386 3,430,390 20,376 230,100 4,567,749 Source: PKA Statistical Data, 1999 The Directorate-General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHPA) in the Ministry of Forestry is responsible for protected areas. However, actual on-the-ground management of protected areas — including watershed and buffer forests, production forests, and parks — is now devolving to the district level. In addition to the current confusion over responsibility, local governments face the problem of raising much of their revenue from within their districts. This creates tension between local governments and conservation officials, as protected areas occupy land for which no land taxes are collected. To date, ecotourism in national parks has not contributed sufficient revenue to offset this loss in taxes. Most Indonesian NGOs interviewed for this ecosystem profile believed that conservation outcomes largely will be determined by the attitudes and actions at the district level, regardless of national policies. Encroachment into protected areas makes restoration and conservation of forest corridors increasingly difficult. The protected areas themselves face a number of basic management problems, including: lack of political will; corruption and bribery; poor staff morale and lack of incentives for good performance; limited capacity for resource conservation and law enforcement; insufficient funding; and, hostility from private sector and civil society. In September 2001, the government renewed commitments to stop illegal loggers, especially those operating in national parks. Unfortunately, rampant illegal logging and corruption remain in evidence. 6 Figure 1: Protected Areas of Sumatra SYNOPSIS OF THREATS The deteriorating status of protected areas and the rapid felling of lowland forest pose the greatest general tangible threats to Sumatra’s biodiversity. Before discussing other key threats, it is important to consider their root causes: Lack of political will. Despite declarations at the national level aimed at stopping illegal forest destruction and illegal wildlife trade, there is little political will or organized concern to do so at the local level. Poverty. In the year following the 1997 economic crisis, the living standard for 15 million more Indonesians fell below the poverty line. By 1999, 18.2% lived in poverty. In early 2001, per capita GDP was $2,685. Corruption, collusion, and nepotism. Misuse of authority for personal gain is a widespread, well-documented legacy from the Suharto era. Military involvement in extraction of forest resources also is a carry-over from this time. 7 Dysfunctional law enforcement. The absence of the rule of law, especially in the forestry sector, is widely acknowledged, even in official statements by Indonesia’s Forestry Minister. Strong incentives favoring extraction and forest conversion. Profits in the oil palm industry and bankruptcy in the pulp and paper industry encourage large-scale felling, burning, and conversion of forests. Meanwhile, the felling and conversion processes provide much-needed — if ultimately unsustainable — livelihood for local communities. Insufficient incentives favoring conservation. The values of ecological services (e.g. flood control, watershed functions, and well-managed harvest of forest products) are poorly understood, while penalties for illegal extraction from forests are nil. Decentralization Legislation mandating regional autonomy, which went into effect in January 2001, is fundamentally reshaping the relationship between the central government in Jakarta and local authorities in all sectors, including forestry. There now are 78 local decision-making bodies on Sumatra. Provincial and district authorities are increasingly resistant to old-style, centrallyorganized initiatives. At the same time, the central government remains responsible for protected areas. In many cases, this has led to a paralysis in protected area management. Despite a confusion of protected-area jurisdiction between central government and district-level authorities, the trend toward decentralization opens the door to increased local participation in allocation and management of natural resources and more government accountability at the local level. However, if poorly executed, decentralization also poses a substantial risk of accelerating environmental degradation. Illegal and Legal Logging Unsustainable and illegal extraction of timber and nontimber forest products is rampant throughout Sumatra, sometimes with the support of the military, national police, and timber and pulp and paper industries. The price of illegal timber has undercut that of legal timber, leaving legal operations at an economic disadvantage. This situation is exacerbated by the increased demand for timber from China as a result of its own logging ban. Illegal timber from Sumatra is being laundered through Malaysia to feed the demand from China, North America, Europe, and Japan. The pulp and paper industry is a major driver of the threat posed by logging. Indah Kiat, one of Sumatra's largest pulp and paper companies, used 6.8 million cubic meters of pulpwood in 1999, about 87% of which was processed from wood generated from forests rather than its own plantations. This company's situation is similar to other pulp and paper operations in Sumatra, whose collective need for wood is approximately eight times the available plantation supply. In addition, extreme debt and bankruptcies are inducing pulp and paper companies to clearcut lowland forests at unprecedented rates. Oil Palm Plantations In the Sumatra’s Jambi Province, the regional government is promoting expansion of oil palm plantations. The provincial governor has announced plans to convert 1 million hectares of forest to oil palm by 2005. The situation in Jambi mirrors the magnitude of proposed oil palm expansion under development in at least Riau Province and in north Sumatra. 8 At the same time, forest fires are rampant throughout Sumatra, especially in the central and southern regions. As the price of palm oil has increased, land-hungry plantation developers in Sumatra have deliberately burned large areas of forest. In the 1990s, plantations and landclearing contractors used fire as the primary mechanism to clear land. Illegal Hunting and Wildlife Trade Illegal hunting and illegal wildlife trade are rampant in Sumatra. The monetary incentives for poaching are high, while awareness and enforcement of wildlife-trade regulations is low. Local politicians and military officials reportedly are involved in illegal hunting, and one military official was arrested and prosecuted for poaching tigers in Way Kambas Nature Reserve and selling their skins. Road Construction Roads are the routes along which settlers and illegal logging trucks gain access to once-remote forest areas and all species within. Logging roads often then become formal transportation routes adopted by local governments. In most areas of Sumatra, the building of logging roads marks the first stage of total forest loss. Local governments seem keen to accommodate road construction as a form of income generation in itself. Satellite images document hundreds of logging roads crisscrossing deep into protected forests and national parks. Aceh Province has a plan to construct a system of feeder roads extending from Banda Aceh south to the Leuser Ecosystem boundary. A road was built recently in the Kerinci Seblat National Park despite policies prohibiting it. In general, road construction patterns suggest that further forest fragmentation is imminent. Mining A mining boom encouraged by the Suharto regime began in the 1990s, causing road building into formerly isolated areas, forest destruction, increased flooding, and pollution of rivers. A Sumatran NGO asked for the closure of a gold and silver mining operation in South Sumatra because of the contamination of adjacent river systems and a loss of water resources to thousands of nearby villagers, among other concerns. Civil Conflict The general atmosphere of uncertainty and the transfer of authority to local governments have led to a breakdown in the rule of law. Old rivalries among ethnic groups, classes, and occupations (e.g. farmers and national park police) compromise the effectiveness of protectedarea management. Civil strife in northern Sumatra and generalized lawlessness and ethnic or religious tensions in other areas of the island pose pervasive and ongoing threats. The civil war in Aceh Province may actually favor forest conservation at present, as logging and milling operations are disrupted by security concerns. Unfortunately, however, insurgents are reportedly harvesting forest products to fund their rebellion. The extent of this activity is unknown. On the other hand, changes in government policy are expected to give the Acehinese control over their own natural resources — a development that could be an opportunity or a threat. Other civil society factors contributing to loss of biodiversity include the public perception that Sumatra's national parks were established illegally. This view has contributed to a long history of conflict with conservation authorities. In some cases, local communities are holding their 9 ground and staking claim to land contained within protected areas. In the face of violence, national park authorities have unsurprisingly abdicated their conservation mandate. SYNOPSIS OF CURRENT INVESTMENTS The amount of funding for conservation initiatives in Sumatra expected over the next three years appears to be modest and, certainly, significantly less than in the recent past. Based on interviews with current and potential investors, reasons for the decline are primarily lack of political will favoring conservation and few successes coming from millions of dollars already invested in conservation projects. In addition to the government of Indonesia, the major investors in Sumatran conservation include the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank. The following is a summary of major investors only, to provide a context for CEPF investment. NGOs are listed only if they invest their own institutional funds, as opposed to carrying out work in Sumatra with funds from other investors. Multilateral Donors The World Bank: The Kerinci Seblat National Park integrated conservation and development project (ICDP) is a six-year program financed by the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility, and the government of Indonesia, which includes major contracts to Flora and Fauna International (FFI), World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) and the Conservation Information Forum. The World Bank has invested $19.2 million as a loan for development and planning activities. The objective of this project is to secure the biodiversity of the park and to stop further habitat fragmentation by improving park protection and management, especially by increasing the participation of local communities promoting sustainable management of the park’s biodiversity; and supporting the maintenance of permanent forest cover in the remaining buffer zone concession areas. Global Environment Facility: The GEF is investing $940,000 in Conservation International’s Forests and Media (INFORM) Project. This new project has the primary objective of generating an upwelling of interest and concern among the general public and key decision-makers concerning the critical, potentially terminal, loss of forest biodiversity in western Indonesia, and leading to a movement toward a sustainable forest management system for the region. The Kerinci Seblat ICDP also involves the GEF, which is funding $15 million of the total $46 million estimated budget. The Conservation of Elephant Landscapes in Aceh (CELA) is being implemented by FFI with $750,000 invested by the GEF. The primary objective is to conserve biologically rich forest ecosystems in northern Aceh Province, focusing on lowland forests that are important wildlife corridors, especially for elephants, and maintaining biological corridors between the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem and northern Aceh forests. The Greater Berbak-Sembilang Integrated Coastal Wetlands Conservation Project is funded by the GEF and executed by Wetlands International. The $732,000 project aims to prepare and implement a management plan for the Greater Berbak-Sembilang Ecosystem based on conservation values and socioeconomic needs; expand the national parks within the ecosystem; 10 strengthen national park management; and increase community and NGO involvement in park management and biodiversity conservation. United Nations Development Programme: With $800,000 over three years from UNDP-GEF, BirdLife International is studying the conservation needs of 34 Important Bird Areas in Sumatra. The UNDP/GEF Small Grants Program has invested $1.5 million in Indonesia, some of it in Sumatra. The SGP provides grants of up to $50,000 and other support to community-based groups and NGOs for activities that address biodiversity conservation. European Union: The Gunung Leuser Development Programme, with an EU investment of $29 million from 1995-2002, is based on the premise that if the ecosystem is properly conserved, the ecological services that emanate from it will be of lasting benefit to its 3 million human residents. The EU’s investment in the South Sumatra Forest Fire Management Project (SSFFMP) will total $7.7 million over the next five years. The objective of this project is to establish procedures for a decentralized mechanism for the rational and sustainable management of Indonesia’s island and forest resources. Asian Development Bank: Capacity Building for Decentralized Natural Resources Management (formerly Decentralized Resource Management Capacity) is a $775,000 project in preparation to aid the ongoing decentralization process in Indonesia, with the aim of building the capacity of Provincial and District Planning Agencies (BAPPEDAs) to shoulder their new responsibility in natural resource management planning and implementation. Government Agencies Indonesia: The Indonesian government is working with the EU to co-finance the Gunung Leuser Development Programme, contributing $16 million from its Reforestation Fund. The government is adding $13 million to the World Bank and GEF investments in the Kerinci Seblat ICDP. Through its Directorate General of Forest Protection and Conservation, the government will allocate $5.2 million over the next 12 months for conservation and protected area management in Sumatra. According to experts interviewed for this ecosystem profile, this amount is approximately 20% of the minimum required for proper management and development of Sumatra’s protected area system. U.S. Agency for International Development: USAID has awarded Conservation International $300,000 to raise public awareness of the potential extinction of the orangutan and other endemic Sumatran species in the Gunung Leuser ecosystem. The project includes capacity building for park and relevant law enforcement personnel and building a core force of local monitors within the park that enhance the ability of park guards to protect the orangutan and its habitat. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The USFWS Division of International Conservation Multinational Species Conservation Funds are investing a total of $368,570 in projects on Sumatra aimed at conserving elephants, tigers and gibbons. 11 Nongovernmental Organizations Conservation International: CI 's groundwork in Sumatra was laid in the early 1990s, with a small investment in research and support to a local NGO on Siberut Island for assessing alternative-income development opportunities for buffer zone communities. Since then, CI has invested more than $300,000 for various conservation projects, including an assessment of the “Seulawah Corridor” in Aceh, and a carbon-offset feasibility study. (Other CI projects on Sumatra are listed under GEF and USAID above.) Save the Tiger Fund: The STF has been investing in tiger conservation initiatives in Sumatra since 1995. As of 2001, the STF was supporting two field-based projects in Sumatra: a $195,700 grant for a fourth year of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s field study and management of tigers in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in southern Sumatra, helping to formulate a nationwide tiger conservation strategy, and a $95,000 grant to FFI to train authorities in Kerinci Seblat National Park to prevent tiger poaching. Wildlife Conservation Society – Indonesia: The WCS has invested in biological research in Indonesia for more than a decade and now maintains a program office in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. Grants aside, the institution currently is investing $300,000 per year in southern Sumatra, an amount that has been growing at about 20% per year. Subjects of its current research in Bukit Barisan Selatan include large mammals; the effects of forest fires on vegetation and wildlife; orangutan ecology and conservation, and related training of local scientists; frugivore abundance and distribution in the park and throughout Indonesia; behavioral ecology of the siamang; and habitat selection and partitioning by squirrels. WCS also is conducting a conservation assessment for elephants in Lampung Province. Larger policy initiatives by WCS country directors focus on Lampung Province, and in Bogor and Jakarta at the national level. The program promotes conservation and stewardship of Indonesia's rich biodiversity, particularly in Bukit Barisan Selatan. The wide variety of ecological research is complemented by sociological studies, policy initiatives, and analysis of data gathered by remote sensing. Using satellite images and GIS, researchers are tracking threats to Bukit Barisan Selatan, such as logging and land clearing, and their impact on wildlife. In addition, WCS has plans for helping build capacity of local NGOs to manage natural resources. World Wide Fund for Nature – Indonesia: WWF – Indonesia has been working with the Director General of Kerinci Seblat National Park since 1990 to safeguard the park's biodiversity through a sustainable resource management system. Since 1996, WWF – Indonesia has been supporting integrated conservation measures in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park with special emphasis on tigers. Anti-poaching units have just been set up and are operating in the park. In 1998, WWF – Indonesia began a project to provide long-term technical assistance to relevant authorities to strengthen implementation of CITES by monitoring traded species and products and by advising local authorities in the enforcement of trade policies. WWF – Indonesia is developing a manual for police and customs officials to identify products derived from endangered species. At the same time, an educational campaign is under development to raise consumer awareness of wildlife trade regulations. 12 As part of the international WWF Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS), WWF – Indonesia is surveying elephant populations, assisting with mitigation of human/wildlife conflict, monitoring illegal trade (through TRAFFIC) in rhino and elephant parts, and conducting related communications and outreach efforts. In Sumatra, WWF and local governments are proposing the Tesso Nilo forest complex as an elephant reserve and demonstration project for mitigation of human/elephant conflict. Annually, WWF – US is investing approximately $120,000 in Riau Province for AREAS work, $50,000 for tiger work in Bukit Tigapuluh, and $125,000 for AREAS in Bukit Barisan Selatan. 13 Figure 2: Conservation Investments in Sumatra 14 CEPF NICHE FOR INVESTMENT IN SUMATRA Gaps in current and projected conservation investment on Sumatra are not necessarily programmatic or geographic. Most “gaps” actually result from a lack of conservation success, caused by the absence of political will and rule of law. CEPF will be a smaller investor than others who have grappled with these obstacles in the past. However, CEPF will partner with individuals and organizations in the field who have had small but proven conservation successes and can place themselves “alongside” civil society, with the aim of engendering stewardship of forest resources by means specific to each local context. Stakeholder consultations in compiling this ecosystem profile underscored the need for CEPF to support people and conservation efforts at the district level and below. They also noted that a tradition of working in isolation has kept Sumatra’s NGOs fragmented and, therefore, weak in relation to threats to biodiversity. Fortunately, Sumatran NGOs themselves recognize this weakness and wish to form coalitions and alliances that will allow them to address key issues in a manner that avoids duplication of effort, takes advantage of each organization’s strengths, and builds collective political influence. Based on these recommendations to focus funds at the local level in support of coordinated conservation efforts, CEPF will seek projects at the district level and below, with the aim of enhancing local stewardship of forests and building alliances among conservation-minded individuals, NGOs and private sector interests. In doing so, CEPF would provide mostly smallto medium-sized grants ($50,000 or less) to civil society for projects and programs that may not have been beneficiaries of previous conservation investments. Delivering funds in this way will require working in partnership with new and existing Sumatran conservation projects and programs. Because CEPF will be disbursing a relatively small amount of money over five years, the Fund has chosen a geographic as well as a demographic niche. Four areas of geographic focus were chosen on the basis of: amount of remaining species-rich lowland forest; estimated time remaining before that forest disappears; number of existing successful conservation programs present; and presence of potential conservation partnerships. On the basis of these criteria, CEPF will focus on the following areas (listed north to south), with the understanding that levels of funding support will vary according to absorptive capacity of local NGOs and partners, political climate, biodiversity assessments, and other key factors likely to change over the course of CEPF investment. Seulawah–Leuser–Angkola − The stakeholder process for this ecosystem profile, which included members of the Achinese independence movement, indicated that there are opportunities to work with local partners in conserving large tracts, if not corridors, of these relatively well-preserved lowland and montane forests, which are home to orangutans, elephants, and tigers. Since this is a massive landscape of varying political and religious interests, partnerships toward a broader corridor-conservation effort will take time to form and coordinate. However, in part due to inaccessibility caused by civil conflict, these forests may persist longer than those in the lowlands of central and southern Sumatra. Siberut Island − The Mentawai Islands adjacent to Sumatra actually hold more endemic mammals (17) than Sumatra proper (16). Siberut Island is of particular importance for its 15 remaining biodiversity, but also because of its already active conservation-minded civil society. Small amounts of funding on Siberut are likely to leverage tangible and substantive conservation results. Tesso Nilo–Bukit Tigapuluh − These two areas, the Tesso Nilo forest and Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, are the largest patches of Sumatra’s remaining lowland forests, which some scientists predict will be gone by 2005 without successful conservation intervention. Surveys have shown that these areas are home to tigers, elephants, sun bears, and several primate species. Bukit Barisan Seletan − This gazetted national park has approximately 365,000 hectares of intact, species-rich hilly lowland forest. Unlike Tesso Nilo-Bukit Tigapuluh, BBS is under less pressure from illegal logging and, instead, is losing forest at a slower rate primarily due to encroaching human settlements. It is known for its tiger, elephants, and one of the largest remaining populations of Sumatran rhinos. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it should be noted that CEPF support in Sumatra will be agile and flexible, as political climate and conservation opportunities dictate. CEPF INVESTMENT STRATEGY AND PROGRAM FOCUS Because of Indonesia’s decentralization policy, many opportunities for conservation of biodiversity in Sumatra lie at the district level and below. Some conservation projects in Indonesia have shown promise in building the capacity of local communities and organizations to participate in and advocate for conservation of natural resources. For this reason, the CEPF niche will focus primarily on enabling key actors at local levels to take on forest stewardship with adequate capacity, coordination, collaboration, incentives and political voice. The table below summarizes the strategic funding directions for CEPF in Sumatra. CEPF Strategic Directions 1. Enhance stewardship of forest resources at district level and below CEPF Investment Priorities 1.1 Raise awareness of value of ecological services 1.2 Raise awareness of options for benefiting from conservation of ecological services and forest products 1.3 Raise awareness of responsibility to conserve biodiversity 1.4 Build capacity for planning and implementation of sustainable resource management 1.5 Build capacity of civil society to monitor forest extraction 2. Empower civil society to organize in favor of conserving biodiversity 2.1 Increase representation of civil society in NGOs 2.2 Build capacity of civil society groups to organize forest resource protection functions 2.3 Support NGO activities advocating legal and sustainable forest extraction 2.4 Support NGO activities to stop illegal forest extraction 3. 4. Build alliances among conservation-minded groups in civil society and the private sector 3.1 Build capacity among NGOs for facilitation and conflict mediation Assess impact of conservation interventions at district level and below 4.1 Build capacity of civil society to map and track activities affecting conservation of natural resources and changes in biodiversity 3.2 Support collaboration and cooperation among conservation-minded NGOs 3.3 Support communications mechanisms linking conservation-minded NGOs with one another and the private sector 4.2 Support periodic monitoring of civil society’s attitudes toward biodiversity conservation in target areas 4.3 Support comprehensive analysis of available data on land use, species presence, and conservation threats 16 Enhance stewardship of forest resources at district level and below Conservation failures in Sumatra have shown that civil society at the district level and below may not realize the value of or potential benefits from conserving ecological services and natural resources. Therefore, CEPF will support activities which enlist civil society’s appreciation of, interest in, and action on behalf of stewarding forest resources. In cases where civil society may already value forest resources, CEPF will support activities which help them understand the entire menu of options available for livelihoods other than illegal logging or forest clearing for plantations. In other cases, CEPF may support efforts to raise awareness of the responsibilities for forest stewardship, as dictated by family or religious values. Some segments of civil society may already value and desire forest conservation, but lack knowledge of how to do so, in which cases CEPF would support building such knowledge and skills. Where relevant, CEPF funds may train civil society how to inventory natural resources and monitor their harvest. Empower civil society to organize in favor of conserving biodiversity If the opportunities for reasoned forest-resource management lie at the district level and below, then local civil society will need to organize and take action against rampant unsustainable — and oftenillegal — harvest of timber and non-timber forest products. It follows that pockets of conservation-minded locals will need to learn about, and communicate with, other like-minded individuals, pooling their efforts and amass political strength. In some cases, CEPF will support the formation of new NGOs, and in others it will support the expansion of existing NGOs. Once conservation-minded NGOs are in place, CEPF may support them in varying forms of capacitybuilding, including communications, understanding relevant laws, organizing policy interventions, natural resource planning and implementation, anti-poaching measures, forest inventory systems, and wildlife census methods. Build alliances among conservation-minded groups in civil society and the private sector In order to achieve political influence in the face of the overwhelming odds against forest resource conservation in Sumatra, it will be important for CEPF to support NGOs in combining their efforts and forming alliances. Given inherent diversity in needs, geographic priorities, ethnic background, and other factors, NGOs may need specific skills (e.g., facilitation and conflict mitigation) necessary for forming and maintaining coalitions and alliances. It is important that alliance members have means to communicate with one another on a regular basis and to come together for purposes of coordinating activities or political messages andsharing lessons learned. Assess impact of conservation interventions at district level and below Given the speed at which Sumatra is losing its natural resources, there is little time for trial and error in conservation investments. It is important, therefore, that CEPF invest in mechanisms that will build on lessons learned, but also carefully evaluate conservation actions, outcomes, and outcomes in a timely fashion. It may be necessary to develop alternative scenarios so that, if planned activities need to be changed quickly, there are contingency plans in place. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of available data is needed to assess land use, species presence, and conservation threats. At the same time, surveying the attitudes of civil society at regular intervals will be important in understanding their motivations with regard to resource use, tracking changes of attitudes and behaviors over time, and adapting future conservation efforts 17 accordingly. (It is important to note that these activities are different from the monitoring and evaluation of each grant.) SUSTAINABILITY CEPF’s entry into Sumatra over the next five years offers several opportunities for leveraging funds. Potential funding partners include the MacArthur Foundation, the Save the Tiger Fund, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, World Wildlife Fund, and perhaps private-sector investors from the oil and gas, pulp and paper, and palm oil industries. However, sustainability of conservation efforts launched during CEPF’s five-year investment in Sumatra will be essential for the long-term conservation of the island’s biodiversity. For this reason, it is important that CEPF invest in projects that clearly enlist the support and full participation of people whose economic well-being and stewardship will be essential to the continuation of successful conservation initiatives. In addition, a mechanism for long-term funding of district- and community-level activities is needed to ensure that conservation initiatives do not stop when CEPF funds are no longer available. Therefore, projects associated with all strategic directions which pursue creation of trust funds and other sustainable funding sources or alternative mechanisms of sustainability should receive priority. CONCLUSION The needs for biodiversity conservation in Sumatra are arguably some of the most urgent on the planet. However, the needs are too complex, varied, and widespread for any one organization or donor to address in full. Nonetheless, CEPF can be a catalyst for biodiversity conservation by building the capacity of civil society at the local level to advocate and monitor sustainable resource management policies and practices. CEPF investments will encourage political will for the rule of law where resource extraction and conservation are concerned. Filling this niche will require working with grantees who live or work among people best positioned to become effective long-term stewards of Sumatra’s most species-rich forest lands. 18 An Overview of CEPF’s Portfolio in the Sundaland Biodiversity Hotspot: Sumatra, the Sum of Four Parts The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is in Sumatra to address a biodiversity emergency. CEPF’s Donor Council decided to activate CEPF in the Sundaland Hotspot in Sumatra before Kalimantan because of dire predictions from the World Bank and others that the island’s lowland forests, among the biologically richest on Earth, could be lost by 2005. These predictions coincided with many large donors pulling large amounts of funding away from conservation efforts in Sumatra. With the fate of Sumatra’s biodiversity left at a precipice, the CEPF Donor Council allocated $10 million to the hotspot − the largest allocation for any region where CEPF is active. This decision followed a year-long process of consulting with Sumatra’s stakeholders and conservation experts to agree the highest priorities and actions for conservation. Stakeholder consultations were held in North, Central, and South Sumatra and included 223 people from local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), local communities, academic institutions, district governments, forest industries, and the military, as well as protected area managers, biologists, and economists. This process determined that CEPF’s niche in Sumatra should be to support projects at the district level and below, with the aim of enhancing local stewardship of forests and building alliances among conservation-minded individuals, NGOs, and private sector interests. To further focus CEPF investments for maximum tangible results on the ground, the ecosystem profile restricts grantmaking to the following four geographic areas, all of which were chosen on the basis of their remaining plant and animal diversity: • • • • Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh (central Sumatra); Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (Sumatra’s southern tip); Northern Sumatra (Sumatra’s two northern-most provinces); and Siberut Island (in the Mentawai chain off west Sumatra). With these geographic focal areas in mind, CEPF awards grants to civil society organizations to: 1. Enhance stewardship of forest resources at the district level and below. Funding at the local level is especially important because Indonesia only recently decentralized management of natural resources to allow greater local control. However, the power shift did little or nothing to build local capacity or coffers so that local people could effectively use their newfound sway over biodiversity conservation. This strategic direction focuses on raising the awareness and skill levels of civil society to enable local people to act in favor of saving Sumatra’s biodiversity. 1 2. Empower civil society to organize in favor of conserving biodiversity. This strategic focus aims to build the capacity of civil society to better understand sustainable resource management and pool efforts in order to take a more active role in management of local natural resources. 3. Build alliances among conservation-minded groups in civil society and in the private sector. This part of the strategy addresses the need for civil society to unite in order to scale up conservation impact and avoid the common pitfall of good-faith efforts that fall short because they are too small, too fragmented or fail to reach the appropriate decisionmakers. 4. Assess the impact of conservation interventions at the district level and below. The focus here is on measuring and tracking the effects of conservation action on natural resources and human attitudes and behaviors. Each of the strategic directions outlined above is further refined by specific investment priorities. These investment priorities provide more specific targets for CEPF funding in the region and are used to inform grantmaking decisions. They are included in the ecosystem’s investment priority table and on CEPF’s Web site (www.cepf.net). Coordinating CEPF Grantmaking on the Ground With the above mandate, CEPF began funding projects in Sumatra in January 2002. CEPF has “eyes and ears” on the ground in Sumatra in the form of a grant manager, who works with CEPF’s many partners on a daily basis. The Grant Manager sits within Conservation International-Indonesia, which serves as the “glue” that unites all Sumatra grantees under a larger agenda to address, at a national level, issues common to all, such as cancellation of unsustainable logging concessions and supporting declaration of new protected areas. The Regional Vice President of CI Indonesia heads an Advisory Committee, made up of senior managers from WWF Indonesia and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Indonesia Program as well as a senior representative of the Ministry of Forestry, which assists CEPF grantees with matters requiring assistance at regional and national political levels. A Technical Team also sits within CI Indonesia ready to assist CEPF grantees who encounter trouble with scientific and technical aspects of project implementation. CEPF Grantees Leading by Alliance The prescribed grant making criteria have inspired a diverse, innovative and effective portfolio of projects. Just over three years into implementing its five-year investment strategy in Sumatra, CEPF has funded 57 grants totaling $9.2 million (see Charts 1 and 2 following this overview). Grants range in size from $3,800 to $994,972 with an average size of $161,905. (The status of the portfolio to date and the timeline of grants awarded are illustrated in Charts 3 and 4.) In each of the four areas of geographic focus in Sumatra, CEPF works with a lead organization that has, with local stakeholder input, formulated a plan for corridor-level conservation. These lead organizations all agreed to collaborate with and mentor local partners and help guide CEPF to smaller NGOs with either the capacity or potential to add significantly to achieving corridor-level outcomes. In each focal area, CEPF continues to help grantees leverage additional support from other donors. While 2 conservation outcomes have been notably different in the four areas, owing to the nature of conservation threats and the varying means of mitigating those threats, results are nonetheless significant and tangible. Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh In Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh in central Sumatra, WWF Indonesia is the lead organization. The corridor-level plan here calls for linking five protected areas (one newly declared) into a 3-million-hectare haven of lowland forest for tigers, elephants, and some of the highest plant diversity found on Earth. The heart of the project centers on the Tesso Nilo Forest, which encompasses nearly 200,000 hectares of lowland forest tracts inhabited by Sumatra’s largest remaining population of wild elephants. When WWF Indonesia began its efforts to conserve Tesso Nilo, forest concessionaires held all the land. One of these concessions feeds the second largest paper mill in the world. Against the odds, WWF Indonesia and partners set about working with Sumatra’s Riau Province, the paper manufacturers and the consumers of that paper in markets as far away as Japan, Europe, and the United States, to get all parties on the side of setting aside Tesso Nilo for conservation. On 19 July 2004, Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry declared 38,578 hectares of Tesso Nilo as a national park. WWF and it local partners continue to work toward expansion of this core area to include a total of 200,000 hectares of lowland forest. A significant expansion is expected to be announced by the government later this year. WWF Indonesia continues to fulfill its obligations as a lead organization, working sideby-side with more than 24 local NGOs to secure proper management of Tesso Nilo National Park and expansion of the neighboring Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, as well as rehabilitation and protection of forested passages that connect Tesso Nilo and Bukit Tigapuluh with the three other existing protected areas that together make up the Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh Conservation Corridor. It is significant to note that the large NGO alliance mentored by WWF with support from CEPF, called Jikalahari, has grown into a driving force in the area’s conservation in its own right. In addition, CEPF support of WWF’s initiative has helped leverage additional investments of well over $1 million from WWF-Germany, WWF-US, Save The Tiger Fund, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Government of Australia. Conservation International’s Global Conservation Fund has matched CEPF funding to expand Bukit Tigapuluh National Park and is considering contributing to long-term financing for the park’s management. This cluster of projects is now being used as a model for WWF in other parts of the world. Calling it the “local-to-global” approach, WWF-US will be using the Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh template for the 15 global priority sites it is currently selecting. Bukit Barisan Selatan In Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP), the Wildlife Conservation Society is the lead organization. At 356,800 hectares, BBSNP represents the largest remaining pristine lowland forest ecosystem in southern Sumatra. It is home to rhinos, elephants, tigers, tapirs, gibbons, siamangs, and hornbills as well as the entire complement of prey and plant species needed to sustain them. Unfortunately, during the past 12 years, more than 20 percent of the forests within the park have been cleared for illegal agriculture. The long, narrow shape of the park magnifies the conservation threat posed by this 3 encroachment. With an estimated 450,000 people living within 10 kilometers of the park’s boundary, conserving this jewel of a protected area will require sustained enlistment of local people. The WCS Indonesia Program has formed a coalition of nine NGOs to build, in cooperation with relevant government and park officials, the Conservation Action Network Program, Indonesia (CANOPI). CANOPI aims to: • Ensure more involvement of local communities and NGOs in protection and management of BBSNP. • Run a training program to teach conservation skills to conservationists and government officials working in and around BBSNP. • Supervise fieldwork related to training to ensure that trainees are able to perform high-priority activities for BBSNP such as boundary marking and mapping; patrolling for poachers; monitoring key wildlife populations; mitigating humanwildlife conflict; and building local awareness of the need to protect the park. • Formally link park planning and management to regional government planning and policy. • Explore sustainable funding mechanisms for the park’s management over the long term. • Cooperate with the Wildlife Crimes Unit in its efforts to stop poaching, illegal logging, and illegal trade in timber and non-timber forest products from BBSNP. Aside from WCS, CANOPI’s governing coalition is made up of Indonesian NGOs, while participants will come from local NGOs, communities, and government agencies. With the cooperation of WCS, CEPF secured a $900,000 match for CANOPI from the United Nations Foundation. At the same time, the GEF is considering multi-year funding to create and sustain CANOPI’s companion Wildlife Crimes Unit. To address immediate threats to the park while CANOPI is getting started, CEPF supports Rhino Protection Units (RPUs) in BBSNP run by the Indonesian Rhino Conservation Program. An external audit found this to be a very effective program, and CEPF has since helped ensure that other donors will sustain the RPUs once CEPF’s funding is exhausted. Northern Sumatra In Northern Sumatra, CI Indonesia is the lead organization. During a CEPF priorityrefinement process with key partners in the region in early 2002, CI Indonesia learned of a district head (called “bupati” in Bahasa Indonesia) interested in setting aside a large tract of forest in his Mandailing Natal District of North Sumatra Province. On 31 December 2003, the bupati declared the 108,000-hectare Batang Gadis (“Virgin River”) Park. The new park was endorsed by the local parliament, police, forestry officials, and community leaders and made headlines for being the first park established at the local level under Indonesia’s newly decentralized governance of natural resources. In addition to local political support, the bupati also secured a substantial pledge of financial support for the park from a local businessman. The central government designated Batang Gadis a national park on 29 April 2004. 4 One impetus for this local park declaration was severe flooding that killed more than 200 people in the North Sumatra resort area of Bukit Lawang in November 2003. This disaster brought a great deal of attention to the issue of illegal logging and helped local stakeholders realize the importance of protecting their watersheds. The Batang Gadis declaration is particularly important because local people felt a strong sense of ownership in the process. Owing to a lack of experience, the local government asked CI Indonesia and its NGO partners to help put in place a cooperative management system for the park. CI Indonesia continues to work in cooperation with several local and regional NGOs to assist in securing the park, all of which work closely with government officials and adjacent communities. Batang Gadis is home to tigers, rhinos, elephants, tapirs, and other globally threatened species, as well as some of the world’s highest plant diversity. CI Indonesia is in the process of scientifically documenting and quantifying the park’s biodiversity. The park lies at the southern end of the Northern Sumatra Conservation Corridor and could be the entry point NGOs need to successfully secure protection for large tracts of Sumatra’s northern forests. The governor of North Sumatra has pledged to work with CI and partners to set aside more conservation areas within the greater ecosystem. Unfortunately, however, the earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 has brought new challenges to the northern portion of the corridor, which lies with in an overwhelmed Aceh Province (see more on tsunami below.) CEPF has been joined by the Global Conservation Fund in supporting CI Indonesia and its partners to secure the welfare of the people and biodiversity in and around Batang Gadis. Siberut Island Siberut, at 403,000 hectares, is the largest of four primary Mentawai Islands off the west central coast of Sumatra. The island’s interior consists of hilly dipterocarp forests, while the coast is covered with mangroves. Siberut has been isolated from the mainland of Sumatra for approximately 500,000 years, which has left it with a high rate of endemism as well as a unique indigenous culture. In 1981, UNESCO designated Siberut Island a Biosphere Reserve. In 1993, the Government of Indonesia declared nearly half of the island a national park. All of these circumstances conspired to make today’s Siberut a treasure trove of endangered primates, pristine forest, and indigenous clans still living by ancient methods and mores. Unfortunately, this haven for biological and human diversity is threatened by logging concessions awarded to outsiders and a shift away from sustainable traditional lifestyles toward selling forests for cash. CI Indonesia is CEPF’s designated lead organization on Siberut. Its focus is four-fold: • Raising awareness of community-based resource management options. • Turning logging concessions into conservation concessions. • Helping local communities explore sustainable livelihoods as alternatives to selling their forests to timber companies. • Ensuring that the national park is not illegally logged and stopping existing forest concessions in the buffer zone of Siberut National Park. CEPF has joined the Global Conservation Fund in supporting CI Indonesia’s vision for Siberut. GCF also has expressed interest in endowing a long-term funding mechanism to sustain conservation concessions on Siberut. 5 A community awareness project supported by CEPF on Siberut is of special note. Centered around a traveling puppet show and a school song written about Siberut’s rich forests and endemic primate species, the project already has reached 10,000 people in seven villages and 12 schools − no small accomplishment for a project leader who must walk three hours between villages. CEPF also supports the German Primate Centre in its research of five endemic primate species, which serves as a platform for consolidating support of local clans for conserving the forests. The project currently leases 4,000 hectares (on a five-year renewable basis) as part of a broader agreement with a clan to exclude large-scale logging and non-sustainable land use, fishing, and hunting. Clans are actively involved in the project, enjoying indirect benefits from employment opportunities and companion initiatives to bring better education, more medical supplies, and clean water. Leveraging Additional Donor Support Much of the additional donor support CEPF has helped secure for its grantees is mentioned above in the context of specific projects and geographic areas. However, a summary of the amount of CEPF investment matched by other donors is useful in that it shows that CEPF has already doubled its donors’ money. World Bank Supervisory Mission In November 2004, Michael Carroll of the World Bank conducted a supervisory mission to assess CEPF implementation in Sumatra. The mission itinerary included visits to the Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh corridor and the new Batang Gadis National Park in North Sumatra. Mr. Carroll met with lead organizations WWF-Indonesia, WCS Indonesia Program and CI Indonesia, as well as many of their civil society and government partners. Upon his return, Mr. Carroll briefed CEPF staff on his conclusions. Among them were the following: • Participation of small, local NGOs is plentiful and diverse. • The portfolio includes innovative projects and partnerships, as well as buy-in from local governments and civil society and promising efforts to ensure sustainability of corridor conservation efforts after CEPF funds are no longer available. • CEPF grantmakers in Washington and Indonesia have established excellent team work with one another and with grantees. • There should be another World Bank mission to Sumatra to promote larger, follow-on support from the GEF for CEPF-supported projects. • It is important to "get Sumatra back on the map" for bilateral and multilateral donors by sharing the successes of CEPF grantees. CEPF is working to address Mr. Carroll’s suggestions and concerns. Before the earthquake and tsunamis struck Sumatra on December 26, 2004, CEPF was laying groundwork for organizing an international donor meeting to share the successes of CEPF’s grantees in hope that large donors will consider returning to Sumatra. The next section, entitled “CEPF and Poverty Alleviation in Sumatra”, will discuss how the disaster has changed the complexion of CEPF’s interventions in Sumatra. CEPF continues to encourage additional supervisory missions to visit CEPF grantees on the ground. 6 CEPF and Poverty Reduction in Sumatra The relationship between conservation and human welfare was dramatically illustrated in Sumatra in November 2003 when an illegally logged area was flooded in by a wall of mud and debris that killed more than 200 people and devastated an entire community in the buffer zone of Gunung Leuser National Park. CEPF has supported several projects aimed at preventing similar disasters in other parts of Sumatra, including the creation of Batang Gadis National Park mentioned above. A similar CEPF-supported project resulted in 5,000 villagers living in the buffer zone of Gunung Leuser signing an agreement with park authorities to stop illegal logging and instead encourage and profit from ecotourism to their area. Another CEPF-funded project helped forest-dwelling communities ensure cancellation of logging plans northwest of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, thereby protecting the forests they harvest sustainably to sustain their traditional way of life. Following the tsunami disaster in December 2004, CEPF joined its partners in rushing to Aceh Province to offer immediate disaster relief. CEPF was careful to ensure that its part in the relief effort was in keeping with its mandate to support civil society in protecting Sumatra’s biodiversity. However, with so much loss of life and property among government and NGO partners, it was clear that some of the ground gained for conservation had been lost. In essence, CEPF’s mission in the north of Sumatra, especially in Aceh, changed to one of rebuilding civil society’s capacity to ensure conservation. In the first three months following the tsunami, CEPF and CI Indonesia helped open a humanitarian post based in the office of a local NGO to provide medical and logistical support to refugees in and around Banda Aceh. After this initial emergency phase, CEPF and CI Indonesia agreed a plan with key Aceh-based conservation partners (including WWF, Flora and Fauna International, WALHI, and government forestry officials) to provide guidance to Indonesia’s National Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) on how the rebuilding of Aceh can best take into account environmental concerns. Meanwhile, CEPF informed grantees affected by the disaster that they could delay or rethink their project deliverables in light of the many losses suffered by them and their partners. New needs have emerged, such as finding a source of sustainably harvested timber that can be used in the rebuilding effort and prevent large-scale felling of protected forests in Sumatra’s rare and precious intact forests. Basic infrastructure for conservation NGOs must be rebuilt. Government forestry officials must be trained to replace the scores who died. The list of needs continues to grow, and CEPF has joined CI Indonesia and its other partners in trying to secure additional funds specifically earmarked for conservation. Conclusion The Sumatra portfolio is diverse and active realization of CEPF’s goal of making grants at the grassroots level, catalyzing conservation alliances, and creating collective conservation interventions that will be sustained well beyond CEPF’s five years in Sumatra. The portfolio holds a balanced mix of small- and medium-sized grants, as well as a few large grants that serve to anchor corridor-level conservation efforts. CEPF hopes that the success of these investments will entice other large donors, especially bilateral and multilateral funding agencies, to bring their support back to Sumatra in order to sustain and scale up efforts begun with CEPF support. 7 CEPF is particularly proud of the funding “delivery system” it has proved effective in Sumatra, ensuring that funds from large donors such as the World Bank and the GEF reach levels in civil society where small amounts of money can yield significant, local victories for biodiversity conservation. Achieving this “reach” would not be possible without a coordination mechanism that has sought out and assisted grantees at the district level and below, but also stepped in at the highest levels of government to further the efforts of these grantees when a national “push” was essential for success. During the coming 18 months, CEPF will be monitoring and evaluating its grantees’ achievements, troubleshooting where necessary, and searching for additional leveraging opportunities so that the most effective projects can continue. In addition, CEPF will provide forums in which grantees and grantmakers alike can share lessons learned. - June 2005 * Prepared for: Improving Linkages Between CEPF and World Bank Operations, Asia Forum, Medan, Indonesia, June 23-25, 2005. 8 Charts through May 2005: Sundaland Biodiversity Hotspot: Sumatra Chart 2. Approved Grants by Corridor and Strategic Direction Chart 1. Approved Grants by Strategic Direction 9 $1,277,822 Bukit Barisan Selatan 8 North Sumatra 7 $2,822,559 Tesso Nilo-Bukit Tigapuluh Multiple # of Grants Siberut 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 2. Empower civil society to organize 6 3. Alliance building between NGOs and private sector 4. Impact assessment of interventions 5 4 3 2 $2,732,313 1 60 $10,000,000 50 $9,000,000 $8,000,000 40 Approved Pending 30 Rejected 20 Multiple Chart 4. Combined Value of Grants Awarded $7,000,000 $6,000,000 $5,000,000 $4,000,000 $3,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000 10 0 $0 -0 5 Ja n 4 Ju l-0 -0 4 Ja n 3 Ju l-0 -0 3 Multiple Ja n Tesso NiloBukit Tigapuluh 2 Siberut Ju l-0 North Sumatra -0 2 Bukit Barisan Selatan Ja n # of Grants Chart 3. Portfolio Status by Strategic Direction Tesso NiloBukit Tigapuluh Total: $9,209,924 Siberut $117,387 North Sumatra $2,259,843 Bukit Barisan Selatan 0 Mapped # Organization Name Project Title Strategic Direction 1 Conservation International Economic Analysis of Tesso Nilo Forest Concessions 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 2 Conservation Management Ltd. Technical Assistance to WWF Indonesia to Secure 1. Enhance stewardship of resources the Tesso Nilo Conservation Landscape CANOPI: A Road Map for Future Management at 1. Enhance stewardship of resources Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Indonesia 2. Empower civil society to organize Investigation and Campaign About Biodiversity Concerns Related to the Ladiagalasko Road Development Plan Use of Forest Resources in Riau: A Look at Legal and 4. Impact assessment of interventions Illegal Employment Incorporating the Investment Strategies and Regional 1. Enhance stewardship of resources Planning into Building the Master Plan for CANOPI at Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park 3 Wildlife Conservation Society 4 Sekretariat Kerjasama Pelestarian Hutan Indonesia 5 World Wildlife Fund, Inc. 6 Greenomics Indonesia 7 Komunitas Konservasi Indonesia WARSI 8 Riau Mandiri 9 Yayasan Biota Lestari 10 Yayasan Cipta Citra Lestari Indonesia 11 Yayasan Alam Sumatera 12 WWF Indonesia 13 Universitas Syiah Kuala 14 International Rhino Foundation 15 Conservation International 16 Rare 17 Conservation International 18 WildAid Workshop to Formulate Management Strategies for Bukit Tigapuluh National Park Workshop to Finalize Vision Map and Development of Project Design for Tesso Nilo Bukit Tiga Puluh (TNBT) Landscape Assessment and Boundary Setting for HighBiodiversity Forests in Angkola, Northern Sumatra Building Capacity of Locals to Conduct Biodiversity Surveys in Angkola Organizing Local Communities to Advocate for Cancellation of Forest Concession in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park Building the Capacity of NGOs to Conserve Forests and Species in Sumatra's Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh Conservation Corridor Workshop on Planning and Implementing Conservation Efforts in the Seulawah Ecosystem Anti-Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers and Other Megafauna within Bukit Barisan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia Reassessment of Indonesia's Biosphere Reserves on Sumatra Building a Global Constituency for Biodiversity Conservation Building a Global Constituency for Biodiversity Conservation Assessment and Strategy for Protecting Wildlife and Timber Resources in the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 3. Alliance building between NGOs and private sector 4. Impact assessment of interventions 4. Impact assessment of interventions 2. Empower civil society to organize 2. Empower civil society to organize 3. Alliance building between NGOs and private sector 2. Empower civil society to organize 2. Empower civil society to organize 2. Empower civil society to organize 2. Empower civil society to organize 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 19 Conservation International Assessment and Strategy for Protecting Wildlife and 1. Enhance stewardship of resources Timber Resources in the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem 20 Conservation International Nangroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) Policy Initiative Planning Grant Empowering Local Stakeholders to Support Cancellation of PT Bhara Induk Timber Concession in Sumatra's Angkola Forest A Voice of Siberut: Publication and Dissemination of the Newspaper Pualigoubat Campaign Against Illegal Logging in Karo Forest Reserve of the Leuser Ecosystem Establishing a Framework for Conserving the Northern Sumatra Biodiversity Corridor (NSC) Survey of the Distribution of the Orangutan (Pongo abelii) and the Thomas Leaf Monkey (Presbytis thomasi) in the Seulawah Ecosystem Incorporating Local Stakeholders & Conservation into Riau's Provincial Spatial Planning Process Collaborative Management as a Tool For Reaching Consensus Among Stakeholders in Tesso Nilo for Better Natural Resource Management Ecotourism Product Development as a Means to Supplant Illegal Logging in the Tangkahan Area of Leuser National Park 21 PeaceWork 22 Yayasan Citra Mandiri 23 Yayasan Perlindungan Lingkungan Hidup dan Pelestarian Alam (Yayasan Palapa) 24 Conservation International 25 Yayasan Ekologi Konservasi Nanggroe Aceh (Yayasan EKONA) 26 Yayasan Kaliptra 27 Riau Mandiri 28 Indonesian Ecotourism Network 2. Empower civil society to organize 2. Empower civil society to organize 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 2. Empower civil society to organize 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 4. Impact assessment of interventions 2. Empower civil society to organize 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 2. Empower civil society to organize 29 Yayasan Ekowisata Aceh 30 Wildlife Conservation Society 31 Yayasan Rumpun Bambu Indonesia 32 Conservation International 33 Conservation Management Ltd. 34 World Wildlife Fund, Inc. 35 WWF Indonesia 36 Conservation International 37 Yayasan Bina Ketrampilan Desa 38 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Investigations to Support the Cancellation of Three 2. Empower civil society to organize Forest Concessions in Sumatra's Seulawah Ecosystem 3. Alliance building between NGOs and CANOPI: A Program to Unite and Strengthen the Conservation of the Bukit Barisan Selatan Landscape private sector in Sumatra, Indonesia Through Information Building, Capacity Building and Management Strengthen Community Forest Management in 2. Empower civil society to organize Sumatra's Seulawah Ecosystem Implementing the Conservation Concession Approach 4. Impact assessment of interventions on Sumatra's Siberut Island Facilitate the Establishment of the Tesso Nilo 3. Alliance building between NGOs and Conservation Forest private sector Conservation of Sumatra Tiger in Tesso Nilo/Bukit 2. Empower civil society to organize Tigapuluh Landscape Creation and Management of the Tesso Nilo 3. Alliance building between NGOs and Protected Area as a Centerpiece of Sumatra?s Tesso private sector Nilo Bukit/Tigapuluh Conservation Corridor Conservation of the Sumatran Orangutan in the 1. Enhance stewardship of resources Northern Sumatra Corridor Strategy Development for Sumatra's Newly Declared 1. Enhance stewardship of resources Batang Gadis National Park Save The Tiger Fund 2. Empower civil society to organize 39 Yayasan Sikap Tulus Untuk Sesama Documenting and Stopping Economic Loss From Hydro Plants Slowed by Forest Conversion in Riau Province 40 Perkumpulan Uma Mentawai Enhance Community Capacity Through Rattan Product Development in Northern Siberut 41 Yayasan Bina Ketrampilan Desa Empowering Local People and Local Government to Support Batang Gadis National Park 42 Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat Gerakan First Anniversary Celebration for Batang Gadis Masyarakat Madina Pemantau Apatur Negara National Park 43 Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat Harapan Madina Strengthening Community Commitment to Protect Batang Gadis National Park 44 United Nations Foundation Partnership for the Conservation of Sumatran Natural Heritage 45 Komunitas Konservasi Indonesia WARSI Expansion of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park and Protection of Its Wider Ecosystem 46 Conservation International Batang Gadis National Park Development and Management Support * Conservation International * BirdLife International * Conservation International * Conservation International * Conservation International * Seleksi Penerimaan Mahasiswa Baru * TRAFFIC International * Conservation International * Conservation International * Conservation International * Conservation International Region Wide Projects Not Spatially Represented CEPF Conservation Strategy Preparatory Work in Sumatra A Strategy for the Threatened Birds of Asia Conservation Assessment and Managment Plan for Threatened Sumatran Species and Red List Assessment of Threatened Reptiles and Freshwater Fish Capacity Building for Financial Operations in CIPhilippines and CI-Indonesia CEPF Support of Local Partners Sumatra Human Resources and Educational Program of 34 High School Students to Study in Nine State Universities in Sumatra in the Year 2003/2004 Asia Wildlife Trade Strategy Planning 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 2. Empower civil society to organize 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 2. Empower civil society to organize 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 3. Alliance building between NGOs and private sector 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 4. Impact assessment of interventions 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 2. Empower civil society to organize 1. Enhance stewardship of resources 3. Alliance building between NGOs and private sector Motivating Governments to Address Illegal Wildlife in 2. Empower civil society to organize Southeast Asia Defining, Refining, and Monitoring Outcomes for 4. Impact assessment of interventions Sumatra Rapid Response Team for Conservation Investment 2. Empower civil society to organize in Sumatra Grantmaking and Partnerships on the Ground in 4. Impact assessment of interventions Sumatra Approved Grants Sundaland Hotspot (Through May 2005) Strategic Direction 1: Enhance stewardship of forest resources at district level and below Strengthening Community Commitment to Protect Batang Gadis National Park Organize and facilitate sub-district meetings as well as a larger district-level forum for representatives of 68 villages adjacent to Batang Gadis National Park as a means of reinforcing and strengthening local community commitment and action toward protecting the park. This project will be implemented in tandem with the celebration marking the first anniversary of the park's declaration. Funding: $6,519 Grant Term: 12/04-2/05 Grantee: Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat Harapan Madina First Anniversary Celebration for Batang Gadis National Park Organize a celebration marking the first anniversary of the declaration of Batang Gadis National Park, as a means of increasing knowledge of the park's environmental services, solidifying support for protecting the park's flora and fauna, and raising awareness of conservation-friendly development options adjacent to the park. Funding: $13,210 Grant Term: 12/04-3/05 Grantee: Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat Gerakan Masyarakat Madina Pemantau Apatur Negara *The original grant term has been increased by one month. Expansion of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park and Protection of Its Wider Ecosystem Enable expansion of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park by adding defunct logging concessions and rounding out boundaries for easier park protection measures. This project, which is co-funded by Conservation International’s Global Conservation Fund, will also explore conservation of adjacent logging concessions to the west of the park as a means of linking protected areas. Funding: $199,547 Grant Term: 10/04-12/06 Grantee: Komunitas Konservasi Indonesia WARSI Enhance Community Capacity Through Rattan Product Development in Northern Siberut Organize and develop capacity of rattan farmers in three villages in northern Siberut to conserve 15,000 hectares of natural forest. This project will educate the local people on conservation issues to demonstrate a strong relationship between conservation and daily life, such as water/sanitation. Funding: $14,913 Grant Term: 8/04-7/05 Grantee: Perkumpulan Uma Mentawai Documenting and Stopping Economic Loss From Hydro Plants Slowed by Forest Conversion in Riau Document and publicize lessons learned from a decision-making process that led to the construction of a hydro project resulting in local flooding and a shortage of electricity in Bukit Bungkuk, part of the Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape. The aim is to help key stakeholders understand and avoid the negative effects of forest conversion on the provincial economy. Funding: $9,999 Grant Term: 4/04-11/04 Grantee: Yayasan Sikap Tulus Untuk Sesama *The original grant term has been increased by two months. Strategy Development for Sumatra's Newly Declared Batang Gadis National Park Work with Conservation International-Indonesia to ascertain the best role for BITRA’s local coalition of nongovernmental organizations to help secure the newly declared Batang Gadis National Park. Funding: $20,000 Grant Term: 1/04-7/04 Grantee: Yayasan Bina Ketrampilan Desa *The original grant term has been increased by four months. Conservation of the Sumatran Orangutan in the Northern Sumatra Corridor Continue mobile outreach unit to raise local awareness of the orangutan's conservation needs, further develop forest walk and educational program at Sibolangit Environmental Interpretation Center and create an urgent action plan for conserving wild orangutans in the Northern Sumatra corridor. Funding: $300,000 Grant Term: 12/03-11/05 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia Human Resources and Educational Program of 34 High School Students to Study in Nine State Universities in Sumatra in the Year 2003/2004 Fund 34 students from poor families in their critical first year of studying natural resource management at state universities in Sumatra. It is hoped this grant will encourage funding from other donors to pay for subsequent years of study by these potential new conservation leaders. Funding: $10,000 Grant Term: 9/03-8/04 Grantee: Seleksi Penerimaan Mahasiswa Baru Collaborative Management as a Tool For Reaching Consensus Among Stakeholders in Tesso Nilo for Better Natural Resource Management Study the successful collaborative natural resource management already underway in Kayan Mentarang, East Kalimantan as a potential model for collaborative management in the Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh Conservation Corridor. This project is part of planning and capacity building for the Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh alliance of nongovernmental Funding: $9,998 Grant Term: 7/03-9/03 Grantee: Riau Mandiri *The original grant term has been increased by two months. A Voice of Siberut: Publication and Dissemination of the Newspaper Pualigoubat Support continued publication of the newspaper 'Pualigoubat' on the Sumatran island of Siberut. With a circulation of more than 1,000, the newspaper published by a nongovernmental organization has become known as "the voice of Mentawains" in conserving their natural resources. Funding: $9,633 Grant Term: 4/03-8/03 Grantee: Yayasan Citra Mandiri Establishing a Framework for Conserving the Northern Sumatra Biodiversity Corridor (NSC) Develop a project-level framework for taking the lead in conserving the Northern Sumatra Conservation Corridor, as well as identifying conservation outcomes (e.g. hectares/species targeted for conservation) in the corridor, which encompasses the Seulawah Ecosystem, the Leuser Ecosystem, the Western Toba Watershed and the Angkola region. Funding: $589,703 Grant Term: 3/03-9/04 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by one year and two months and the original funding amount has been increased by $364,924. Assessment and Strategy for Protecting Wildlife and Timber Resources in the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem Assess natural resource law enforcement needs for protecting the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem in the Northern Sumatra Biodiversity Corridor. WildAid, with its extensive law enforcement experience, will partner with Conservation International-Indonesia for its extensive Indonesia experience. Funding: $154,490 Grant Term: 2/03-12/04 Grantee: WildAid *The original grant term for WildAid has been extended by 10 months. The Conservation International grant for this project was cancelled in 2003; its total grant amount was subsequently decreased by Assessment and Strategy for Protecting Wildlife and Timber Resources in the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem Assess natural resource law enforcement needs for protecting the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem in the Northern Sumatra Biodiversity Corridor. WildAid, with its extensive law enforcement experience, will partner with Conservation International-Indonesia for its extensive Indonesia experience. Funding: $16,380 Grant Term: 2/03-9/03 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *The original grant term for WildAid has been extended by 10 months. The Conservation International grant for this project was cancelled in 2003; its total grant amount was subsequently decreased by Incorporating the Investment Strategies and Regional Planning into Building the Master Plan for CANOPI at Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park Assist the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Indonesia Program in developing a more comprehensive, consensus-based master plan for the Conservation Action and Network Program (CANOPI) in and around Bukit Barisan Selatan National Funding: $9,950 Grant Term: 10/02-12/02 Grantee: Greenomics Indonesia *Wildlife Conservation Society, Watala, Alas, International Rhino Foundation, WWF-Indonesia, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Lampung Regional Planning Board Workshop to Formulate Management Strategies for Bukit Tigapuluh National Park Develop a strategy together with local organizations for concerted conservation activities in the Jambi portion of the Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh landscape and incorporate the results into the five-year vision map for the entire landscape, which CEPF will use as a guide to its grant making. Funding: $6,075 Grant Term: 10/02-3/03 Grantee: Komunitas Konservasi Indonesia WARSI *The original grant term has been increased by three months. Capacity Building for Financial Operations in CI-Philippines and CI-Indonesia Increase the capacity of Conservation International-Philippines and Conservation International-Indonesia to develop, manage and report on conservation projects. Focus on budget development and financial management elements required to ensure well-designed and managed projects through institutional capacity building, operational strengthening and increasing decentralization of project management. Funding: $64,797 Grant Term: 7/02-3/03 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *This is a multiregional project covering two hotspots; the total grant amount is $129,594. The original funding has been increased by $5,000 and the grant term by three months. CANOPI: A Road Map for Future Management at Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Indonesia Hold a series of workshops and meetings to garner stakeholder support for the CANOPI project, which is designed to provide conservation capacity building in and around Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. Next steps will include a needs assessment, construction of a central database, the production of a provincewide book on biodiversity conservation and coalition building through a clear definition of roles and responsibilities. Funding: $65,970 Grant Term: 7/02-12/02 Grantee: Wildlife Conservation Society Economic Analysis of Tesso Nilo Forest Concessions Synthesize existing information on the political and legal context for protecting the forests of Tesso Nilo and analyze the political, legal and economic feasibility of potential conservation concessions as a means of forest protection. Funding: $28,827 Grant Term: 5/02-8/02 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by one month and the funding amount decreased by $3,258. A Strategy for the Threatened Birds of Asia Produce a framework for bird conservation in Asia that will be a key document for biodiversity conservation in Asia for the next 10 years. Condense the vast source book Threatened Birds of Asia into a prospectus of about 150 pages and make it available to a large number of users as a book, CD-ROM and via the Internet. Funding: $80,981 Grant Term: 5/02-4/04 Grantee: BirdLife International *This is a multiregional project covering three hotspots; the total grant amount is $242,943.The original grant term has been increased by nine months and the original funding amount has been increased by $11,920. CEPF Conservation Strategy Preparatory Work in Sumatra Conduct visits to three of the four priority sites identified and meet with local and international NGOs and communities to introduce the CEPF and to identify potential partners. Develop baseline maps for the areas and conduct a workshop to develop agreed-upon maps illustrating five-year vision for these areas. Funding: $142,891 Grant Term: 1/02-8/02 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia Technical Assistance to WWF Indonesia to Secure the Tesso Nilo Conservation Landscape Focus the efforts of the province's conservation groups on the Tesso Nilo conservation landscape to make best use of their respective constituency, skills and motivation and ultimately, result in a suite of proposals to secure Tesso Nilo as a protected area. Funding: $165,000 Grant Term: 1/02-6/03 Grantee: Conservation Management Ltd. *The original grant term as been increased by six months. Strategic Direction 2: Empower civil society to organize in favor of conserving biodiversity Partnership for the Conservation of Sumatran Natural Heritage Develop networking and partnership approaches to build and strengthen collaboration among government, civil society, and the private sector for the conservation of the rainforest heritage of Sumatra, Indonesia. Funding: $900,000 Grant Term: 1/05-12/06 Grantee: United Nations Foundation Motivating Governments to Address Illegal Wildlife in Southeast Asia Boost political support for controlling illegal resource-use activities, with a special focus on illegal wildlife trade, by convening a group of pro-conservation parliamentarians in Southeast Asia to meet regularly on priority issues related to combating illegal logging, fishing, and wildlife trade. Funding: $5,000 Grant Term: 11/04-1/05 Grantee: Conservation International-Center for Conservation and Government *This is a multiregional project covering three hotspots; the total grant amount is $15,000. Empowering Local People and Local Government to Support Batang Gadis National Park Garner support for conservation among communities adjacent to the new Batang Gadis National Park (BGNP) and thus contribute to saving 108,000 hectares of Batang Gadis forest and, ultimately, 400,000 hectares of Angkola forest integral to the larger Leuser Ecosystem and the Northern Sumatra Biodiversity Conservation Corridor. The grant recipient - a consortium of four local groups - will empower local communities and governments at the village level through participation in creation of the park and its management schemes, as well as exploration of biodiversity-friendly economic Funding: $260,000 Grant Term: 10/04-12/06 Grantee: Yayasan Bina Ketrampilan Desa Rapid Response Team for Conservation Investment in Sumatra Provide technical and/or political support and troubleshooting for CEPF-supported grantees and conservation initiatives in Sumatra. An advisory committee made up of senior nongovernmental and government representatives will provide the political support, while a team made up of experienced scientists and project managers will provide technical assistance. Both will work closely with CEPF's Sumatra grant manager. Funding: $156,752 Grant Term: 10/04-12/06 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia Conservation of Sumatra Tiger in Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape Raise capacity of teams in Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh conservation corridor to monitor tigers and stop tiger poaching as well as build awareness of local communities about the nature and value of the biological diversity in an around them. Funding: $233,874 Grant Term: 1/04-12/05 Grantee: World Wildlife Fund, Inc. *The original grant term has been increased by one year. Save The Tiger Fund Award small- and medium-sized grants to partners working to save Asia’s wild tigers, tiger prey species and tiger habitats and/or to address the threat posed to tigers by illegal wildlife trade. Funding: $500,000 Grant Term: 1/04-12/06 Grantee: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation *This is a multiregional project covering two hotspots; the total grant amount is $1 million. The original funding amount has been increased by $500,000. Investigations to Support the Cancellation of Three Forest Concessions in Sumatra's Seulawah Ecosystem Encourage the cancellation of three logging concessions in Aceh Province within the biodiversity-rich Seulawah Ecosystem, via documenting forest concessionaires’ practices and gathering public opinions in the three districts where the concessions are located. Funding: $58,420 Grant Term: 9/03-12/04 Grantee: Yayasan Ekowisata Aceh *The original grant term has been increased by four months. Strengthen Community Forest Management in Sumatra's Seulawah Ecosystem Develop and implement locally run adaptive forest management for 25,000 hectares to serve as a model for Northern Sumatra’s Seulawah Ecosystem. Funding: $227,180 Grant Term: 9/03-8/06 Grantee: Yayasan Rumpun Bambu Indonesia Ecotourism Product Development as a Means to Supplant Illegal Logging in the Tangkahan Area of Leuser Build the capacity of local groups in Tangkahan, a village in the buffer zone of Gunung Leuser National Park, to develop and produce ecotourism products. It is expected that successful ecotourism in Tangkahan will slow illegal logging in this portion of the national park. Funding: $22,325 Grant Term: 7/03-1/04 Grantee: Indonesian Ecotourism Network *The original grant term has been increased by one month. Incorporating Local Stakeholders & Conservation into Riau's Provincial Spatial Planning Process This project will enlist local stakeholders in Raiu's Provincial Spatial Planning (PSP) process, which at this time poses allocation of almost 50 Funding: $46,081 Grant Term: 4/03-9/03 Grantee: Yayasan Kaliptra *The original funding amount has been decreased by $193. Campaign Against Illegal Logging in Karo Forest Reserve of the Leuser Ecosystem Collect information on illegal logging in Karo, which is part of the buffer zone of the Leuser Ecosystem in the Northern Sumatra Conservation Corridor. Results will be brought to the attention of local communities and decisionmakers in hope of gaining their support to combat illegal logging. Funding: $9,785 Grant Term: 4/03-8/03 Grantee: Yayasan Perlindungan Lingkungan Hidup dan Pelestarian Alam (Yayasan Palapa) Empowering Local Stakeholders to Support Cancellation of PT Bhara Induk Timber Concession in Sumatra's Angkola Forest Garner the support of local communities for securing the 50,000-hectare PT Bhara Induk timber concession as a protected forest in the Angkola region of the Northern Sumatra Conservation Corridor. Funding: $9,960 Grant Term: 3/03-6/03 Grantee: PeaceWork Nangroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) Policy Initiative Planning Grant Re-establish Conservation International-Indonesia's physical presence in Sumatra's civil war-torn Aceh Province and rally key decisionmakers and stakeholders to act in favor of conserving Aceh's forests and wildlife. A key output will be an assessment of the conservation and economic options for mitigating threats to biodiversity. Funding: $221,939 Grant Term: 1/03-10/03 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by three months and the funding amount decreased by $280. Anti-Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers and Other Megafauna within Bukit Barisan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia Continue and expand existing forest patrols that protect rhinos, tigers and elephants in the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and ecosystem. Deliverables include confiscation of traps, apprehension and prosecution of poachers, and an evaluation of the patrols' effectiveness. Funding: $690,585 Grant Term: 1/03-12/05 Grantee: International Rhino Foundation *The original funding has been increased by $322,875 and the original grant term has been increased by two years. Reassessment of Indonesia's Biosphere Reserves on Sumatra Support and play a leadership role in a MAB Biosphere Reserve Workshop in Indonesia, with particular regard to Sumatra's Leuser Ecosystem and Siberut Island. The project's purpose is to strengthen linkages among stakeholders working toward conserving the reserves. Funding: $7,367 Grant Term: 12/02-2/03 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *The original funding amount has been decreased by $133. Building a Global Constituency for Biodiversity Conservation Implement a series of targeted public awareness and education campaigns in nine hotspots in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Campaign leaders participate in an intensive training course at the UK's Kent University or Mexico's Guadalajara University, prepare detailed plans to implement campaigns, link with a local organization in their region and commit to a minimum two years with that organization. Funding: $460,120 Grant Term: 12/02-6/06 Grantee: Rare ($314,776.20) and *Conservation International ($145,344.20) This is a multiregional project covering nine hotspots; the total grant amount is $1,993,854.98 (Rare $1,364,030 and Conservation International $629,825). The original total funding to Rare has been reduced by $205,000 and to CI, increased by $205,000. Organizing Local Communities to Advocate for Cancellation of Forest Concession in Bukit Tigapuluh Build the capacity of local people to advocate and publicize the need for cancellation of a forest concession in the northwest of Sumatra's Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. Funding: $9,985 Grant Term: 12/02-4/03 Grantee: Yayasan Alam Sumatera *The original grant term has been increased by one month. Investigation and Campaign About Biodiversity Concerns Related to the Ladiagalasko Road Development Prevent additional forest loss in the Leuser ecosystem by informing decision makers about the environmental consequences of the Ladiagalasko Road. Conduct research and interviews during a five-day trip in the area of the road development and produce a report to be used as a tool to inform the project. The trip will include members of the media, nongovernmental organizations and parliament. Funding: $10,000 Grant Term: 9/02-12/02 Grantee: Sekretariat Kerjasama Pelestarian Hutan Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by one month. Building the Capacity of NGOs to Conserve Forests and Species in Sumatra's Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh Conservation Corridor Raise the capacity of an alliance of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Sumatra's Riau and Jambi provinces to effectively discuss biodiversity considerations in land use and land tenure issues with decision makers at all levels of government, key stakeholders and national and international media. Funding: $184,297 Grant Term: 7/02-12/03 Grantee: WWF Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by six months. CEPF Support of Local Partners Sumatra Support for the position of a local grant manager who will help build capacity of potential grantees in Sumatra to complement the work of existing CEPF grantees and to increase successful applications for grants. This position will also work with grantees to ensure accurate and productive monitoring and evaluation of CEPF-funded projects. Funding: $290,849 Grant Term: 7/02-4/05 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by one year and ten months and the original funding amount has been increased by $162,849. Strategic Direction 3: Build alliances among conservation-minded groups in civil society and the private Batang Gadis National Park Development and Management Support Assist the local government and communities adjacent to the Batang Gadis National Park with creating a co-management regime, as well as exploring economic development opportunities that will help sustain conservation of the park’s biodiversity while bettering the lives of affected communities in northern Sumatra. Funding: $482,500 Grant Term: 7/04-12/06 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia Asia Wildlife Trade Strategy Planning Undertake consultations with Save The Tiger Fund, WildAid and CEPF representatives regarding an Asiawide strategy to more effectively address the threat of wildlife trade to biodiversity conservation. Funding: $5,302 Grant Term: 1/04-3/04 Grantee: TRAFFIC International *This is a multiregional project covering two hotspots; the total grant amount is $10,604. Creation and Management of the Tesso Nilo Protected Area as a Centerpiece of Sumatra’s Tesso Nilo Bukit/Tigapuluh Conservation Corridor Encourage federal and provincial governments to designate Tesso Nilo, a last stronghold of Sumatra’s fastdisappearing lowland forest, as a protected area and help to put in place a protected area management system endorsed and run by local stakeholders. Funding: $994,972 Grant Term: 1/04-12/05 Grantee: WWF Indonesia *The original funding amount has been increased by $100. CANOPI: A Program to Unite and Strengthen the Conservation of the Bukit Barisan Selatan Landscape in Sumatra, Indonesia Through Information Building, Capacity Building and Management Conserve the ecosystems of the Bukit Barisan Selatan landscape via training local people to monitor biodiversity and to both develop and implement an integrated management regime. Funding: $301,902 Grant Term: 10/03-11/04 Grantee: Wildlife Conservation Society *The original grant term has been increased by eight months Facilitate the Establishment of the Tesso Nilo Conservation Forest Facilitate the multi-stakeholder-driven development of Tesso Nilo as a conservation forest supported by local people and governments, a variety of donors and the international business community that utilizes paper and other products derived from Sumatra forests. Funding: $319,318 Grant Term: 7/03-12/05 Grantee: Conservation Management Ltd. Workshop on Planning and Implementing Conservation Efforts in the Seulawah Ecosystem Organize a workshop with local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to reach a concensus on how NGOs will work together to conserve biodiversity in the Seulewah ecosystem of North Sumatra. Funding: $5,546 Grant Term: 12/02-1/03 Grantee: Universitas Syiah Kuala Workshop to Finalize Vision Map and Development of Project Design for Tesso Nilo Bukit Tiga Puluh Support for a workshop in which key stakeholder organizations will come together in Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh to finalize the creation of a consensus-made five-year vision map to guide CEPF investment in the region. Funding: $3,789 Grant Term: 11/02-2/03 Grantee: Riau Mandiri *The original grant term has been increased by two months. Strategic Direction 4: Assess impact of conservation interventions at district level and below Grantmaking and Partnerships on the Ground in Sumatra Facilitate all aspects of CEPF grantmaking and partnerships on the ground in Sumatra, including working with grantees on troubleshooting, sharing lessons learned and leveraging funds to enlarge and/or sustain CEPF-supported projects. Funding: $307,077 Grant Term: 1/05-12/06 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia Defining, Refining, and Monitoring Outcomes for Sumatra Refine priorities and opportunities for achieving tangible conservation in Sumatra and build the capacity of Indonesia’s civil society to monitor the status of biodiversity based on quantifiable outcomes. Funding: $300,000 Grant Term: 10/04-6/06 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia Implementing the Conservation Concession Approach on Sumatra's Siberut Island Facilitate steps necessary to keep logging concession cancelled on Siberut Island from slipping back into commercial status, through blocking related lawsuit and garnering public support for conservation of former concessions as protected areas. Funding: $92,841 Grant Term: 11/03-10/04 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by eight months. Survey of the Distribution of the Orangutan (Pongo abelii) and the Thomas Leaf Monkey (Presbytis thomasi) in the Seulawah Ecosystem Survey the presence of orangutans (Pongo abelii) and Thomas leaf monkeys (Presbytis thomasi) in the Seulawah Ecosystem, including three protected areas and two virgin forest tracts. Funding: $5,023 Grant Term: 4/03-8/04 Grantee: Yayasan Ekologi Konservasi Nanggroe Aceh (Yayasan EKONA) *The original grant term has been increased by one year. Building Capacity of Locals to Conduct Biodiversity Surveys in Angkola Train local people in biodiversity survey methods to assess the conservation status of key sites in northern Sumatra, complementing and assisting a similar CEPF-funded initiative by Yayasan Biota Lestari in Sumatra's Angkola region. Funding: $10,000 Grant Term: 11/02-7/03 Grantee: Yayasan Cipta Citra Lestari Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by three months. Assessment and Boundary Setting for High-Biodiversity Forests in Angkola, Northern Sumatra Assess the biodiversity of Angkola and the boundaries of forest tracts of high biodiversity. The Angkola region is thought to be a valuable part of the northern Sumatra biodiversity corridor though little of its current biodiversity has been documented. Funding: $9,333 Grant Term: 11/02-1/03 Grantee: Yayasan Biota Lestari Use of Forest Resources in Riau: A Look at Legal and Illegal Employment Conduct a study of employment connected with forest sector industries in Riau Province, Sumatra with emphasis on the Tesso Nilo Forest as part of a feasibility study for conservation concession potential. Funding: $48,081 Grant Term: 10/02-9/03 Grantee: World Wildlife Fund, Inc. *The original grant term has been increased by four months and the funding amount has been decreased by $1,351. Conservation Assessment and Managment Plan for Threatened Sumatran Species and Red List Assessment of Threatened Reptiles and Freshwater Fish Conduct a Red List assessment of fresh water fish and reptiles in Sumatra that have yet to be assessed. Work will be done with species experts to develop broad recommendations for research and management of these and other already assessed species to result in well-targeted activities to address threats affecting those species. Funding: $100,838 Grant Term: 7/02-11/03 Grantee: Conservation International-Indonesia *The original grant term has been increased by eleven months and the funding amount decreased by Conservation Highlights E-News • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Aceh: Community Spirit Enables First Steps – February 2005 Civil Society Groups Lead Relief Efforts – January 2005 Marketing Social Change – November 2004 Indonesia Declares Tesso Nilo National Park – August 2004 Cutting a New Path for Illegal Loggers in Sumatra – August 2004 UN Foundation and CEPF Join Forces in Sumatra – July 2004 Indonesia Declares Batang Gadis National Park – May 2004 New Protected Area Action for Indonesia and the Philippines – March 2004 Partnership for Tiger Action – March 2004 Local Leaders Declares New National Park in Sumatra – February 2004 Blueprint to Halt Asia’s Bird Extinction Crisis – November 2003 Rhino Protection Units Stop Poachers in Sumatra – October 2003 Talang Mamak, Groups Win Forest Protection in Sumatra – September 2003 Students Get Off to Strong Start for Conservation Education – August 2003 Groups Intensify Anti-Poaching Patrols in Sumatra – January 2003 Alliance Makes Strides to Save Sumatra Lowland Forest – July 2002 Inside Sumatra – April 2002 CEPF Expands to Nine Hotspots – March 2002 Other Highlights • • • • • • WWF-US Strategy (Influenced by CEPF-supported WWF Tesso Nilo Project)– March 2005, WWF Assessment: Rhino Patrol Units in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – November 2003 Project Summary: Partnership for the Conservation of Sumatran Natural Heritage Announcement: Save the Tiger Fund Announces Alliance with Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund Press Release: WWF Welcomes Indonesian Government’s Declaration of Tesso Nilo National Park Major Step to Save Indonesia’s Last Sumatran Tigers and Elephants – August 2004 Newsletter: Tesso Nilo Voice – October 2004 TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP Aceh: Community Spirit Enables First Steps CEPF NEWS Press Releases In Focus, February 2005 E-News Top Stories by Ben Jolliffe In Focus Features Buildings and fields remain undamaged in the five small villages of Lampanah Adat, a traditional community of fishermen, farmers and foresters located just two hours from Sumatra’s northern provincial capital of Banda Aceh. WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS © CI, photo by Haroldo Castro Volunteers came from throughout Indonesia. This The community didn’t escape unscathed from the recent energetic group meets at earthquake and tsunami, however. They lost 53 people: Yayasan Leuser Lestari Many of the villagers’ children were away at schools in (YLL), an NGO in Medan, before leaving for Banda the hard hit capital while some women visiting friends Aceh and Meulaboh. and relatives also never returned. Yet the citizens of Lampanah Adat have set about rebuilding their lives and helping their neighbors with emergency supplies and in tackling the complex tasks of damage assessment and reconstruction. Many of them went first to the local office of Yayasan Rumpun Bambu Indonesia (YRBI), a community-based forest management group funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), where volunteers © CI helped to coordinate efforts. Conservation International CEO Peter Seligmann (left) Sanusi Syarief, the head of YRBI who has been and CEPF Sumatra Grant working with Lampanah Adat for a number of years, Manager Purbasari Surjadi was amazed at how quickly and how effectively they take a break outside the organized themselves. Aceh Humanitarian Post in Aceh. "We have been assisting this community for some time, helping them regain their independence and encouraging them to take an active role in managing their resources but I wasn’t expecting anything like this – especially given the scale of the disaster. Most people are in shock or just trying to find their own families," Syarief said. Network of Support YRBI has been working with about 40 similar communities in the province of Aceh, where indigenous customs and beliefs built up over hundreds of years are interwoven with Muslim practices introduced in the 18th century. A wider network of friendship and acquaintance has been created, fostered by the shared experience of meetings and negotiations held by YRBI and a sense of mutual concern was clear in the aftermath of the earthquake. However, these adat communities lack secure legal status, which weakens their position both with local government and timber concessions in the area. Furthermore, there is a great deal of variation among communities even within Aceh Province. Complex relationships within each community are managed through a consensual style of politics that requires lengthy discussions, especially in matters regarding natural resource management. An hour west of Banda Aceh, however, in the eight villages of Kreung Raya, YRBI has been working since 2001 to help the community counter these particular problems. The group has concentrated on helping the community strengthen its bargaining power with local government decisionmakers and private sector companies and thus to gain a greater say in how its marine resources are managed. Emergency Relief, Education and Conservation The experience gained has been invaluable in helping Aceh Humanitarian Post (AHP), a consortium of local and international nongovernmental organizations, to establish the only community-based emergency relief center outside the provincial capital. Responsibilities have been delegated and work has started quickly not in only distributing medical help but also with education and conservation efforts as well. Doctors from the Asia Medical Students Association joined finance and community organizers from YRBI and Yayasan Ekowista Aceh, while field volunteers from the local environmental group MAPAYAH worked with staff from EKONA. Volunteers from Conservation International’s (CI) nearby Bodogol Conservation Education Center have been helping school children in informal school sessions while both CI and CEPF have been able to provide funding and strategic assistance. To date, CEPF has committed more than $8.9 million to support civil society groups in conserving Sumatra’s natural resources. Learn more about these grants. You can share your comments about this story or ideas for future In Focus features. Contact Ben Jolliffe. Related story: Civil Society Groups Lead Relief Efforts “AHP is the only group providing aid at the community level outside Banda Aceh that stays with the community there,” said Purbasari Surjadi, CEPF Sumatra grant manager (see photo, above right). “What we want to do next is create a mobile medical service for the five other villages in the area and expand provision to include educational assistance and advice on reconstruction,” she said. “School plays a key role in helping children resume a normal life. It’s also very important that materials for rebuilding come from sustainable resources, otherwise these communities risk losing their future livelihoods.” The loss of many community leaders makes the work of reconstruction that much harder but reports indicate that the Acehenese are choosing representatives to meet the needs of the moment, even if their traditional or administrative leaders have died or are missing. These communities can still not own land outright by Indonesian law and neither is land tenure nor traditional adat land ownership recognized. Furthermore, whenever community leaders die, regulations on those rights that do exist need to be renegotiated. Thus, where communities have lost land and leaders, their problems can effectively be doubled. But active involvement in reconstruction negotiations with local government and with other communities could be one way in which individuals begin healing their emotional and psychological wounds as well as gaining crucial leadership experience for the future. New Responsibilities Help Survivors Start to Heal Both the World Bank and the United Nations have repeatedly stressed the importance of involving local communities in the reconstruction effort for precisely these reasons. With a third or even a half of civil servants killed in some areas, the role of new community leaders is likely to become even more important. This opinion is also shared by The National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS). The agency published a Preliminary Damage and Loss Assessment on January 19 noting that "in order to match aid efforts with their needs, local communities need to be informed of their options as they re-establish livelihoods. The reconstruction process should take direction from them." Compounding the complexity of reconstruction, however, is the uncertainty surrounding imminent government decisions on relocation of refugees from communities destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami. "Where adat communities are relocated to new areas, they may not have the same rights to land and resources," Surjadi said. "Even if there are no other communities in the relocated area, it is not easy to claim new rights. There are also concerns about lands left behind." Logging Threat Communities may also find it difficult to safeguard their resources when timber demand for reconstruction increases. The reconstruction effort in Aceh is likely to require between 4 and 8 million cubic meters of logs over the next five years, according to a report published January 27 by WWF-Indonesia and Greenomics Indonesia, a policy research institution. In order to prevent the felling of thousands of hectares of Sumatra's dwindling forests, the report calls for foreign donors to include sustainably sourced timber amid the billions of dollars of aid that they have pledged for relief and reconstruction efforts. Wood is required initially for building temporary accommodation for the estimated 500,000 people forced from their homes. Low-cost housing, office buildings, hospitals, schools and houses of worship will then take priority. The two groups estimate that an alternative supply of 1 million cubic meters per year could help offset the huge demand. In related efforts, CEPF is enabling its grant recipients in the area to spend remaining funds on items or services to get conservationists back on their feet and working again. As CEPF Asia Grant Director Judy Mills explained: "The challenge for us now is to work out how to help rebuild the devastated areas of Sumatra without destroying the ecological services and resources that remain intact." View more In Focus features © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CEPF NEWS Press Releases E-News Top Stories In Focus Features CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP Civil Society Groups Lead Relief Efforts January 2005 On tsunami-ravaged Sumatra, the daily business of many local conservationists changed overnight from working to preserve the Indonesian island's unique natural resources to leading relief efforts to help their fellow citizens. © DigitalGlobe Aceh shore, from imagery collected Dec. 28. WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS In the northern city of Medan, Conservation International and Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) colleagues joined three emergency coalitions of CEPF grant recipients and other partners to collect and deliver food, medicine and water supplies bound for the © DigitalGlobe devastated Aceh and North Sumatra provinces. Aceh shore from imagery collected before the While the usual 10-hour drive from Medan to Aceh is tsunami. now significantly lengthier and arduous due to the destruction of roads, bridges and other infrastructure, a number of coalition trucks managed to deliver supplies. Along the route back to collect more supplies, the team helped collect and bury bodies - a grim yet necessary task. "It's so late, and the families cannot do that - it's too traumatic," CEPF Grant Manager Purbasi Surjadi reported from Medan on Jan. 6, 10 days after a powerful earthquake off the island's coast triggered a tsunami across Asia and even parts of Africa. The tidal waves claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people in 12 nations at the latest count, and left tens of thousands missing and millions more without housing, water or food supplies. In Indonesia, the hardest hit of the nations, more than 104,000 people are dead and an estimated 77,000 missing. In Sumatra, where whole communities were washed away in the north, the devastation seems apocalyptic. © CI Indonesia Relief workers battle destroyed roads and treacherous conditions to deliver food, clothing, water, and other needed supplies to victims of the tsunami in northern Sumatra. "I have never seen such utter destruction mile after mile," U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan told reporters after touring the area with World Bank President James Wolfensohn and others on Jan. 7. "You wonder where are the people? What has happened to them?" More than 60 CEPF nongovernmental and governmental partners are among the dead in Sumatra, a focal area for CEPF investments. The program launched a $10 million investment strategy for Sumatra in 2002 with the aim of building civil society at the village, municipal and provincial levels to help conserve the island's biodiversity. Support at the local level was key. Indonesia only recently decentralized management of natural resource, creating an opportunity to build local capacity and coffers so that local people could effectively participate in and benefit from conservation efforts. CEPF has since provided grants to more than 30 nongovernmental organizations to help build their capacity and enable them to work with other civil society groups, communities and government officials to preserve the island's natural wealth. Many of these groups - including those assisting in relief efforts - have lost staff, family members and friends. Support at the local level will remain pivotal as relief efforts continue and, ultimately, as rebuilding gets under way. As the toll of the disaster continued to be assessed and international efforts mounted to avert the spread of disease and further catastrophe in the tsunami's aftermath, the CEPF management team sent its personal condolences to dozens of colleagues across Asia. The team also agreed to continue supporting basic livelihoods in the most devastated areas of Sumatra. "While we're not a relief agency, CEPF is dedicated to empowering civil society to conserve biodiversity," CEPF Asia Grant Director Judy Mills said. "We recognize that empowerment at this terrible time means meeting the most basic of needs." CEPF donor partners also took action in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. In addition to its relief efforts on the ground in Sumatra, Conservation International established an emergency fund for support of its conservation partners and their communities in Northern Sumatra; the Government of Japan sent two Conservation International has established an emergency fund for support of our conservation partners in Northern Sumatra, the communities in which they work and their families. Help today. disaster relief medical teams to both Sumatra and Thailand and also pledged $500 million in relief; and the World Bank committed an initial $250 million for emergency reconstruction across Asia. Learn more about these relief efforts: ● ● ● Conservation International Northern Sumatra Restoration Fund Government of Japan relief efforts World Bank Commits $250 Million for TsunamiAffected Countries Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP Marketing Social Change In Focus, November 2004 CEPF NEWS Press Releases E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK Zhang Zhe is a 27-year-old environmental engineer by training. She is accomplished and intelligent. But she has an alter ego—a large golden pheasant (a friend in a big bird costume, actually) that accompanies her as she spreads her conservation messages to hundreds of school children in China’s Sichuan Province every month. RECENT GRANTS And she’s not the only one. APPLY FOR GRANTS © Rare Zhang Zhe poses alongside the giant golden pheasant that accompanies her during her campaign activities in the villages around Baishuihe National The project brings promising individuals and local Nature Reserve in groups together with the support of Rare and Conservation International’s global communications team Southwest China. to build a global constituency for biodiversity conservation through Rare’s replicable Pride program. With funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), Zhang Zhe is one of 13 individuals being trained in social marketing and the art of convincing local communities and governments that conservation is key. It’s an entertaining, creative approach to the complex issue of biodiversity conservation, while building and bettering lives of local people. “In the village that I am working in, most families have small home-based businesses, and tourism-related businesses,” explained Zhang Zhe about one of the villages around Baishuihe National Nature Reserve where she is working in the Mountains of Southwest China biodiversity hotspot. “It’s mostly families, and though they’re not lacking food or sanitation, they are still very concerned about generating incomes for the family. So we are trying to find a way, working with government and nongovernmental organizations, to combine economic development and conservation in this area.” © Marldes Van Delft The Katala Foundation’s campaign led by Indira Lacerna-Widmann (left) recently convinced the Municipality of Puerto Princesa to protect 60 hectares of crucial feeding, nesting and roosting ground for the Philippine cockatoo. Zhang Zhe’s work is part of a project implemented by the Jane Goodall Institute Roots and Shoots China office, which is one of the organizations participating in the program. With a marketing zeal not too unlike that which a marketeer for Coke or Pepsi would approach their audiences, the new Pride campaign leaders are generating huge interest and participation in their efforts to promote conservation of important ecosystems and the globally threatened species they shelter. Enabling Expansion A CEPF grant awarded last year is supporting an expansion of the Pride program with the 13 new campaigns in the Atlantic Forest, Cape Floristic Region, Chocó-Darién-Western Ecuador, Guinean Forests of West Africa, Mesoamerica, Mountains of Southwest China, the Philippines, Succulent Karoo and Sundaland hotspots. In addition to the CEPF-supported campaigns and others already underway, Rare has also launched 12 new campaigns in additional areas with support from others such as the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and The Nature Conservancy. Each campaign aims to save a Critically Endangered species, solidify or create new protected areas, or conserve healthy biodiversity conservation corridors. Rare’s experience in conservation education stems from its work in the 1980s developing a very structured social marketing tool, known then as the Promoting Protection Through Pride program. The recipe is simple and effective: turn a charismatic flagship species into a symbol of local pride, as a lever for improving public understanding of biodiversity’s value and the need to take action to preserve it. Both grassroots and mass-marketing techniques are used to create broad-based support—on a local or national level—for ecosystem protection. Promising individuals are chosen to become campaign leaders, linked with a local organization and supported throughout the process, which officially begins with a 10-week training course at the University of Kent at Canterbury in the United Kingdom or the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. (See related story: Students Get Off to Strong Start for Conservation Education.) For each campaign, the objectives, flagship species, and target audience are selected to address a specific, Overviews for many of the 13 campaigns supported by CEPF are available. Click here. realistic, and measurable threat identified together with stakeholders. Threats targeted by the CEPF-supported campaigns range from illegal logging and mining to unsustainable wildlife trade to an advancing agricultural frontier. In the Field For people like 31-year-old South African Jakob Hanekom, the project is crucial. Using the Clanwilliam cedar tree as his flagship species, and promoting the campaign slogan of “Be a Friend to the Cederberg!” he aims to conserve the plants and animals of the Cederberg Wilderness Area where the Cape Floristic Region and Succulent Karoo hotspots converge in South Africa. As part of his campaign, this married father of two is doing a weekly 10-minute live radio spot talking about conservation challenges, and spreading key campaign messages. He has also prepared a package of materials to use during his visits to local schools, including rulers with messages that serve as “prompts” to remind children (and their families) even months later about the conservation messages they heard in school. “It’s really rewarding to work in my home town and bring information about nature and ecosystems to the people here,” Hanekom said. “For many it’s the first time ever they’ve been exposed to this type of program.” Hanekom, who is linked with Cape Nature, has also designed and printed an education booklet and fact sheet to spread information on conservation and development issues important to the wilderness area; recorded and sung a school song to more than 4,700 children; and developed a bilingual puppet show to use during his school visits. Through the project’s online club, campaign managers can also share information with their fellow managers in other hotspots, who are using similar social marketing techniques but specially adapted to the local situation. In the Chocó-Darián-Western Ecuador Hotspot, Luis Arroyo Carvache is leading a campaign to preserve critical forests of San Lorenzo del Pailon in northwestern Ecuador. The campaign aims to help stop conversion of the forests and mangroves to agricultural land, particularly palm oil plantations, in the ChocáManabi conservation corridor. Among his activities, Carvache has produced a costume of the red-lored parrot (Amazona autumnalis)—his campaign’s flagship species—and a variety of materials for his work in 22 schools. He is also hosting a local radio show, producing a variety of radio spots to help people understand the benefits they receive from the forests. Replicating Success the Pride Way For the Pride program, success breeding success is part of the strategy. For example, the campaign leaders conduct pre- and post-campaign surveys of 1-3 percent of their target population to learn about relevant knowledge, attitudes, and practices. The survey data is used to develop objectives, design messages, and ultimately to measure the change achieved during the campaign. Rare has also developed a “Learning Framework for Pride,” a set of 66 different data points that it is collecting throughout all the current campaigns. At the end, it will use this data to develop a predictive model of success for a campaign to determine, with statistically valid data, “what characteristics are most important for success,” said Megan Hill, senior director for Pride at Rare’s U.S. headquarters. “All of that said, one of the most important points I use to define success is seeing Pride campaigns implemented long after Rare’s direct involvement is over,” Hill said. “It is a replicable model, and our ultimate goal is to train people to keep running outreach campaigns long into the future." It’s this forward thinking that often proves pivotal to conservation success, and the new campaign leaders are already demonstrating their capacity as catalysts. In the Philippines, the Katala Foundation’s campaign led by Indira Lacerna-Widmann recently convinced the Municipality of Puerto Princesa to protect 60 hectares of crucial feeding, nesting and roosting ground for the Critically Endangered Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia). The Philippine cockatoo, the flagship species for Lacerna-Widmann’s campaign, was once considered common but now numbers no more than 4,000. The new protected area on the island of Dumaran off the coast of Palawan is also important for local communities. “The protected area will protect and ensure the water supply not only for this community but also for other barangays (villages) dependent on this sub-watershed,” Lacerna-Widdman said. Planning for the Future Forward thinking is also pivotal in fast-developing economies like China. In addition to her school and farm work, Zhang Zhe is completing a documentary about Baishuihe National Nature Reserve. After a pre-campaign survey she conducted showed that 70 percent of her target audience gets its information from TV, she set out to produce this film to reach people living near the Reserve, as well as tourists. She hopes to have it broadcast on local and national TV stations, and to produce DVDs for use in schools. “With the economic development and improving environmental awareness, China’s environmental protection work will be so different 10 years later from today,” Zhang Zhe said. “This film may well be used as study material by that time.” Indeed time is of the essence and Rare appears to be ready to launch more programs keeping in step with the growing global economy. “Pride is really ramping up,” said Brett Jenks, Rare’s president and CEO. “In the first 15 years of the Pride program, Rare supported 30 campaigns worldwide. In 2004 alone, we have 29 operating campaigns, and 2005 will see a total of 49. So CEPF’s return on investment will be greater than the sum of each campaign.” View more In Focus features © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CEPF NEWS Press Releases E-News Top Stories In Focus Features CONTACT FAQ APPLY FOR GRANTS SITE MAP Indonesia Declares Batang Gadis National Park May 2004 Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry signed a ministerial decree in early May declaring Batang Gadis a national park—a move expected to be officially announced by President Megawati Sukarnoputri in the park on the island of Sumatra later this month. WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS SEARCH The decree is the first since the Indonesian government’s public pledge in February to create 12 new protected areas in 2004, including Batang Gadis National Park in Northern Sumatra and Tesso Nilo in Sumatra’s Riau Province. “This is the first time a locally designated protected area has been granted national park status in Indonesia,” says Jatna Supriatna, vice president for Conservation International-Indonesia (CI-Indonesia). Earlier this year, local officials declared the 108,000hectare swath of forest as a protected area under a new scheme allowing local bupati or district heads to designate land for protection. Their action helped prompt the governmental commitment to create new national protected areas. The designation of Batang Gadis as a park at the national level is expected to help bring greater governmental and donor resources, including funding, to help secure this area. It follows a recent exploratory mission led by CIIndonesia that found signs of the Sumatran tiger and other threatened wild cats in the newly declared protected area. Signs of Sumatran tiger, Asiatic golden cat, leopard cat and clouded leopard were seen during the mission organized and led by CI's Northern Sumatra team. The Sumatran tiger and the Asiatic golden cat were even © Conservation International Sumatran tiger caught on camera trap in Batang Gadis. Save The Tiger Fund and CEPF have joined forces to link tiger conservation programs across Asia. Read the story. More news and features from this hotspot. captured on film by camera traps that the team set. Preliminary results from the survey also show some 239 different vascular plant species within the new park, making it among the planet’s most diverse floristically. Other findings include the presence of Malayan tapir, siamang, agile gibbon, banded leaf monkey, Malayan porcupine, sun bear and Sumatran serow. The park has historically been home to a number of threatened species including Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran rhinoceros and Sumatran elephant. The protection of Batang Gadis as a national park is key to efforts to create the Northern Sumatra biodiversity conservation corridor. The park would be an integral part of a 400,000-hectare area in the Angkola portion of the corridor, which could be connected, via a series of protected areas and forests, all the way to Gunung Leuser National Park in the far north of the island. The entire corridor would encompass some 3 million hectares. Key partners involved in this project include the Ministry of Forestry, the Provincial Government of Northern Sumatra, the Mandaling Regency Government, CI-Indonesia and other local organizations from Jakarta, Mandailing and Medan. Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CEPF NEWS Press Releases CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP Cutting a New Path for Illegal Loggers in Sumatra In Focus, August 2004 by Elizabeth A. Foley E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS The 5,000 villagers of Tangkahan are now official caretakers of a corner of one of Indonesia's most impressive national parks. As part of this new role, they are embarking in a transformation of their own livelihoods and the local economy. It's one that is turning illegal loggers into conservationists while helping build Gunung Leuser National Park in northern Sumatra into one of the region's premier ecotourism destinations. © INDECON INDECON Executive Director Ary Suhandi. With support from the Indonesian Ecotourism Network (INDECON), the villagers recently signed a landmark agreement through the Tangkahan Tourism Institute (Lembaga Pariwisata Tangkahan or LPT) with the national park authority that will help curtail illegal logging and places some 10,000 hectares of the park under the community's care. The agreement marks the first time a national park authority has entrusted local people to manage an ecotourism zone while conserving the biological diversity of the park. The park, Indonesia's second largest, spans some 792,675 hectares. Only 1,500 of the 10,000 hectares managed by the community will be open to ecotourism. This unique project is crucial to engaging local communities in protecting this corner of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, where the forests—home to the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan—were once the center of illegal logging. The Leuser Management Unit, a technical body that manages the Leuser Development Programme funded by the European Union and the Indonesian government, © INDECON Community members participate in ecotourism planning. The Indonesia Ecotourism Network's final report is now available for this project. Download it in PDF format. Visit the news & feature archive for this hotspot. devised a "Tangkahan Ecotourism Master Plan" for the park's management while support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund helped build community skills and involvement in implementing the plan. The project has also received funding from the national park authority for communication equipment, interpreters' uniforms, shelters and information signs. "It's a huge challenge to get people to change from illegal loggers to conservationists," INDECON Executive Director Ary Suhandi said. "It's a big step in life-and in their income. "Illegal loggers can make around 3 million rupiahs or $350 for two weeks of labor. Working to protect the forest, they make around US$180, in addition to their income from agriculture which is around $200 per month." Even when local logging firms upped their fees in an attempt to sway the villagers, they held fast, according to Suhandi. "They say, 'I'm proud because I'm keeping the forest for my children.'" They're also keen to keep logging out, as its disappearance seems to have decreased the amount of conflict in the region, Suhandi said. One significant result of the project is new village regulations regarding forest conservation. The regulations, developed through a participatory process, are proving useful as a policy at the local level and as a legal tool to enforce logging laws. Other successful results stemming from the project include a national park and LPT agreement on entrance fees and benefit distribution. Community members are directly involved in ecotourism activities, receiving income through guiding, river-crossing and interpretive services. The community also receives benefits from entrance fees and from food and beverage sales in the restaurant. Giving the community access and legally empowering it to participate in conservation and utility of the conservation area are firsts for Indonesia. Both of these factors, alongside the benefits, proved vital in increasing community confidence in the national park authority and boosting the overall attitude toward ecotourism businesses. "It has been a social approach," Suhandi said. "This is a paternal society-so we began working with the younger people in the village and they in turn told their fathers who are illegal loggers about the long term impacts of deforestation, who in turn told village elders." An action plan geared toward producing tangible products the villagers could literally see and hold has been elemental to building confidence and enthusiasm. "Guidebooks, signs, building an information center all helped the villagers see that this is really something that is happening," Suhandi said. Tangkahan boasts two rivers and 11 waterfalls, several hot water springs and bat caves along its jungle tracks. INDECON and the villagers have cut three new loop trails for hiking, established white water river rafting routes, and are developing caving and other adventure tourism options for foreign travelers. For domestic tourists, activities will focus on educational tourism combined with traditional knowledge and river trips. Last year the park welcomed some 80 tourists from Europe, and on average 100 domestic visitors per week came to hike, camp and spend the night in the lush green forests. It is a region known for its wildlife tourism, with most tourists heading 30 kilometers south to better known Bahorok, Bukit Lawang and its orangutan center. However, all that changed in November 2003 when flash flooding destroyed Bahorok. Many blamed the tragedy on illegal logging in nearby Gunung Leuser National Park, but it has proven to be a blessing in disguise for INDECON's fledgling ecotourism venture as it has allowed Tangkahan to gain a foothold in the industry while Bahorok rebuilds. Though foreign tourism in general to Indonesia took a dip in 1998 with Indonesia's economic and political crisis, it is now rebounding to almost 100,000 visitors annually, and Tangkahan and INDECON are poised to capture their piece of the market. They're starting with a savvy marketing plan. INDECON has developed a strategy focused on both domestic and international markets. Locally, it is courting television and national print journalists. In June, 20 journalists raced down rivers in the park in a white water competition supported by local airlines and the province tourism authority. It is also building partnerships with schools, churches and youth groups in nearby Medan. A Web site geared toward foreign travelers is being constructed, and networking to promote partnerships between tour operators in Medan and Jakarta is underway. The team is also actively involved in tourism exhibitions at provincial and national levels as well as internationally. In March, INDECON members participated in the 38th Berlin International Tourism Trade Fair in Berlin, Germany. The fair, Europe's largest international tourism exposition, attracted more than 10,000 exhibitors from 178 countries. INDECON's approach of weaving the Tangkahan villagers' financial and social future with that of the park is also gaining more converts. In the months to come, INDECON will be training 30-40 guides from Bahorok and helping them to redesign the ecotourism strategy for the park. See related story - Rutkita Sembiring: From Logger to Park Ranger View more In Focus features © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CEPF NEWS Press Releases E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP UN Foundation and CEPF Join Forces in Sumatra July 2004 The United Nations Foundation has agreed to match Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) support for a conservation action and network program in © IRF, photo by Nico van Sumatra that will build local capacity to manage the island’s third largest national park and benefit two other Strien Bukit Barisan Selatan important parks as well. National Park shelters an important population of Together the parks—Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Kerinci Seblat and Gunung Leuser—represent the Sumatran rhinoceros, the most important blocks of lowland forests on the island. world's most imperiled rhinoceros species. Declared a single "Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra" World Heritage Site on June 30 by the World Heritage Committee, the three parks are located on the main spine of the Bukit Barisan Mountains known as the Andes of Sumatra. CEPF will provide $900,000 to the UN Foundation to be administered through UNESCO for implementation of the Conservation Action and Network Program, Indonesia (CANOPI) in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. The UN Foundation will match this amount. "Without the UN Foundation’s support, CANOPI would not have happened,” said Judy Mills, Asia grant director for CEPF. CANOPI will train local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals in and around Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park to monitor and mitigate threats to the park's biodiversity. The park contains more lowland forest than any other protected area on the island and acts as the main watershed for western Lampung. It also contains important populations of critically endangered mammals unique to the island such as Sumatran tiger and Sumatran rhinoceros. Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is one of four geographic focal areas for CEPF investment in Sumatra. Learn more about our investment strategy for this hotspot. More news and features from this hotspot. “The plan is that when training is carried out in Bukit Barisan Selatan, park managers and other NGOs from the other parks will be part of it,” said Seema Paul, senior program officer, biodiversity, for the UN Foundation, which works in partnership with UNESCO to support and promote the management and conservation of natural World Heritage sites. “This is a win-win partnership: CEPF is funding an important model for conservation where there is such a dearth of good models, and we will help to enhance and replicate this model in other areas," she said. The program will also provide small grants to the newly trained NGOs to implement specific projects related to the park’s conservation. In the previous 12 years, Sumatra lost more than 6.5 million hectares of forest due to a variety of human activities. The Bukit Barisan Selatan ecosystem, including the national park and surrounding forest area, was no exception: More than 20 percent of the forest within the 365,000-hectare park was cleared for illegal agriculture. CEPF’s previous support to CANOPI included two grants to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for creation of the program’s strategic plan and management structure together with nine local partner organizations. WCS also provided several small grants of approximately $10,000 each to local partners to address urgent threats to the park while the plan was being developed. The preparation proved successful: In April, after more than a year of discussions among the partner organizations, the nine local groups and WCS signed an agreement to work under the auspices of CANOPI to enhance collaborative management of the Bukit Barisan Selatan landscape. A council comprised of representatives from each of the organizations will oversee the program and work together with local park authorities. The groups’ commitment to clearly defined roles and shared responsibilities in protecting this important yet threatened ecosystem is a major milestone in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, where civil society groups traditionally work independently. Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CEPF NEWS Press Releases E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP Indonesia Declares Tesso Nilo National Park August 2004 Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry recently designated Tesso Nilo as a national park. The decree is being welcomed by an alliance of two dozen local groups led by WWF and supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) that worked together for © CI, photo by Haroldo more than 4 years to make the declaration possible. Castro The Tesso Nilo Forest is The July 19 decree followed a public pledge by the home to the island's largest Indonesian government earlier this year to create 12 remaining population of new protected areas in 2004, including Tesso Nilo in Sumatran elephants. Only Sumatra's Riau Province and Batang Gadis National about 350 remain. Park in Northern Sumatra. In an August 3 press announcement, the head of the government's Forestry Information Center, Transtoto Handadhari, said the decree aims to conserve important forest resources while also increasing the quality of life for people living near the new park. CEPF focuses on Sumatra as the biologically richest and most threatened area in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot. Learn more about our investment strategy for The new Tesso Nilo National Park covers 38,576 hectares. While it is one of the largest remaining blocks of flat, dry lowland rain forest in Sumatra, more than 300,000 hectares of the Tesso Nilo forest area have been converted to industrial plantations. "Not long ago the land for this park was slated for logging," said Tom Dillon, director of WWF's Species Conservation Program. "This announcement ensures that at least some of Sumatra's unmatched biodiversity will be preserved, but we still have a long way to go before this park and those around it are indeed functioning protected areas," he said. WWF is negotiating with other companies to retire more logging concessions and increase the acreage of this new park, while also working with neighboring this hotspot. You can learn more about this hotspot on Conservation International's award-winning hotspots site. Visit www.biodiversityhotspots.org. communities to create alternative livelihoods for people who might otherwise participate in illegal logging. "We see this as a positive first step that the government has set for corporations to follow," said Michael Stuewe, president of Conservation Management Ltd., one of the groups working to secure Tesso Nilo's protection. Stuewe and others are hoping corporations will give more hectares over to conservation to achieve protection for the full 188,000 hectares of natural tropical lowland forest that remain in the Tesso Nilo Forest Complex. The efforts of the two-dozen strong alliance and WWF were key to the declaration. The alliance and its success is tangible evidence of the effectiveness of civil society partnerships working in concert with local governments. "The declaration of this cornerstone for saving the largest remaining expanse of Sumatra's lowland forest is a great tribute to the alliance of local, national and international NGOs working to make it possible," said Judy Mills, Asia grant director for CEPF. Securing this forest as a national park is part of the Tesso Nilo-Bukit Tigapuluh focal area of CEPF's investment strategy for Sumatra in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot. Sumatra's lowland rain forest is almost gone, with only small forest fragments remaining. Mostly oil palm and acacia pulp wood plantations cover the island's lowlands. The largest remaining forest tracts are in Sumatra's central province of Riau where the new park is located. However, four logging companies operate in the Tesso Nilo Forest Complex, while acacia and palm oil plantations surround it. A 1-kilometer-wide acacia plantation corridor is just being created inside the complex. Three protected forests are within 25 to 40 kilometers of the complex in the larger Tesso Nilo landscape: the Kurumutan Peat Swamp Reserve, the Bukit Rimbang Baling Montane Forest Game Reserve and the Bukit Tigapuluh Montane Forest National Park. The complex and Kerinci Seblat may soon be the last retreat for central Sumatra's elephant population. The prime tiger reserves of Bukit Rimbang Baling and Bukit Tigapuluh are still connected to each other and may be the last possible link to the larger Kerinici Seblat ecosystem. Related Stories: Indonesia Declares Batang Gadis National Park New Protected Area Action for Indonesia and the Philippines ● ● More news and features from this hotspot. Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY CONTACT FAQ CEPF NEWS New Protected Area Action for Indonesia and the Philippines Press Releases March 2004 ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS The governments of Indonesia and the Philippines announced actions in February that are key to preserving vital land for endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger, the Sumatran elephant and the Philippine eagle as well as hundreds of indigenous communities. In the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed a presidential proclamation declaring the Quirino Protected Landscape, which covers some 206, 875 hectares. The new protected area and the Peñablanca Protected Landscape and Seascape proclaimed in October 2003 bookend the Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor, with the total area under permanent protection in the central part of the corridor now extended to 391,000 hectares. The area also serves as the watershed of the Cagayan River basin supporting several irrigation systems of the Cagayan Valley Region, considered the "rice bowl" of the Philippines. A variety of stakeholders including members of the Protected Area Management Board, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Interim Local Government Unit of Quirino and local community and nongovernmental organizations led by Conservation International-Philippines worked together for years to make the project possible. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government publicly committed to creating 12 new protected areas in 2004, including Tesso Nilo in Sumatra’s Riau Province and Batang Gadis National Park in Northern Sumatra. The government announced the pledge in Kuala Lumpur during the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, where member states agreed to SEARCH SITE MAP © WWF Tesso Nilo, Sumatra. CEPF focuses on Sumatra as the biologically richest and most threatened area in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot. Read our investment strategy for this hotspot. In the Philippines, a majority of resources target the Eastern Mindanao, Palawan and Sierra Madre biodiversity conservation corridors, where the hotspot's biodiversity is concentrated. Read our investment strategy for this hotspot. set aside 10 percent of their lands for biodiversity conservation. The inclusion among the 12 of Batang Gadis National Park, just previously declared as a national park by officials at the district level, will make way for a declaration at the national level and, local officials hope, national funding for the park. Tesso Nilo is one of the largest remaining blocks of flat, dry lowlands rain forest in Sumatra. Only about 350 Sumatran elephants are left in this region's forests. More than 300,000 hectares of Tesso Nilo's forest have been converted to industrial plantations since 1984. “Tesso Nilo is more than just home for elephants and tigers, as it has been found to contain the world's richest vascular (plant) biodiversity,” H.M. Rusli Zainal, SE, Governor of Riau said. “Protecting Tesso Nilo will alleviate human-wildlife conflicts and prove that conservation can go with economic development in harmony.” As part of an alliance led by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), more than two dozen local organizations have worked together to save Tesso Nilo with support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. As in the Philippines, these allied efforts have demonstrated the immense value of partnership and bottom-up approaches, clear conservation outcomes and the success that can be achieved when civil society joins forces with and complements the activities of governments. In related news, WWF called on creditors and customers of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), one of the world's largest paper companies, to pressure the company to stop unsustainable logging operations in Sumatra. In stark contrast to the progress represented by the government pledge, a six-month negotiation between WWF and APP ended on Feb. 19 without an agreement on a sustainability action plan to provide added forest protection. In August 2003, APP and its parent company, the Sinar Mas Group, signed a letter of intent with WWF agreeing to prepare an action plan for the next 12 years on the sustainability of APP's wood supplies and the conservation of forests of high social and environmental significance. WWF said some progress had been made but the company's recently proposed plan fell short on several counts, and APP is still proposing to cut 445,000 acres of natural forest over the next two years. Related documents and stories: ● ● ● ● CEPF executive director's speech at the CBD event to announce Indonesia's new protected area commitment (PDF) Arroyo Expands Peñablanca Protected Area Local Leaders Declare New National Park in Sumatra Time Running Out for APP, Says WWF Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier Partnership for Tiger Action Save The Tiger Fund and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) have joined forces to link tiger conservation programs across Asia. As part of the new alliance, the two major grant makers will work together to combat threats to tigers, including smuggling of tiger parts by highly organized regional networks that are often linked to trafficking in narcotics and weapons. © CI Tigers live on land that provides some of the most fertile and abundant natural resources for humans and wildlife alike. As an umbrella species, tigers range over large landscapes that support a complex web of life. Efforts to save the tiger ultimately benefit entire ecosystems and all the species and communities they support. Since its founding in 1995, Save The Tiger Fund has supported 226 tiger-conservation projects in 13 countries. Now, the two partners will forge united tiger conservation strategies, catalyzing partner organizations and community groups to further combine efforts. The partnership will also enable Save The Tiger Fund to double its grant distribution in Asia’s biodiversity hotspots. For more information, visit the Save The Tiger Fund site. TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CEPF NEWS Press Releases E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP Local Leaders Declare New National Park in Sumatra February 2004 The governor of North Sumatra and the district head or bupati in the Mandailing District recently declared a new national park in Northern Sumatra, making way for what local officials and communities hope will be a declaration at the national level and hence funding support from the national government. © CEPF, photo by Judy Mills The declaration of Batang Gadis National Park, A CI staff member with encompassing 108,000 ha at the southern end of the children in Kampung Northern Sumatra conservation corridor, is certainly the Sebangor Julu, where fastest in Indonesia's history, according to Indonesian villagers hope to enjoy conservationists. benefits from visitors to the new national park wanting Whereas most of the country's parks have been declared to see traditional villages on the park's borders. in a top-down process initiated by the national government, this is one of the first under Indonesia's decentralization of natural resource management. Sumatra is part of the This protected area outcome emerged with Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) support, as it was highlighted as a conservation priority and opportunity during a five-year vision mapping process led by Conservation International (CI) Indonesia with area stakeholders. Further impetus arose from severe flooding that killed more than 200 people in the North Sumatra resort area of Bukit Lawang in November 2003. The bupati who made the declaration said he wants to protect his people from such disasters but also to leave a legacy for his grandchildren and their children. The Batang Gadis National Park is an integral part of a 400,000-ha area in the Angkola portion of the corridor that CI Indonesia and its partners are working to secure. The park is said to be home to Sumatran tigers, rhinos, elephants, Malayan tapirs and other key species. Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, where CEPF strategically targets four geographic areas: Seulawah-LeuserAngkola; Siberut Island; Tesso Nilo-Bukit Tigapuluh; and Bukit Barisan Seletan. CI Indonesia will be conducting an assessment of the park's biodiversity starting this month. Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier Blueprint to Halt Asia's Bird Extinction Crisis BirdLife launched a groundbreaking guide Nov. 12 to help governments and civil society prevent the extinction of Asia’s birds, one in eight of which is under threat. Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado of Japan unveiled the blueprint, Saving Asia’s Threatened Birds, at a special international event attended by more than 100 people in Tokyo. BirdLife International produced the guide with financial support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) to help avoid the extinction of 324 threatened bird species, 12% of Asia’s total. Already 41 Asian bird species teeter on the brink of extinction. Of these, 11 may already be extinct. An important finding is that more than 100 sites critically important for globally threatened birds remain unprotected. © BirdLife International Princess Takamado poses with GEF, World Bank and CI members of the CEPF delegation at the launch. "Now, as environmental issues grow into global concerns, it is imperative that we act with intellectual integrity and I am pleased to be a part of the BirdLife Partnership in its efforts to guide the world in this direction," said HIH Princess Takamado, an honorary patron of BirdLife International’s Rare Bird Club and a keen birdwatcher. "It is my sincere hope that the publication of this book and the launching of this strategy will give an added impetus to the conservation efforts to maintain the rich biodiversity that is our Asia." A CEPF delegation of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank participated in the Tokyo launch as part of an overall mission to Japan, which included a CEPF informational seminar for Japanese civil society organizations and meetings with a variety of government and civil society representatives. The Japanese government, which also participated in the launch, is a partner in the CEPF initiative as well. "This guide launched today clearly articulates a major suite of key actions required to conserve the rarest bird species and most threatened avian habitats in Asia," CEPF Executive Director Jorgen Thomsen told the audience, which included ambassadors and embassy and other government representatives from across Asia. Forest loss and degradation due to commercial logging, clear felling for paper production and plantation establishment are the biggest threats to Asia’s birds. Indonesia is home to more globally threatened species than any other Asian country, followed by Mainland China, India and the Philippines. All organizations receiving support from CEPF for conservation projects in Asia will soon receive a complementary copy of the new guide. • • View the speeches and full press release. Learn more in the special BirdLife Web section on the new guide. Rhino Protection Units Stop Poachers in Sumatra Special anti-poaching units in Sumatra’s beleaguered Bukit Barisan National Park are making a dramatic difference: zero rhinos killed and poachers, rather than rhinos, snared. Urgent funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) beginning in January has enabled the Indonesian Rhino Conservation Program to expand and intensify the patrols now achieving these results in one of the most challenging landscapes to protect. The park has suffered massive encroachment along its long borders, where poachers have found the critically endangered Sumatran rhino an easy target. "This is a project that has been very successful and demonstrates how it is possible to involve local communities in protection," said Nico van Strien of the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), which provides technical assistance to the program in Sumatra. © IRF, photo by Nico van Strien Anti-poaching team confiscates snare set by poachers. The CEPF grant supports eight patrols working to create Intensive Protection Zones for rhino in the park. Each team is generally made up of three local community recruits and one forest ranger, licensed to carry a firearm and to arrest poaching suspects. The patrols operate against a backdrop of special intelligence work, gathering evidence to build successful cases against those who threaten rhinos, tigers and other wildlife in the park’s important rhino areas. The Sumatran Rhino is the most imperiled species of rhino. Numbers have been halved from an estimated 600 in 1994 to probably no more than 300 today. Of that total world population, possibly more than 60 are in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. Poachers claimed two rhinos in the park in 2001. Acting on intelligence from villagers, the Rhino Protection Units (RPUs) conduct frequent and intensive patrols, varying from three to seven days, to detect and destroy snares and traps left by poachers before they can harm the park’s wildlife. Catching and prosecuting poachers is a difficult business. The work that the RPUs conduct in the park’s surrounding villages—gathering information and maintaining an ongoing presence—is vital to obtain leads on the location of traps and act as a deterrent to would-be poachers. It pays off. This year, the patrols’ work has helped lead to the arrest and prosecution of 11 people involved in nine cases of poaching. In two cases unprecedented severe sentences of 3 and 3.5 years imprisonment were imposed. These cases, community support, adequate resources and a highly visible patrol presence are a powerful mix. The future of the park’s Sumatran rhino population, one of the largest remaining, may well depend on it. TEXT ONLY CONTACT FAQ CEPF NEWS Talang Mamak, Groups Win Forest Protection in Sumatra Press Releases September 2003 ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK Local communities and organizations in Sumatra recently won a major victory with the cancellation of logging plans in the northwest of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, home to one of the largest areas of remaining lowland forest on the Indonesian island. RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS The cancellation by the district chief who had already issued tentative permits to private companies capped a six-month effort led by a local foundation with support from CEPF to help the Talang Mamak and other traditional forest-dwelling communities organize against the logging. "CEPF support provided us with a critical opportunity to act before it was too late," said Mangara Silalahi of the Alam Sumatera Foundation. The success is an example of how CEPF's strategic approach to build the capacity of civil society at the local level in Sumatra can be a powerful catalyst for conservation that benefits both people and nature. Bukit Tigapulah National Park is one of Sumatra's prime tiger landscapes. A mountainous plateau stretching across more than 100,000 hectares, the Bukit Tigapuluh ("The Thirty Hills") and its surrounding areas also provide important benefits to the Talang Mamak and other local communities. Known as a hinterland tribe, the Talang Mamak number only about 6,000 and depend on the natural resources found in the park in Riau's Indragiri Hulu regency. Recent months had seen tentative licenses issued to the companies for logging and timber plantation development of 22,450 hectares in an area that is part of the remaining lowland rain forest that connects Bukit Tigapuluh with the protected forests of Bukit Sosa and SEARCH SITE MAP © CI, photo by Haroldo Castro Protected species in Bukit Tigapuluh include Sumatran tiger, tapir and Asian elephant (above). CEPF focuses on Sumatra as the biologically richest and most threatened area in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot. Sumatra harbors more than 10,000 plant species, mostly in lowland forests. It is the only place where elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, clouded leopards and orangutans co-exist. CEPF targets four geographic areas: Seulawah-LeuserAngkola, Siberut Island, Tesso Nilo-Bukit Tigapuluh and Bukit Barisan Seletan. Read more about CEPF's approach in the Sundaland hotspot. Bukit Betabuh. Protected species in this area include Sumatran tiger, tapir and Asian elephant. The targeted area is also located within the forests of the Talang Mamak community, which had not been consulted. Following a request for assistance by Talang Mamak community leader Patih Laman, CEPF helped bring together the Alam Sumatera Foundation—a nongovernmental organization (NGO) set up jointly by WWF-Indonesia and the Conservation Information Forum (WARSI)—and the community leader in a project to build awareness of the situation and advocate for the permits' cancellation. The Foundation helped provide the community with an understanding of industrial timber plantations and their impact by arranging study visits for the Talang Mamak and Malay communities to the Sakai tribal areas, where large-scale industrial timber operations are already well established. The result was a joint declaration by the Sakai people and the communities rejecting large-scale timber plantations in their traditional territories. The project team then facilitated discussions to raise awareness among groups in the Talang Mamak's village about impacts of timber plantations. As part of this effort, the team showed a video recording of the visit to the Sakai areas. Talang Mamak representatives subsequently attended a special hearing on the plans at the Indragiri Hulu district chief’s office and rejected the Environmental Impact Assessment. Talang Mamak and Malay community representatives, in cooperation with the Alam Sumatera Foundation and support from the local Sialang Foundation, went on to lobby government officials, environmental impact assessment team members and influential individuals at district and provincial levels. Their efforts, helped by the participation of an NGO network in provincial hearings, gained significant media coverage at both provincial and national levels. Visits set up for the media to the Talang Mamak community received further coverage and helped spread support for the cancellation. Following these activities, the district chief publicly declared a commitment to cancel the permits and later actually did so. He also suspended operations of an oil palm plantation company reportedly encroaching on Talang Mamak lands and declared that permits of other companies with land development plans affecting the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park buffer zone would be reviewed. He has since cancelled two other tentative permits to log 26,500 hectares. Throughout the project, the Foundation worked closely with Patih Laman, the leader of the Talang Mamak who has since been awarded the KALPATARU Yearly Environment Award for Environmental Leaders in Indonesia by President Megawati Sukarnoputri. The project is a powerful demonstration of how local communities, working together with local NGOs, can wield enormous influence. The Foundation is now helping to promote the right of the Talang Mamak to participate fully in managing their forests and lands. It recognizes that one important victory against sustainable logging means only a battle has been won, not the war. "Our next step as part of a consortium of NGOs will be to enlist community support to protect the forest on very steep hills surrounding Bukit Tigapuluh National Park from destruction through logging by including these areas in the park," Silalahi said. "We hope eventually to combine this with acquisition of an adjacent concession, which also covers part of the Talang Mamak forest, to be managed for multiple uses that cover community needs as well as the needs of elephant for a sanctuary." Indonesia is at the epicenter of the global deforestation crisis. It lost some 20 million hectares of forest from approximately 1985 to 1997. Since then, experts believe another 5 million hectares or more may have been lost, with rampant logging occurring even in protected areas. The establishment of district autonomy and the economic crisis in the country have increased forest destruction because district governments are able to issue logging licenses to companies with reference to the urgent need to raise local revenues. In Indragiri Hulu district, at least two other companies still have preliminary licenses for logging or clear felling for timber plantation development. "This advocacy work was made possible due to strong partnerships between NGOs and community leaders," said Sari Surjadi, CEPF grant manager in Sumatra. "We are pleased to see the government recognize this partnership, fully support this initiative and actually act to cancel these concessions. We hope to see this type of action in other areas of Sumatra to save the remaining forests. Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY CONTACT FAQ CEPF NEWS Students Get Off to Strong Start for Conservation Education Press Releases In Focus, August 2003 ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY E-News Top Stories SEARCH SITE MAP by Corrina Hackney In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS Amid the diverse student population of Kent University in England, a multinational team is nearing the end of an intensive 10 weeks of specialized training to become community educators with a single mission: to promote local pride in the environment in some of the planet's © Photo courtesy of Kent most threatened ecosystems. University Indira Lacerna from the The university course—offered in the United Kingdom Philippines (above) and and Mexico—is the first step in a 2.5-year program Edward Sesay from Sierra based on Rare's Pride Campaigns. Leone (below) are two of the students taking part in The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is the special Rare diploma supporting a major expansion to biodiversity hotspots of course at Kent University. these highly successful campaigns by a new partnership between Rare and Conservation International's (CI) International Communications Department (see press release: New Alliance). In this initial university phase—run by Rare staff in conjunction with the University of Kent in the UK—students receive intensive training in all the skills needed to produce and carry out comprehensive conservation education campaigns. "The university component of the course covers an incredible range of activities—from conservation law and biodiversity management to social marketing techniques and practicalities such as puppet-making," says Rosemary Godfrey, Rare's course manager at Kent University. Pride Campaigns are run by local organizations and aim to appeal to the public on an emotional level. The campaigns focus activity on a single species, aiming to capture a sense of public pride and ultimately to change © Photo courtesy of Kent University behavior and better protect the local species. The CEPFsupported campaigns will take place in 13 sites in China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Southern and West Africa and Central and South America. Unique While there are a number of conservation education courses offered in other institutions, the Rare course is unmatched in the kind of support structures it gives to students. The program is also unique in combining academic and technical training with hands-on campaign activity and implementation in the field. The students start with the 10-week university component, followed by a 10-week preparation phase during which they each develop a comprehensive campaign plan using stakeholder meetings and attitudinal surveys. Each student will identify a key theme tailored to their local communities, core objectives and a species to be the focus. They then implement the campaign, returning to the UK after the first year to report back and share experiences. Throughout the program, each student receives one-toone support from course lecturers and RARE and CI staff to translate theory into practice during their campaigns. "They are supported through weekly telephone calls (now free through MSN), online discussions with staff and fellow students and two on-site visits," says Godfrey, who developed an online discussion club now used by past and present participants to share best practices and address common challenges. Commitment to Conservation Education The students, who range in age from 22-45, have been carefully selected based on a demonstrated need for conservation awareness as a key conservation strategy in their home region. Their existing involvement in conservation work, a supportive local employer and their individual dedication and commitment were also strong elements in the selection process. Personalities are strong and cheerful—two essential qualities if they are to succeed as the "voice" for the threatened species in their respective regions. "There are not a lot of opportunities for conservation education," says Daniela Lerda, manager of CI's Community Education Program. "It is a very limited field in terms of training so there is a huge sense of privilege among the students, especially because the Admission to the Conservation Education Program and Diploma course at Kent University is limited to eight students per program to ensure a high level of interaction between students and instructors. Pride Campaigns are designed to target all segments of the population, from children to clergy to local leaders and farmers. Campaigns leaders draw on more than 30 social marketing techniques, such as: - billboards at major road junctions - posters displayed at businesses, schools and government offices - music videos broadcast on local TV - popular songs broadcast on local radio - activities and contests at schools - badges and comic books for children - placement of target species' images on telephone books, stamps and t-shirts - outreach through personal contacts and meetings course has a hands-on component that will allow them to design locally appropriate programs for their communities." None of the students knew each other prior to arriving in the UK but immediately established themselves as a cohesive group. The strength of this group will pay dividends when they return home and look to each other for additional support, via the Internet, while carrying out their campaigns. The close, supportive nature of the group is characteristic of the program. Although the students will be leading their own campaigns back home, they will have the ongoing support of RARE and CI staff, fellow students and also past and future students through a Rare Club online community. Course leader Godfrey and the other Rare staff are constantly looking for ways to make the program as well networked and supported as possible. The online community was developed to allow students past and present to talk to each other about challenges they face and solutions they are considering or have tried and tested. One student, 34-year-old Clyde Scott, from the Cape Floristic Region hotspot in South Africa, said his preliminary campaign plan includes working the full network of 70 schools in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to create a new generation of conservation-aware youngsters. He says the added layer of support from the online RARE staff and fellow students will be "a godsend." "We can find out about what the other students have done, how they’re getting on and we can learn from their experiences," Scott says. Students for the current course at Kent University have come from South Africa, Sierra Leone, the Philippines, China and Indonesia. They have a variety of backgrounds reflecting the program's selection criteria. Some students already hold conservation-related qualifications; others have basic school qualifications. Conservation experience and enthusiasm are more important, however, than academic qualifications. Indira Lacerna (see photo right), a 31-year-old student from the Philippines hotspot, holds conservation-related qualifications already but had been looking for a program like this for years. Morne Farmer, 22, from South Africa, has his high school certificate and oceans of passion and enthusiasm. The students' participation is fully funded throughout the campaign, including salary and a budget for campaign activity, meaning that no potential candidate or threatened region need be excluded for lack of financial resources. Lacerna says she is planning major radio campaigns alongside building core youth groups. She intends to set up regular biodiversity field trips so that local young people can see first-hand what it's all about. This won't be easy. Transport in the Philippines presents logistical difficulties while rebel activity can make visits to communities a risky element of the job. Edward Sesay (see photo right), a 45-year-old student from Sierra Leone in the Guinean Forests of West Africa hotspot, believes that adapting what they are currently learning to their own political and social environment will be one of the greatest challenges they face. While many countries have communications and logistical problems, Sierra Leone remains an unstable region and this will present an additional challenge. Zhang Zhe, 25, is one of two students who will pioneer the campaign program in the Mountains of Southwest China hotspot. She acknowledges that the culturally controlled flow of information in China may present challenges but she is optimistic for her ambitions to engage the enthusiasm of China's young people. Zhang Zhe is assessing the possibilities of working in a community near Tibet. Here, one of the practical elements of the Kent course could be put into play: puppet shows that can cross language barriers and could also be used as an income generator in tourist areas. Using the success stories of Rare's Pride campaigns in choosing a flagship species to focus understanding, Zhang Zhe has already identified the white-eared pheasant as a candidate. This bird has religious links amongst local people but is threatened by tourism, illegal hunting, logging and rapid economic development together with low environmental awareness about its status. "My intention is to engage as many groups as possible to take ownership of the problem," Zhang Zhe says. "I am there to act as a facilitator so that the work will continue long after this particular diploma campaign ends." In these next few weeks, the students are learning how to analyze problems and devise solutions that will benefit the people and wildlife of their region. When the students return to Kent University and the Rare course next year to report and review, they will hope to receive their Diploma in Conservation Education. The unique approach of the Rare course results not just in academic recognition but also practical achievement in conservation education thanks to the hands-on nature of this remarkable program. Learn more: ● ● Visit www.rareconservation.org for more on RARE and Pride Campaigns, including success stories. Visit www.rareconservation.org.uk to learn more about the Kent University course and the students. View more In Focus features © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY CONTACT CEPF NEWS Groups Intensify AntiPoaching Patrols in Sumatra Press Releases In Focus, January 2003 ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK FAQ Anti-poaching patrols in Sumatra's prized Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park will continue and expand as part of long-term efforts by the Indonesia Rhino Conservation Program to reinforce the management and protection of the park. SEARCH SITE MAP © Conservation International, photo by Haroldo Castro Rhino in the mud, Sumatra. RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS The Indonesia Rhino Conservation Program, Program Konservasi badak Indonesia in the Indonesian language of Bahasa, has operated Anti-poaching Units or Rhino Protection Units since 1995, with financial support from a group of international conservation organizations led by the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and including the Wildlife Conservation Society, WWF offices in Indonesia and the United States and others. Due to the recent downturn in the world economy, donors who had supported the Protection Units were unable to continue doing so at previous levels. Fortunately, CEPF was given the opportunity to enable the patrols to continue and add additional patrolling capabilities as well. CEPF awarded the IRF a $372,710, one-year grant in December to intensify the antipoaching program. What's at Stake The park at the southern tip of Sumatra is home to the second or third largest population of Sumatran rhinos. Of the total world population of only about 300 Sumatran rhinos, experts believe as many as 75 Sumatran rhinos (25 percent of the world population) are found in Bukit Barisan Selatan. As the park is vital for the survival of the species, the program aims to maintain a high density of antipoaching units. Large numbers of Sumatran tigers and elephants also inhabit the park as do other species such The mission of the International Rhino Foundation is to support and operate rhino conservation and research programs, both in nature and in captivity, with particular emphasis on intensive management and protection. as tapirs, sambar deer, barking deer and wild boar, all of which are numerous and form a healthy prey population for the tiger. Though it covers 365,000 hectares, the park is not more than a few kilometers wide in most places and is under increasing pressure. Poaching of wildlife is increasing, both from traditional hunters using snares and more sophisticated hunters using firearms. Firearms are widely available at a time when enforcement of environmental laws is weak. Several programs have been initiated by local and international organizations to strengthen the protection and management of the wildlife and habitat of the park, in close cooperation with the park's management. The RPU program, the longest running program in the park, provides the first line of defense for the critically endangered wildlife, while other programs focus on safeguarding the habitat and migration opportunities and developing the capacity for conservation efforts of the society and their leaders. The protection units maintain detailed records of patrol dates and routes, evidence of poachers, traps and snares destroyed or confiscated, and signs of distribution and activities of rhinos, tigers and elephants. They also assist with apprehension and prosecution of poachers. Most members have been recruited from communities in the vicinity of the park. View more In Focus features © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY CONTACT FAQ CEPF NEWS Alliance Makes Strides to Save Sumatra Lowland Forest Press Releases In Focus, July 2002 ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS Tiger poaching, unsustainable logging and humanelephant conflict are three of the main issues being addressed by CEPF-supported projects to set aside the Tesso Nilo forest of Sumatra as a protected area. In this effort, led by WWF in Indonesia, more than 30 local organizations have formed an alliance to save Tesso Nilo, which is perhaps the largest remaining area of Sumatra's fast-disappearing lowland forests. Tesso Nilo is believed to harbor the highest levels of lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science. A new WWF survey of human-elephant conflict in the area indicates that local people are far more likely to react to elephants raiding their crops than to take preventative action. Revenge poisonings have left 16 elephants dead in recent months. While tiger poaching continues to be high in and around Tesso Nilo, one tiger poacher was convicted in May. In more good news, the parliament of Riau Province, where the 200,000-hectare forest is located, has agreed to ask Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry to set aside Tesso Nilo as a protected area as soon as possible. The ministry is now consulting with forestry concessionaires about the plan. Meanwhile, a voluntary logging moratorium agreed to by one of the province's largest pulp and paper producers has been effectively enforced in Tesso Nilo since March. The same company has independently pledged to stop purchasing timber cut from Tesso Nilo, beginning this month. CEPF is also funding a study by Conservation SEARCH SITE MAP © Conservation International, photo by Haroldo Castro Asian elephants, Sumatra. March 2004 Update: New Protected Area Action for Indonesia and the Philippines CEPF plans to invest $10 million in Sumatra over five years, beginning in 2002. CEPF Investment Strategy for Sumatra International in Indonesia to assess the feasibility of using conservation concessions to lease lands in Tesso Nilo earmarked for logging in order to manage them in ways that both protect and restore biodiversity. View more In Focus features © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP Inside Sumatra April 2002 CEPF NEWS Press Releases E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS Critical Ecosystem Partnershp Fund (CEPF) staff recently stood amid what some researchers believe is the biologically richest forest in Sumatra and heard only the sound of nearby chainsaws. The on-the-ground experience brought to life the dire status of Sumatra's forests. World Bank experts predict that all of the island's species-rich lowland forests may be lost by 2005—a catastrophe CEPF's new five-year investment strategy for Sumatra aims to help prevent. APPLY FOR GRANTS CEPF's Portfolio and Asia Grant directors spent nearly three weeks in Sumatra visiting possible project sites in north Sumatra's Leuser Ecosystem, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park at the island's southern tip and the south central Tesso Nilo Forest. © Conservation International, photo by Haroldo Castro Orangutan in Indonesia. More news and features are available from Sumatra. Click here. In each location, the CEPF directors met with potential grantees and project partners. Potential grantees are now helping to form alliances of nongovernmental organizations in each of the four areas. Alliances are key to the partnership's Sumatra strategy. The approach emphasizes enabling civil society to monitor, protect and receive sustainable benefits from the lush, multi-canopy rain forest, which provides vital habitat for tigers, rhinos, elephants, sun bears, orangutans and other threatened species. Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier TEXT ONLY ABOUT CEPF OUR STRATEGY CEPF NEWS Press Releases E-News Top Stories In Focus Features WHERE WE WORK RECENT GRANTS APPLY FOR GRANTS CONTACT FAQ SEARCH SITE MAP CEPF Expands to Nine Hotspots March 2002 This year marks a major expansion for the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), with grants for conservation projects now available in six additional biodiversity hotspots. The total amount available in these hotspots is $41.5 million over five years. The hotspots newly eligible for funding—Atlantic Forest Region, Cape Floristic Region, Chocó-Darién-Western Ecuador, Mesoamerica, the Philippines and Sundaland—are among the biologically richest and most endangered areas on Earth. In some hotspots, CEPF targets specific areas, such as Sumatra in Sundaland, for maximum impact. For each of these hotspots, CEPF has developed an ecosystem profile identifying the niche for CEPF investments to have the greatest value. These strategic directions for investment are key: each project must meet one of these for approval. Potential grantees can download the profiles in PDF format in multiple languages or view the profile text in English in our Where We Work section. In December, the CEPF Donor Council also approved additional funding for the Guinean Forests of West Africa, Madagascar and Tropical Andes hotspots. © Conservation International, photo by Haroldo Castro Of the 1,000 species of orchids found in the Philippines, an amazing 700 species (70 percent) are restricted to the hotspot. The CEPF Donor Council has since approved expansion to four additional hotspots: Caucasus, Eastern Arc Mountains, Mountains of Southwest China and the Succulent Karoo. Subscribe to the Newsletter or View more E-News top stories © 2005 Conservation International Privacy Policy Terms of Use Photo credits for banner images: (Frog) © CI, Haroldo Castro; (Chameleon) © CI, Russell A. Mittermeier SPEAKING THE MANY LANGUAGES OF CONSERVATION: WWF-US Strategy and Goals March 2005 Speaking the Many Languages of Conservation: WWF-US Strategy and Goals – March 2005 INTRODUCTION Responding to recent fundamental shifts in the conservation landscape, in June 2004 the Board of Directors of World Wildlife Fund-US launched a strategic assessment process – the first comprehensive examination of the organization’s overarching goals and strategy in a decade. The Board’s goal was to position WWF-US to take best advantage of new opportunities presented by changing circumstances and to make the greatest possible impact on its mission. Both external and internal factors drove the decision to undertake the assessment. While progress has been made in improving air and water quality in many countries, habitat destruction still reaches the most remote corners of the globe, our climate continues to change, and the rate of species extinction has increased. The global funding and policy community has shifted its emphasis away from environmental protection toward poverty alleviation. Similarly, the emergence of global businesses and environmental standards presents different threats and opportunities for conservation, while the rising consumption of goods and services in Brazil, Russia, India, and China poses enormous new challenges. Finally, the rapid growth of conservation organizations has heightened opportunities for serious collaboration as well as competition for funding. Inside WWF there was concern that the organization did not take enough risks and needed to regain some of its dazzle. Our communications and fundraising efforts did not adequately convey and portray the extraordinary results we had achieved in the field and policy arenas. Equally important was the sense that WWF lacked sufficient focus and had spread its resources too thin in pursuit of its mission – that key conservation programs, though stellar in many respects, often operated in isolation without the focus or funding needed to generate lasting, measurable conservation results. Against this backdrop, a consensus soon emerged that WWF needed to focus its programs around a common goal and strategy that take advantage of our unique array of strengths, address increasingly global threats to conservation, and achieve greater and more measurable results. To that end, the Strategic Assessment sought to articulate an organizing principle for all aspects of the organization’s work – an institutional center of gravity around which ambitions, resources, and skills could all be marshaled. EVOLUTION OF THE NEW GOAL AND STRATEGY The assessment built on several outstanding institutional strengths. For example, WWF’s name, Panda logo, reputation for integrity, and long record in species conservation comprise a brand identity unparalleled in conservation. Few if any NGOs can match the reach and presence of the global WWF Network, whose offices are active at all levels of civil society, government, and business in more than 100 countries. WWF’s Global 200 and pioneering work at the ecoregional scale have become common 2 currency in the world of conservation. No other NGO similarly combines broad policy and private sector engagements with durable field programs that span the Earth. The assessment also drew on key lessons of WWF’s signature achievements. Notable among these are the Amazon Regional Protected Areas program (ARPA) and the Congo Basin Conservation Partnership, which created millions of hectares of new protected areas; the World Bank Forest Alliance and new CITES listings, which helped secure critical habitats and rescue species on the brink of extinction; partnerships with businesses such as Home Depot and Staples, which led to improved extractive forest practices in tropical forests; and the creation of the Forest and Marine Stewardship Councils, which created new certified markets for commodities. Reflecting on our heritage and our signature accomplishments, the assessment drew two conclusions: First, that we best harness the potential of the Network when we link policy and institutional engagement with on-the-ground action in the field. Second, that by bringing together our policy, private sector, and field engagements into integrated programs we create greater coherence and focus in our overall approach. The assessment identified measurable results in places (ecoregions and the species and people they support) as the organizing principle most clearly aligned with the organization’s mission (the conservation of nature), its institutional identity (World Wildlife Fund), and heritage (the Panda logo). In this broad construct, the ultimate objective for all WWF’s programs would be achieving lasting conservation results. That said, such a “place-based” focus must not be misconstrued as “places-only.” Success in conserving species and habitats requires interventions at multiple levels – from so-called “muddy boots” conservation in the field, to national-level policy engagements, and ultimately to influencing global markets. Similarly, a unifying goal for WWF had to be more than the sum of results secured in a limited set of places, no matter how spectacular those results or places were. In shaping the goals and strategy, therefore, the assessment continually considered the larger picture. THE CONSERVATION GOAL In keeping with the need for measurable results, focus, and leverage, the WWFUS Board of Directors endorsed an overarching conservation goal designed both to provide specific operational guidance to the organization and, more broadly, to serve as a contract between Board, staff, and our supporters: By 2015, WWF-US and its partners will measurably conserve 15 to 20 of the world's most important ecoregions for the benefit of both the species and people they support, and in the course of so doing, transform markets, policies, and institutions to reduce threats to these places and to the diversity of life on Earth. These 15-20 places will represent the complete array of the planet’s ecosystems, stretching from the equator to the poles. Collectively, they will also represent a portfolio of test cases for accomplishing sustainability across an array of conditions – global climate change, habitat destruction, and over-fishing, among others – and transforming 3 the most fundamental forces shaping the integrity of the planet. These places will range in scale from an individual landscape to an aggregation of ecoregions (such as the Congo Basin or Amazon) and will include places with both low and high chances of success. The goal commits the organization to ambitious and measurable results. In this light, WWF scientists are developing a place-specific “Living Planet Index” that will measure progress toward these goals – changes in key social conditions, species populations, habitat integrity, ecological process, and threat levels. Such quantitative measures will allow WWF to assess the impact of its own interventions as well as to monitor the ecological integrity of these biologically significant places over the longer term. In addition to providing direction and a sense of purpose for the organization, WWF’s new goal will help advance several other key institutional objectives. ¾ It embraces the full potential of the global WWF Network. The goal embraces the full potential of WWF as a global Network and builds on the dramatic results achieved through the Network. The goal also attempts to integrate the essence of the Network’s six thematic programs (Forests, Marine, Freshwater, Toxics, Climate Change, and Species) and ecoregional conservation, consonant with the ambitions of the WWF Network’s “One Global Programme.” ¾ It contributes measurably to our mission and vision. The goal commits WWF to making progress and assessing progress toward goals within ecoregions, while leveraging WWF’s collective influence to help drive major changes beyond those individual places. ¾ It addresses complexity. The goal embraces an array of interventions at multiple levels and builds on the unique strengths of WWF in combining field and policy interventions. It also recognizes that complex problems require complex solutions and that these solutions require strong partnerships with other organizations and local communities. ¾ It builds on strengths. The goal is consistent with WWF’s mission, logo, and heritage as a biodiversity conservation organization. It builds on WWF’s unique ability to connect the dots and speak the many languages of conservation, from the most global to the most local. ¾ It is ambitious and specific. The goal commits WWF to achieve ambitious, verifiable, and sustainable conservation results. And, by coupling place-based results with larger impacts on global markets, policies, and international institutions, it ensures WWF will make progress toward the larger aspiration of saving a living planet. ¾ It is marketable (dazzling). The goal offers three potential avenues for marketing. For some, the appeal will lie in conserving flagship species and some of the most inspiring ecoregions on the planet. Others will be drawn to the leverage in addressing upstream threats to biodiversity through markets, policies, and institutions. The goal’s commitment to measurable results, meanwhile, will 4 address the growing interest among corporations and individuals in proven outcomes, accountability, and return on investment. OVERARCHING STRATEGY Long-term conservation success at the ecoregional scale cannot be achieved through an isolated intervention – the creation of a single protected area, for example, or the establishment of a new national policy. Rather, one of the great lessons of conservation is that lasting results can come only through a closely coordinated series of interventions and engagements on multiple levels. With the threats to ecoregions so pervasive and numerous, WWF must be equally complex and comprehensive. As such, the organization has adopted the following overarching strategy: WWF-US will integrate our programs and activities to do “whatever it takes” to achieve significant, measurable progress in improving the integrity of our ecoregional portfolio for the benefit of the species and people who live there. Our actions will include interventions at many levels: from saving area-sensitive species and creating protected areas, to influencing national and international policies, to transforming institutions and markets. The specific suite of actions will differ from ecoregion to ecoregion, but our overall approach – integrated interventions – will inspire and guide other efforts and will transform markets, institutions, and policies to have an impact far beyond these places. The strategy reflects the reality that to generate meaningful results at multiple scales, WWF-US must act as an integrated part of the larger WWF Network, and within a wide cast of partners. WWF has seen tantalizing glimpses of the possibilities for conservation when the Network integrates around a common objective (see Figure 1). Global impacts (policies, institutions, markets) National institutions and economies The physical place Local communities/local governments Habitats and landscapes Species Figure 1: Components of an Integrated Approach to Results 5 WWF’s work to save Sumatran elephants in Tesso Nilo, Indonesia, for example, involved WWF staff from Indonesia, the U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. This example moved from downstream to upstream – mapping species needs in eastern Sumatra, creating protected areas, reducing humanwildlife conflict in the working landscape, working with major logging companies like Asia Pulp and Paper in Sumatra and throughout its Asian operations, and, ultimately, engaging APP creditors in Germany such as Hermes (the German government export credit agency), and customers in the United States, such as Staples and Office Depot (see Figure 2). So far, these efforts have saved more than 200,000 hectares of truly irreplaceable forest from being destroyed. In addition, a new national park was established in 2004, forever protecting a forest that had previously been slated for timber extraction. Staples, Office Depot, implement purchasing policies for paper procurement APP adopts HCVF protocol through most of its Asian concessions The ecological integrity of Tesso Nilo landscape is preserved Human-wildlife conflict reduced with communities Creation of Tesso Nilo National Park Tesso Nilo The Tiger and elephant populations remain in Tesso Nilo Figure 2: Multiple, stacked conservation interventions in Tesso Nilo, Indonesia 6 Importantly, in the case of Tesso Nilo and all WWF’s major conservation victories, success has come through the combined efforts of the WWF Network. In addition, success depended on WWF’s unique ability to convene lasting and effective partnerships with other groups. Activating this combined field of Network and external partnerships in a unified “global team” was what ultimately drove major success (see Figure 3). Success Depends on Global Teams and Vital Levers Global Team Purchasing Policies HCVF Protocols Landscape Integrity Preserved Concessions Park > Human - wildlife Conflict Elephants - Tigers Vital Levers WWF - US Species and Forests; WWF - Japan, Germany, International Staples, Office Depot, Export Credit Agencies, FOE WWF -Indonesia, Int. Asia For. Coordinator APP, APRIL, Indonesian Government, int. markets WWF - Sumatra Field Office, local partners Provincial and district governments, APP, APRIL, local NGOs WWF - Sumatra Field. Office; foreign consultants Provincial gov’t ; Specific gov’t ministry; APRIL, local companies WWF - I Field Office; US species team Local communities, local gov’t Field office; US species team; Local communities and governments Figure 3: Results in Tesso Nilo through Network Integration and Partnerships As an additional example, WWF’s global forest conservation goals helped establish the World Bank/WWF Forest Alliance, which in turn inspired the Brazilian government to commit to protect 10% of the Amazon. That commitment spawned the Amazon Regional Protected Areas program (ARPA) and the ultimate designation of millions of hectares of new protected areas throughout the Amazon. As in the case of Tesso Nilo, results can be measured on the ground and leverage is achieved through the implementation of similar strategies in places like the Congo and Borneo. In both Tesso Nilo and ARPA, global successes emerged because linkages were made among various levels – from the most local to the most global. Looking forward, the strategy will require planning and implementing conservation work with these linkages in mind, rather than drawing these connections on an ad hoc basis. Both the goal and the overarching strategy underscore the importance of influencing the behavior of global markets, policies, and international institutions. Working in the country with the world’s largest ecological footprint, and home to many of the world’s largest corporations and global lending and policy institutions, WWF-US is uniquely positioned to work with these institutions on behalf of the WWF Network. 7 The assessment also identified climate change as a looming threat with the potential to undo any conservation achievement on the ground. WWF-US, in partnership with the WWF Network, has an important role to play in creating the momentum necessary in the United States and globally to make a significant difference in combating this pervasive threat. Such a role must be incorporated into the overall strategy. INSTITUTIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE GOAL AND STRATEGY The goal and strategy will affect the organization in many ways. The emphasis on integration and accountability, for example, will extend beyond the conservation program to include marketing, fundraising, and communications efforts. The following major areas have emerged as the most important implications of the goals and strategy: 1) Leadership The strategy depends on highly motivated and skilled individuals who can cut across departmental and programmatic boundaries to build teams and get results. In virtually every WWF success story, there has been a charismatic, committed individual who through force of will and personality drove a project through to completion. WWF must identify, cultivate, and attract such leadership in WWF-US, the broader WWF Network, in other organizations and in local communities. 2) Partnerships with Public and Private Institutions Execution of the strategy will require more focus on productive and predictable relationships with institutions in both the public and private sectors. At present, the organization lacks adequate capacity and skills to engage sufficiently such major players as the United Nations, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and USAID. The organization will need enhanced business knowledge and dedicated staff capacity to build the close working relationships required to work effectively with these large institutions and with private industry on behalf of the global WWF Network. 3) Systems of Coordination and Communication Supporting the impact of individual leaders will require that WWF-US develop a better system of internal communication and build more capacity. Such changes must promote flexibility for innovation, facilitate better coordination among teams, and, ultimately, inspire leaders to achieve meaningful, lasting results. 4) Funding The strategy will require significant new flexible funding. WWF-US will seek to engage individual and institutional investors to “invest in results” rather than simply donating to a trusted organization. Presenting the unique strengths of the global WWF Network and our partnerships with other entities, will also help capture the imagination and the commitment of conservation funders and new sources of support. Finally, to implement the goal and the strategy, WWF must move quickly to design 8 and support major, potentially Network-wide, fundraising campaigns for such largescale programs as ARPA. 5) Conservation Support Centers/Centers of Excellence In response to requests from our colleagues, WWF-US will strengthen our capacity in a number of areas – areas that would function in support of the entire global Network: ¾ Measures and Monitoring: Assessing impacts at the ecoregional level through an adaptation of the Living Planet Index. ¾ Conservation Science: Continuing to provide science leadership to the Network, with demand for these services growing. ¾ Conservation Finance: Developing innovative financing mechanisms and with an increasing focus on the value of ecological goods and services. ¾ Business and Industry: Advancing transformative engagements with the private sector – not just in the United States, but globally. ¾ Ecoregion Support: Ensuring the necessary skills and support to deliver results across the many Network ecoregion programs. 6) Strengthened Management Systems With simple measures of conservation impact and a common framework for achieving them, WWF-US can strengthen its ability to measure progress and adjust our actions and investments accordingly. With programs and teams accountable to each other as well as for their own results, the new goal and strategy will ensure better collaboration and integration. 7) Updated Set of Priorities The new strategy and goal requires an organization-wide review of program investments. The strategy will also help phase out or find new homes for activities that are successful in their own rights but that are not aligned with the strategy. Most importantly, success will depend on the selection of places in close coordination with the WWF Network. A current coordinated effort to update our priorities will consider three general criteria: ¾ Biological importance. Places that well represent the diversity of life on Earth. We would include factors such as biome representation, species of global concern, endemism and species richness. Areas with multiple, overlapping ecosystem types (e.g., freshwater, terrestrial, and marine) would score high. ¾ Potential for local to global alignment. Places that serve as platforms for transforming global policies, markets, or institutions. Ecoregions where policies or funding derived from public institutions shape the character of a 9 place (e.g., infrastructure development in the Amazon) or where there is international market demand for a product (e.g., palm oil from Borneo) would score high. The portfolio should reflect a sample of potential interventions in markets, policies, and institutions that allow for the global transformations highlighted in the goal. ¾ Threat, Risk, Capacity. Certain measures of risk must be taken into account in the selection of places, e.g., political climate, institutional capacity, and WWF influence in a particular place. The portfolio should balance a spectrum of risk and capacity factors. Places where a number of WWF Network offices and other NGOs have a shared commitment to collaborate at different scales will be favored. NEXT STEPS IN THE PROCESS With the WWF-US Board of Directors’ approval of the goal and strategy, the organization is now turning to implementation. At one level, this process will involve “field testing” these ideas with key constituents, including staff, major individual donors, foundation executives, representatives of international institutions, and other conservation organizations. From an institutional perspective, meanwhile, implementation will proceed in a phased manner along a number of fronts. Among the key steps in the process are the following: ¾ A rough cut at applying the criteria to determine priority ecoregions and programs, and to design collaborative programs with other parts of the Network and partner organizations; ¾ An evaluation of the current structure, skills, and systems to ensure alignment and identify areas for improvement; ¾ A refinement of the Living Planet Index on an ecoregion basis and the implementation and use of effective measurement systems; ¾ An estimate of the financial implications of achieving the goal; ¾ A major initiative both to raise the public profile of WWF and its mission, and a concurrent effort to raise significant new funds for conservation. 10 CONCLUSION More than at any other time in our history, the decisions made by human beings over the next decade will permanently and profoundly shape the natural character of the planet. A sense of urgency must infuse this entire initiative. The goal and strategy represent a commitment – a contract – between WWF staff, the WWF Board, WWF partners, and, ultimately, the global community. It is a commitment to change the world: first by achieving lasting, dramatic conservation results in a cluster of 15-20 of the planet's most biologically important ecosystems, and second, by leveraging those results for global impact by transforming some of the world’s most important institutions, policies, and markets. How will the world be different if WWF succeeds in achieving its goal and strategy? Some of the difference you will see on the ground, in these places. People and nature will flourish side by side; working lands and waters will share the landscape with wild places and wildlife; and human needs will be met without harming the full diversity of life. Other changes will be less tangible but equally vital: new international agreements, policies, and business practices will be in force around the globe, driving the conservation of these places and leveraging conservation across the globe. But perhaps the most important change will come in the attitudes and behaviors of people. Done right, WWF’s work in these places can inspire people across the world to embrace their responsibility to care for the living planet. 11 APPENDIX 1: WWF-US’S VISION, MISSION, GOALS, STRATEGY VISION WWF envisions a world in which the full diversity of life is conserved forever. Our vision is a world of wild places, where the mystery and grandeur of nature endures, and a world of working lands and waters, where people and nature flourish side by side. Our vision is a world where human needs are met without harming the planet, where people recognize that their well-being depends ultimately on nature, and where humanity embraces its responsibility to care for the Earth. MISSION World Wildlife Fund’s mission is the conservation of nature. We work to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth and the health of ecological systems by protecting natural areas and wild populations of plants and animals, including endangered species; promoting sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources and; promoting more efficient use of resources and energy and the maximum reduction of pollution. [Abridged] GOAL By 2015, WWF-US and its partners will measurably conserve 15 to 20 of the world's most important ecoregions for the benefit of both the species and people they support, and in the course of so doing, transform markets, policies, and institutions to reduce threats to these places and to the diversity of life on Earth. STRATEGY WWF-US will integrate our programs and activities to do “whatever it takes” to achieve significant, measurable progress in improving the integrity of our ecoregional portfolio for the benefit of the species and people who live there. Our actions will include interventions at many levels: from saving area-sensitive species and creating protected areas, to influencing national and international policies, to transforming institutions and markets. The specific suite of actions will differ from ecoregion to ecoregion, but our overall approach – integrated interventions – will inspire and guide other efforts and will transform markets, institutions, and policies to have an impact far beyond these places. 12 RHINO PATROL UNITS IN BUKIT BARISAN SELATAN NATIONAL PARK – SUMATRA INDONESIA; AN ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS JAKARTA, NOVEMBER 28, 2003 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - English EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - Indonesian 1. INTRODUCTION 2. ASSESSMENT APPROACH 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 3.1 Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park 3.2 Background and Administrative Context of Project 4. FINDINGS AND ASSESSMENT 4.1 Design and Project Implementation Strategy 4.2 Current Status per Output Indicators 4.2.1 Output 1: Operation of 8 Rhino and Tiger Patrol Units, including Management and Coordination 4.2.2 Output 2: Enhancement of the BBS Intelligence Fund 4.2.3 Output 3: Expansion of BBS Law Enforcement and Advocacy Programme 4.2.4 Output 4: Independent Programme Assessment 4.3 Current Status per Purpose Indicator 4.3.1 Purpose 1: No quantitative increase on poaching of rhino and tiger 4.3.2 Purpose 2: Increased number of poachers convicted throughout the Project period 4.4 Administrative and financial management of the project 4.4.1 Administrative management of the project 4.4.2 Financial management of the project 4.5 Composition and effectiveness of consultancy inputs, national project staff and National Park staff 4.6 Coordination and management arrangements with BBS and other Governmental Authorities 4.6.1 Linkages and Effectiveness 4.6.2 Emerging Issues 4.7 Coordination with other NGOs operating in the BBS area 4.7.1 World Wide Fund for Nature - Indonesia 4.7.2 Wildlife Conservation Society 4.7.3 National Non-Governmental Organisations 4.7.4 Emerging Issues 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 On the Effectiveness of the RPUs 5.2 On Linkages with Governmental Institutions, especially Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park 5.3 On Linkages with the Foreseen CANOPI Programme ANNEX 1: Documents consulted ANNEX 2: Assessment per Indicator ANNEX 3: Terms of Reference ANNEX 4: Programme of the Mission ANNEX 5: People and Organisations consulted 1 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia ABBREVIATIONS AsRSG BBSNP CEPF Gov IDR IRF IUCN-SSC NGO NP NTFP MoF MoU Park PHKA PKBI Project RCO RPU STCP WCS WCU WWF Asian Rhinos Specialist Group (under IUNC-SSC) Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund Government Indonesian Rupiah International Rhino Foundation International Union for Conservation of Nature (The World Conservation Union) – Species Specialist Group Non-Governmental Organization National Park (i.e. Bukit Barisan Selatan) Non-Timber Forest Products Ministry of Forestry Memorandum of Understanding refers to Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park Perlindungan Hutan dan Konservasi Alam (Directorate General Forest Protection and Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Forestry) Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia (Indonesian Rhino Conservation Programme) refers to Anti-Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers, and other Mega-fauna within Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatra - Indonesia Rhino Conservation Officer Rhino Protection Unit / Rhino Patrol Unit / Anti-Poaching Unit Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program Wildlife Conservation Society Wildlife Crime Unit World Wide Fund for Nature 2 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Evaluation Team would like to thank Ms. Purbasari Surjadi of CEPF for her interest and continued support to the RPU Project. We thank Dr. Nico van Strien of IRF for his assistance and hospitality. We recognize the critical roles Mr. A. A. Hutabarat and Mr. Arif Rubianto have played in running the RPU project and here we would like to thank them for their hard work. We were impressed by the dedication of Drs. Tamen Sitorus MSc, Head of BBSNP; if only all National Parks were lead by people like Mr. Sitorus. We would also like to thank the other NGOs who participated in the discussions and shared their ideas and important documents with us. But most important of all, we thank the Project’s support staff and RPU team members who diligently patrol the national park under very uncomfortable circumstances which include mud, rain, steep slopes and leeches apart from real dangers such as armed poachers. Without their dedication, enthusiasm and discipline there will be no Sumatran Rhinos left in this world. Jakarta, November 28, 2003 Sukianto Lusli Gert Polet Christy Williams 3 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With an estimated presence of 60 – 80 individuals (IRCP/PKBI 2001 Annual Report, Arif Rubianto pers. comm.), Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park holds the second largest Sumatran Rhinoceros population in the world. According to the Head of BBSNP the 3 main threats to conservation of the National Park are encroachment, illegal logging and poaching. The project Anti-Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers, and other Mega-fauna within Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatra – Indonesia is funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund through the International Rhino Foundation and the Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia - PKBI (Indonesia Rhino Conservation Programme - IRCP). The core of the project is the establishment of Rhino Patrol Units (RPUs) consisting of one ranger (Governmental staff from BBSNP) acting as team leader and three members recruited from local communities. In 2003 eight RPUs (including two Tiger Patrol Units TPUs) were supported with a total value of USD 372,710.-. This assessment was carried out from 15 – 28 November 2003 by three independent consultants and aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Program, future needs for the program to attain its ultimate goal of a safe and expanding Rhino population in BBS, and to make recommendation for modifications and expansions of the operations and procedures. The Team learned about the proposed CANOPI programme to be contracted by CEPF to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). As this development has critical implications for the RPUs, the Team took the liberty to make suggestions related to the CANOPI programme as well. Project Management The eight RPUs in BBSNP have one Field Coordinator and receive technical support from one Supervisor. There is a PKBI Programme Manager responsible for the administration of the Project as well as for liaising with Government and reporting to the donor. The technical supervision of the RPUs lies with the Head of the BBSNP who issues official working orders to the RPUs. Designing such a structure, getting such a balance accepted by all stakeholders and maintaining it has been a remarkable achievement of the Project. The Project has been designed logically and is easy to monitor. The assessment noted there have been delays in reporting to Bogor, but that steps have been taken to improve this. It was also noted that the division of roles of Supervisor and Programme Manager is not sufficiently clear. It is suggested that the Programme Manager focus on liaison with the central Government and PKBI report compilation, whilst the Supervisor should have direct responsibility over the RPUs stationed in BBSNP and Way Kambas NP and for intelligence gathering in Lampung Province. The Supervisor needs an assistant to reduce the projects dependence on one key post. Effectiveness of RPUs The RPU programme seems to be the only programme that is addressing short-term threats within BBSNP. Each RPU consists of a leader from Polisi Hutan (PolHut - BBSNP Rangers), and 3 other members recruited from the local community. The composition is very effective. The important rhino and tiger areas are all well covered by the RPUs. Poachers now get punishments which deter future poaching. The programme should be congratulated for achieving verdicts in 13 cases as against a target figure of 6. It appears that the reporting of zero poaching cases of tigers and rhinos in BBSNP since Jan. 2003 seems to reflect the actual situation. In future greater effort is needed to secure convictions of middle-men and the financiers or buyers of rhino, elephant and tiger products. Integration with other NGO activities There is a strong willingness to collaborate on law enforcement issues between the various NGOs (WCS, WWF, WATALA, ALAS etc.). There has been regular data sharing between WCS IP, WWFIndonesia’s BBSNP Project Executant and the RPU supervisor at the field level. However the relationship between NGOs work in BBSNP and the RPU programme is very informal and unclear, with some replication of activities. A more coordinated approach would make law enforcement and 4 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia media advocacy more effective. In particular, it is proposed that the WCS-WCU and WWF teams should take-over the monitoring of the judicial process. This task should not be performed by the RPUs because of lack of technical expertise and diversion of the RPU’s core business (i.e. first-line protection of large mammals). For this purpose it is recommended that WCS-WCU and WWF (or as a part of CANOPI) consider contracting a full-time lawyer specialised in wildlife regulations. The proposed CANOPI program should provide a forum for such collaboration, but to do so it is important that the CANOPI plan addresses the need to build the capacity of the BBSNP and at the same time leverage support from District Government around the park. It appears that the internal coordination of IRF-RPU input into the development of the CANOPI Programme has been suboptimal and that IRF technical advisors have not been engaged in this development sufficiently.The draft CANOPI logframe has not been shared with the key reciepient, i.e. BBSNP, and also not with all NGOs operating in the BBSNP landscape (e.g. IRF). It has been observed that the draft CANOPI logframe is poorly integrated with the priorties set by the key recipient, BBSNP. Integration with and support from Government The IRF-RPU project is highly respected and actively supported by the Ministry of Forestry. The Project is well integrated into Governmental structures at Central and National Park level, while maintaining its independence administratively. The RPUs also get involved in action against illegal logging. If illegal logging were handled by regular NP rangers this would free more of the time of the RPUs to get into the field. Recommendations for future development It is important to avoid increasing dependence on NGO funded RPUs. It is recommended that a specific Output or Activity be created under a future continuation of a CEPF supported project with IRF which provides for training to regular BBSNP rangers and for developing equipment and infrastructure in BBSNP. There should also be an effort to get rangers back to manning guard posts and to represent the park authority in the villages bordering with BBSNP. CEPF should favourably consider a proposal to be submitted soonest by IRF for continued funding of RPU work until 2006 in the BBSNP Landscape. The RPU programme should maintain its financial and organisational independence from the proposed CANOPI programme to ensure continuity and smooth functioning, but should work in close coordination with the CANOPI programme when it comes into operation, in order to achieve an integrated strategy to address the BBSNP’s threats. To achieve this it is recommended that a separate contract is negotiated between CEPF and IRF for the period 2004 – 2006 for RPU work within BBSNP and a separate contract between CEPF and WCS for CANOPI work in the BBSNP bufferzone. A well-defined MoU between IRF-PKHA and WCSCANOPI which defines each other’s roles, responsibilities and exchange of information (especially regarding Law Enforcement and the utilisation of data) has to be a prerequisite before any of the two contracts can be signed. RPU operations currently rely on NGO funding. It is recommended that a specific strategy is developed under a CEPF supported project with IRF which explores possibilities to mobilise Governmental funds to support RPU-type operations. 5 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia RINGKASAN EKSEKUTIF Dengan jumlah badak sebanyak kira-kira 60 – 80 ekor (IRCP/PKBI 2001 Annual Report, Arif Rubianto pers. comm.), Taman Nasional Bukit Barisan Selatan memiliki populasi Badak Sumatra di peringkat kedua atau ketiga terbesar di dunia. Menurut Kepala TNBBS, 3 ancaman utama terhadap pelestarian Taman Nasional tersebut adalah perambahan, penebangan dan perburuan liar. Proyek Patroli Anti-Perburuan Badak, Harimau, dan Mega-fauna lainnya di Taman Nasional dan Ekosistem Bukit Barisan Selatan, Sumatra – Indonesia dibiayai oleh Dana Kemitraan Ekosistem Kritis (CEPF) melalui Yayasan Badak Internasional (IRF) dan Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia - PKBI (Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia). Inti proyek ini adalah pembentukan Rhino Patrol Units / Unitunit Patroli Badak (RPU/UPB) yang terdiri atas seorang penjaga hutan (staf Pemerintah dari TNBBS) yang bertindak sebagai pemimpin tim, dan tiga anggota yang direkrut dari masyarakat setempat. Pada tahun 2003, delapan RPU/UPB diberi dukungan senilai total 372,710.- Dollar AS. Penilaian ini dilaksanakan tanggal 15 – 28 November 2003 oleh tiga konsultan independen untuk meninjau keefektifan Program tersebut, kebutuhan-kebutuhannya di masa mendatang dalam mencapai tujuan akhirnya, yaitu populasi Badak yang aman dan berkembang di BBS, dan merekomendasikan perubahan dan pengembangan operasi serta prosedur. Tim ini mempelajari usulan program CANOPI yang akan dikontrakkan oleh CEPF kepada Lembaga Pelestarian Satwa Liar (WCS). Karena dampak pengembangan ini menentukan bagi RPU/UPB, Tim juga memberanikan diri untuk memberikan saran-saran yang berkaitan dengan program CANOPI. Manajemen Proyek Delapan RPU/UPB yang ada di TNBBS mempunyai seorang Koordinator Lapangan dan menerima bantuan teknis dari seorang Pengawas. Ada seorang Manajer Program PKBI yang bertanggungjawab atas administrasi Proyek serta hubungan dengan Pemerintah dan laporan kepada donor. Pengawasan teknis RPU/UPB ditangani oleh Kepala TNBBS yang mengeluarkan perintah kerja resmi kepada RPU/UPB. Merancang struktur semacam itu, menghasilkan keseimbangan yang diterima oleh semua pihak yang terkait dan mempertahankannya, merupakan suatu prestasi Proyek yang mengagumkan. Proyek ini telah didesain secara logis dan mudah dipantau. Tim mencatat bahwa telah terjadi kelambatan pelaporan ke Bogor, namun telah diambil langkahlangkah untuk memperbaikinya. Juga telah dicatat bahwa pembagian peran antara Pengawas dan Manajer Program kurang jelas. Disarankan agar Manajer Program berfokus pada hubungan dengan Pemerintah pusat dan penyusunan laporan PKBI, sedangkan Pengawas harus bertanggungjawab langsung mengawasi RPUs/UPB-UPB yang ditempatkan di TNBBS dan TN Way Kambas dan atas proses pengumpulan informasi dari berbagai tempat di Provinsi Lampung. Pengawas memerlukan seorang asisten untuk mengurangi kebergantungan proyek pada satu pos utama. Keefektifan RPU/UPB Tampaknya, program RPU/UPB adalah satu-satunya program yang mengatasi ancaman-ancaman jangka pendek di TNBBS. Tiap RPU/UPB terdiri atas seorang pemimpin dari Polisi Hutan (Polisi Hutan TNBBS), dan 3 anggota lainnya direkrut dari masyarakat setempat. Susunan ini sangat efektif. Kawasan-kawasan badak dan harimau yang penting semuanya dikerjakan dengan baik oleh RPU/UPB. Para pemburu sekarang mendapat hukuman yang membuat mereka jera melakukan perburuan di masa depan. Program ini patut diberi ucapan selamat karena telah mendapat putusan dalam 13 kasus melampaui sasaran semula yaitu 6. Tidak adanya laporan kasus perburuan harimau dan badak di TNBBS sejak Januari 2003 tampaknya mencerminkan situasi yang sebenarnya. Di masa mendatang, perlu upaya yang lebih besar untuk memastikan hukuman atas para penadah dan pemberi modal atau pembeli produk-produk badak, gajah dan harimau. Integrasi dengan kegiatan-kegiatan LSM lainnya Terdapat kemauan yang kuat untuk bekerja sama di antara berbagai LSM (WCS, WWF, WATALA, ALAS dsb.) sehubungan dengan masalah-masalah penegakan hukum. Telah berlangsung kegiatan berbagi data secara teratur antara WCS IP, Pelaksana Proyek TNBBS WWF-Indonesia dan Pengawas RPU/UPB di tingkat lapangan. Tetapi hubungan antara pekerjaan berbagai LSM di 6 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia TNBBS dan Program RPU/UPB sangat informal dan tidak jelas, walaupun memang ada pengulangan kegiatan. Pendekatan yang lebih terkoordinasi diharapkan dapat lebih mengefektifkan penegakan hukum dan advokasi lewat media. Khususnya, diusulkan agar tim-tim WCS-WCU dan WWF mengambil alih pemantauan proses peradilan. Tugas ini sebaiknya tidak dilaksanakan oleh RPU/UPB karena kurangnya keahlian teknis dan akan mengalihkan tanggung jawab inti RPU/UPB (yakni perlindungan baris depan bagi mamalia besar). Untuk itu direkomendasikan agar WCS-WCU dan WWF (atau sebagai bagian CANOPI) mempertimbangkan untuk mengontrak seorang penasihat hukum purna-waktu dengan spesialisasi di bidang peraturan satwa liar. Program CANOPI yang diusulkan perlu menyediakan sebuah forum untuk kerja sama tersebut, tetapi penting agar rencana CANOPI memberi perhatian kepada kebutuhan untuk membangun kapasitas TNBBS dan pada waktu yang sama menarik dukungan dari Pemerintah Kabupaten di sekitar taman tersebut. Tampaknya koordinasi internal terhadap input IRF-RPU/UPB yang akan masuk ke dalam pengembangan Program CANOPI masih kurang optimal dan para penasihat teknis IRF belum ditugaskan dalam pengembangan ini secara memadai. Rancangan struktur pencatatan (logframe) CANOPI belum dibagikan kepada penerima utama, yakni TNBBS, maupun kepada semua LSM yang beroperasi di Lokasi TNBBS (mis. IRF). Telah diamati bahwa rancangan struktur pencatatan CANOPI diintegrasikan secara tidak memadai dengan prioritas-prioritas yang ditetapkan oleh penerima utama, TNBBS. Juga diperhatikan bahwa sebuah operasi RPU/UPB dimasukkan dalam struktur pencatatan CANOPI tetapi dengan cara yang tampaknya kurang memperhitungkan tuntutan terhadap nilai dan pengelolaannya. Integrasi dengan dan dukungan dari Pemerintah Proyek IRF-RPU/UPB sangat dihargai dan secara aktif didukung oleh Departemen Kehutanan. Proyek ini terintegrasi dengan baik dalam berbagai struktur Pemerintahan di tingkat Pusat dan Taman Nasional, namun secara administratif tetap independen. RPUs/UPB-UPB juga terlibat dalam tindakan terhadap penebangan liar. Jika penebangan liar ditangani oleh polisi tetap hutan TN, ini diharapkan dapat memberi lebih banyak kesempatan bagi RPU/UPB untuk masuk ke lapangan. Rekomendasi untuk pengembangan masa depan Penting menghindari ketergantungan yang semakin meningkat kepada RPUs/UPB-UPB yang dibiayai oleh LSM. Direkomendasikan agar Output atau Kegiatan yang spesifik diciptakan pada kelanjutan proyek dengan IRF yang didukung oleh CEPF di masa depan untuk memungkinkan pelatihan bagi polisi tetap hutan TNBBS serta pengembangan perlengkapan dan infrastruktur di TNBBS. Juga perlu ada upaya agar polisi hutan kembali bekerja di pos-pos penjagaan dan mewakili pihak yang berwenang atas taman di desa-desa yang berbatasan dengan TNBBS. CEPF perlu secara positif mempertimbangkan agar sebuah usul diajukan sesegera mungkin oleh IRF untuk pembiayaan pekerjaan RPU/UPB secara berkelanjutan sampai tahun 2006 di Lokasi TNBBS. Program RPU/UPB perlu mempertahankan ketidaktergantungannya secara keuangan dan organisasi kepada Program CANOPI yang diusulkan untuk menjamin keberlanjutan dan fungsi yang lancar, tetapi perlu berkoordinasi erat dengan program CANOPI bila program tersebut telah beroperasi, agar dapat dihasilkan sebuah strategi yang terpadu untuk menanggulangi ancaman-ancaman terhadap BBSNP. Untuk itu direkomendasikan agar sebuah kontrak terpisah dirundingkan antara CEPF dan IRF untuk periode 2004 – 2006 untuk pekerjaan RPU/UPB di dalam TNBBS dan sebuah kontrak terpisah antara CEPF dan WCS untuk pekerjaan CANOPI di dalam daerah penyangga TNBBS. Sebuah Kesepakatan Bersama (MoU) yang dirumuskan dengan baik antara IRF-PKHA dan WCSCANOPI yang mendefinisikan peran, tanggung jawab dan pertukaran informasi (khususnya mengenai Penegakan Hukum dan pemanfaatan data) di antara satu sama lain harus menjadi prasyarat sebelum salah satu dari kedua kontrak tersebut dapat ditandatangani. Operasi-operasi RPU/UPB saat ini bergantung pada pembiayaan LSM. Direkomendasikan agar sebuah strategi spesifik dikembangkan berdasarkan proyek dengan IRF yang didukung oleh CEPF, yang menyelidiki berbagai kemungkinan untuk mengerahkan dana-dana Pemerintah demi mendukung operasi-operasi sejenis RPU/UPB. 7 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia 1. INTRODUCTION This report reflects the assessment of effectiveness of the Anti-Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers, and other Mega-fauna within Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatra – Indonesia Project funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund through the International Rhino Foundation and the Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia - PKBI (Indonesia Rhino Conservation Programme). The assessment has been conducted in the period November 15 – 28 of the year 2003 by three independent consultants with the following objectives; • • • • An assessment of the effectiveness of the Program, including the organization and management structure. An assessment of the future needs for the program to attain its ultimate goal of a safe and expanding Rhino population in BBS. Recommendation for modifications and expansions of the operations and procedures. Recommendations for future funding from CEPF and other donors. 2. ASSESSMENT APPROACH The assessment was mainly carried out by reading programme documents, proposals, and reports before meeting and interviewing the various stakeholders of the RPU program in BBSNP. A list of people met during the mission is given in Annex 5. In some cases the interviews were in the form of discussions with groups of individuals representing various International, National or Regional NGOs. We also got further clarifications on certain issues from members of the various NGOs by meeting them individually. Additionally we also met with the authorities of BBSNP over two days. We went out to the field with an RPU team to get a feeling for the work they are involved in. We then met with all the members of the RPUs stationed at BBSNP as a group to discuss the various issues that had come up and also to get their views on the programme. Our interviews and discussions with the Programme Management focused on: • Clarifications on administration, operation and reporting of the RPUs after going through the various reports. Our interviews and discussions with the NGOs focused on the following themes: • The usefulness of the RPUs in protecting large mammal populations and their habitats within BBSNP. • The linkages of these NGOs to the work that RPUs are engaged in. • The contribution of these NGOs in helping RPUs and the NP with law enforcement outside the NP. • The contribution of these NGOs in addressing other threats like illegal logging, non-timber forest products collection and encroachments. • Their views on future funding and sustainability of this programme. • Their views on position of the RPU programme vis-à-vis the proposed CANOPI programme. Our interviews and discussions with officials from the Ministry of Forestry and BBSNP officials focused on: • The usefulness of the RPU programme in protecting large mammal populations in BBSNP. • The roles and responsibilities of the Ministry and the NP authorities in the RPU programme, including operational issues. • Their views on the possibility of co-funding the RPUs. • Their views on long-term sustainability of the RPU programme. • Their views on this two-tier system of protection staff in the park (RPU rangers and regular park rangers) and its’ effect on the morale of the regular park staff. • Their views and ideas on building the capacity of the regular forest rangers to deal with issues like illegal logging, encroachment and NTFP collection. Our interviews with RPU staff largely concentrated on: • Their understanding of the main task and operation procedure of RPU. • Their comments on the existing structure and organization of the RPU, especially the clarity over management responsibility and reporting. 8 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia • • • • • Their comments on the existing operation procedure. Their comments on the present salary, benefit and field supports (equipment etc). Their understanding how to process the patrol and survey results to PKBI. Their views on the RPU relationship with local community inside and outside the National Park. The needs for additional training and skills development. 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 3.1 Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) is situated on the southern most tip of the island Sumatra. The area was declared as the South Sumatra I Wildlife Preserve in 1935 and received national park status in 1982 under the Ministry of Agriculture Decree No. 736/Mentan/X/1982. The Park comprises about 356,800 ha. It stretches for 150 km along the Barisan Mountain range, is at places not wider than 10 km and thus has long boundary of over 700 km. Its terrain is mainly mountenous. To the east the Park reaches the Indian Ocean and is bordered by heavily encroached forest reserves to the west. A mosaic of vegetation types, including wetlands and Dipterocarp forests, supports a diverse fauna. The Park hosts remarkable and highly endangered mega-fauna including Sumatran Rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, Sumatran Tiger Panthera tigris sumatrae, Tapir Tapirus indicus, Malay Sun Bear Helarctos malayanus, Dhole Cuon alpinus, Siamang Hylobates syndactylus and Agile Gibbon Hylobates agilis. With an estimated presence of 60 – 80 individuals (IRCP/PKBI 2001 Annual Report, Arif Rubianto pers. comm.), BBSNP holds the second or third largest Sumatran Rhinoceros population (total worldwide population estimated to be about 300 (IUCN-SSC AsRSG, 1997). The total number of rangers employed by the Government is 67, including eight attached to the RPUs. The Head of BBSNP identified three main threats to conservation: 1. Encroachment. 2. Illegal logging. 3. Poaching. Kinnaird et al. (2003) provide an overview of deforestation trends between 1985 and 1999 in BBSNP and its bufferzone based on satelite images. In that period forest cover within BBSNP decreased from 80% of total area to 52%; about 66,000 ha was lost and only 121,000 ha of forest is remaining. Virtually all forest in the bufferzone disappeared in this period. According to the Head of BBSNP, an estimated 15,000 households live within the National Park boundaries, utilising about 30,000 ha for coffee and rice cultivation. He liased with Districts and called for a halt to further in-migration which is said to have stopped in 2003. He believes that people are willing to leave the National Park but Districts and Provincial authorities are not cooperating to identify and make available alternative land. Small-scale illegal logging is common place. Information campaigns and suppression by RPUs resulted in a decreasing pressure but these measures remain only partly effective according to the Head of BBSNP. Poaching is common place and is practised by a variety of people from opportunistic hunters to well organised rhino poaching syndicates. According to the Head of BBSNP, the RPUs play a significant role in suppressing poaching. For the period 2003 to 2008, the BBSNP wants to concentrate on the following five priorities: 1. Combat illegal logging. 2. Combat poaching. 3. Combat encroachment. 4. Ecotourism development. 5. Bufferzone development. 3.2 Background and Administrative Context of Project The Rhino Patrol Units (RPU) project operating in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)since January 2003. From 1996 till 1998 the RPUs were funded by the UNDP/GEF, and from 1998 till 2002 by IRF. CEPF has already invested nearly USD 750,000 since 2002 A substantial amount will be granted until 2006 to ensure conservation 9 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia benefits for Bukit Barisan Selatan NP and its endangered species. CEPF also help civil society to ensure long term financial mechanism is developed for BBS NP. It supports eight RPUs in the year 2003 with a total value of USD 372,710.-. A no cost extension until February 2004 has been granted. The Project is managed by the Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia (PKBI) or Indonesian Rhino Conservation Programme (IRCP), initially established under the UNDP/GEF programme Conservation Strategy for Rhinoceros in South East Asia which ran from 1996 to 1998. From 1999 till 2002 it was funded by IRF. Apart from the RPU project in BBSNP, PKBI also manages RPUs in Kerinci Seblat NP, Way Kambas NP and Ujung Kulon NP. For this purpose it receives financial resources from NGOs such IRF, WWF, RTCF-USFWS and many others. The PKBI operates under a MoU with the Ministry of Forestry (valid until 2008) and is technically assisted by the International Rhino Foundation. At the core of the Project is a Rhino Patrol Unit (RPU) which consists of one ranger (Governmental staff from BBSNP) acting as team leader and three members recruited from local communities. The eight RPUs in BBSNP have one Field Coordinator and receive technical support from one Supervisor. PKBI’s Programme Manager is responsible for the administration of the Project as well as for liaising with Government (especially the Director of Biodiversity Conservation in MoF who acts as Rhino Conservation Officer) and reporting to the donor. The technical supervision of the RPUs lies with the Head of the BBSNP who issues official working orders to the RPUs. Relations and reporting lines are depicted in the organogram. CEPF MoF Rhino Conservation Officer IRF (Technical Advisor) PKBI Programme Manager Director of BBSNP Supervisor * RPU Field Coordinator RPU 1 - 8 instruction / financial flow: coordination: reporting: * Starting January 2003 the function of Supervisor has been abolished. A new Intelligence and law-enforcement unit will be established to assist the Np and the Field Coordinators. Recognising BBSNP as a biodiversity hotspot stronghold, especially for mega-fauna, recognising the threats the Park is facing and recognising the constraints the responsible authority experiences, IRF 10 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia provides assistance to the BBS National Park in protecting large mammals such as Sumatran Rhino, Asian Elephant and Tiger. It does so by financing, training, equipping and running Rhino Patrol Units which are controlled administratively by IRF through PKBI and technically by the BBSNP. This support ties in with the BBSNP priorities and has been recognised in the Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2003 – 2020 (Bappenas 2003). The Purpose of the Project is the reduction of poaching of megafauna, in particular rhino and tiger, and improvement of law enforcement for rhino and tiger conservation. This objective is to be worked towards(Outputs) are: 1. Operation of eight Rhino and Tiger Patrol Units, including management and coordination. 2. Enhancement of the BBS Intelligence Fund (to provide incentives and rewards to obtain reliable information from local residents that will facilitate prevention or elimination of poacher operations). 3. Expansion of the BBS Law Enforcement and Advocacy Programme (that provides funds to the National Park to pay expenses incurred to process cases through the courts, and to provide incentives and support to local and national media to cover conservation law enforcement cases and other conservation issues more intensively). 4. Independent programme assessment. In total nine Output Indicators have been formulated. The Project strengthens the capacity of responsible authorities (MoF, BBSNP) to provide improved protection to mega-fauna. BBSNP is the secondary beneficiary of the Project. BBSNP’s mega-fauna, especially its Sumatran rhinos and tigers, derive direct benefit from the Project. 4. FINDINGS AND ASSESSMENT 4.1 Design and Project Implementation Strategy The design of the project is prescribed by CEPF in the form of a series of forms to be filled-in. The logical framework is complex. It is very easy to mix-up Targeted Conservation Outcomes with Project Purposes and those in return with Project Outputs. However, in the Project under review this has not happened; the Project has been designed logically. The higher-aggregate Long-Term Goal Statement and associated Means of Verification are useful in designing a project but hardly play a role in reporting progress or to measure impact. The large number of Output Indicators provide ample opportunity to measure progress. The Technical Reports provided do exactly that; the Project has been easy to track. However, the large number of indicators require a significant amount of data to be gathered. There is a danger that a project might put too much emphasis on data gathering for monitoring which may be at the expense of actual implementation of result-oriented activities. In the case of this particular Project, this danger did not realy materialise because the data collected is primarily used in regular patrol reporting towards IRF and Government. The Project is well integrated into Governmental structures at Central and National Park level, while maintaining its independence administratively. The Head of BBSNP expressed his satisfaction with the arrangement whereby he issues working orders to the RPUs while all administrative matters are handled by the Project Manager. Designing such a structure, getting such a balance accepted by all stakeholders and maintaining it has been a remarkable achievement of the Project. It has been understood that patrol and financial reports are sometimes slow to reach the Project Manager in Bogor. Recently these delays have diminished although reporting on intelligence gathering activities and court cases remains weak. The placement of a Financial and Administrative Officer in Kota Agung within the BBSNP office appears to streamline cash flows and financial reporting progressively. Reports which compile data do not flow back to the RPUs in the field. Sketchmaps of patrol routes followed are not compiled digitally. Collating patrol routes on a digital map and the swift turn-around of compiled data will improve patrol planning and thus the effectiveness of the RPUs further. The position of the RPU Supervisor is not clear. He assists and in a way motivates RPUs and is central in intelligence gathering. RPUs however do not report to him. A certain overlap and conflict between the roles and tasks of the Supervisor and Programme Manager can be recognised. It is 11 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia suggested to clarify these roles soonest so that all parties understand and accept their duties and responsibilities clearly. It is suggested to have the Programme Manager focus on liaison with the central Government and PKBI report compilation (in which this Project is integrated). The Supervisor should have direct responsibility over the RPUs stationed in BBSNP and Way Kambas NP and for intelligence gathering in Lampung Province, collect patrol reports and provide intelligence gathering reports to the Programme Manager for processing in Bogor. For this enhanced tasking it is advised to allow the Supervisor select an assistant and to provide him with a lap-top computer (to store and compile patrol reports and to set-up an intelligence database). This assistant should also gradually be trained in the Supervisor’s tasks because it has been observed that his role is critical in the functioning of the RPUs and intelligence gathering and if he would drop-out of the organisation it would mean a serious set-back for the RPU operation. 4.2 Current Status per Output Indicators The current status and our assessment of progress using the indicators at the purposes and outputs levels is given in Annex 2. From all angles, it appears that the RPUs are delivering good results on their core business, which is protection of large mammals in the park. We believe that the RPU reports should also include information on elephants as there have been instances of poaching of elephants for ivory within BBSNP in the recent past. 4.2.1 Output 1: Operation of 8 Rhino and Tiger Patrol Units, including Management and Coordination At the moment it appears that the important rhino and tiger areas are all well covered by the RPUs. However, RPUs are also involved in operations other than the ones dealing with anti-poaching operations. For instance, the RPUs also arrest illegal loggers and destroy the illegal logs that they seize. Operations such as this or ones dealing with encroachers or NTFP collectors should be run by the regular NP rangers not RPUs. This would enable RPUs to concentrate solely on large mammal protection duties which would enable them to spend more days in the field for patrolling. Therefore programmes to build capacity within the NP rangers to run such operations should be planned. In addition, WWF survey teams found rhino presence in the northern portion of the Park lying in Bengkulu province which has been subsequently confirmed by a RPU survey team. However, this portion of the Park is not under regular patrol and so, if and when, additional resources are available, this area needs to be surveyed and if a sizeable rhino population is found should be brought under regular RPU patrols. We also feel that indicator 1.4 is not achievable the way it is stated and therefore more resources and help from other NGOs should be allocated to the RPU supervisor to enable him to identify and keep a track of all known poachers from Lampung Province and beyond, rather than just around BBSNP. It would be good to give a summary of poaching figures for large mammals in BBSNP in the previous years in all the reports so a comparison can be made against current figures. 4.2.2 Output 2: Enhancement of the BBS Intelligence Fund The additional funds that CEPF has made available for intelligence has enabled the RPU programme to reach a certain critical threshold, thus ensuring that detailed under-cover operations can be run and evidence built-up so poachers now get punishments which are of a deterrent nature to future poaching attempts. It should be noted that this success is also due to matching funds from BBSNP and the willingness of the Head of the NP to pursue these cases. 4.2.3 Output 3: Expansion of BBS Law Enforcement and Advocacy Programme The expansion of the law enforcement and advocacy programme has meant that RPUs hard work in investigating and arresting poachers, combined with the enthusiasm of the new Head of BBSNP, is now translating into convictions and jail terms that are of a deterrent nature. The programme should be congratulated for achieving verdicts in 13 cases as against a target figure of 6. However the figures do not convey the real picture in addressing the root cause of these poaching incidents, i.e. convictions of middle-men and the financiers or buyers of rhino, elephant and tiger products. 12 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia We feel that all the NGOs working in and around BBSNP and in Lampung Province should work together with the enforcement agencies and the media to track down, collect evidence and help the NP secure convictions of these larger players. Only by achieving the conviction of the larger players can we eliminate the threat of poaching in BBSNP. We however feel tracking down middle-men, financiers and buyers should not be the focus of the RPUs and that they should concentrate on collecting intelligence and evidence in and around the NP and hand over this to the NP authorities, supported by a group of NGOs who are interested in this activity, to help secure convictions. Though there is a lot of collaboration between the various NGOs (WCS, WWF, WATALA, ALAS etc.) on law enforcement issues, much of this has depended on the initiative of the RPU supervisor’s personal contact with certain individuals within these NGOs. This has led to a situation where the entire operation is dependent on one man from the RPU programme side. We suggest that the RPU supervisor over the next few years transfers his skills to a trusted assistant so that at least the programme reduces its’ dependence on this one critical person. It is our assessment that there is also some replication of activities between some of the larger NGOs (WCS and WWF) and their programmes with regard to law enforcement and media advocacy. We suggest that the proposed CANOPI programme provide an umbrella for these various groups and initiatives to act in a more coordinated manner to help achieve a larger impact with regard to law enforcement and advocacy, the recent formed Wildlife Crime Unit of WCS is one example of a collaborative effort to pursue improved law enforcement and enabling the justice and the court to put more attention in the wildlife crime. 4.2.4 Output 4: Independent Programme Assessment This is being carried out currently. 4.3 Current Status per Purpose Indicator 4.3.1 Purpose 1: No quantitative increase on poaching of rhino and tiger The RPU programme seems to be the only direct action “in-situ” programme that is addressing shortterm threats within BBSNP and has delivered on its’ stated purpose so far. The RPU programme, especially the Lampung supervisor, has built what appears to be an excellent informer’s network. So using the data from the RPU patrols, information from intelligence gathering work by the RPUs and cross verifying it with WWF’s multi-province intellingence network, it appears that the capacity to detect 90% of cases of poaching of tiger, rhino and elephant, as and when it happens, exists. Therefore reporting of zero poaching cases of tigers and rhinos in BBSNP since Jan. 2003 seems to reflect an actual situation. However, we feel that elephants cases should also be reported with equal importance in future reporting. 4.3.2 Purpose 2: Increased number of poachers convicted throughout the Project period There has been a huge increase in the number of poachers convicted when compared to past years when the RPUs have been operational. When looking for reasons for such a success, it appears that it is largely due to the following two reasons; • Increased allocation of money for gathering intelligence and evidence • The initiative taken by the head of BBSNP in making sure that these cases were followed up till verdict However, the RPU programme management have taken a very narrow interpretation of the geographic scope of this work and have not followed through with meticulous collection of evidence with regard to poachers in and around Way Kambas NP. The assessment team feels that poachers anywhere in Lampung or its’ neibhouring provinces are a threat to BBSNP large mammal populations and therefore the RPU programme should use the BBS intelligence fund to help secure convictions of large mammal poachers in Way Kambas NP. 4.4 Administrative and financial management of the project 4.4.1 Administrative management of the project 13 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia The project is well supported by the Ministry of Forestry. The shared vision between all parties to save the Indonesian Rhino created a basis for the MoU between the Directorate General PHKA (FPNC – Forest Protection and Nature Conservation), the International Rhino Foundation, the IUCNSSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group and Yayasan Mitra Rhino to collaborate in a programme for Indonesian Rhino Conservation. This MoU includes a programme direction which was signed on the 14th of January 1998. The MoU has in principle been extended for another five years with the letter from the Director General of PHKA dated 2nd October 2003, No. 948/DJ-IV/KKH/2003, concerning the Perpanjangan MOU Pelaksanaan PKBI (IRCP) Indonesian Rhino Conservation Programme. The MoU and the programme direction clearly mentioned the RPU as an important activity to respond to the immediate need for rhino protection in Sumatra. The MoU is also equiped with clear operational procedures to direct the RPU operation and coordination within the National Park Management Unit / Authority. The MoU also makes provision for strong guidance from the central office of the DG PHKA in which the Director of Biodiversity Conservation of the DG PHKA is the ex officio Rhino Conservation Officer. The operational procedure gives the Rhino Conservation Officer (RCO) direct access to the RPUs through the head of National Park. The procedure also foresees in field reporting directly from the National Park level to the RCO and then to the DG-PHKA. 4.4.2 Financial management of the project The monthly cash flow from PKBI office in Bogor to the field coordinator of RPU in BBSNP arrives regularly in two ‘blocks’ grants. A total of ~42 million IDR for salaries and ~30 million IDR for the RPU running cost and operations. This payment is treated as a monthly cash advance from the PKBI office in Bogor to the RPU field coordinator account in Bandar Lampung. At the beginning of the month, the field coordinator withdraws all the money for the running cost and divides the money into the following portions: petty cash for operation cost, car and motorbike running costs, maintainance and other expenses. At the end of the month the field coordinator withdraws the money from the BBSNP RPU account to pay the salary of the RPU members. The expenditure from the running cost advance is posted and compiled into the ledger by the Administration Officer (this position replaces the Base Camp Manager and came into effect two months ago). The Field Coordinator will then submit the ledger and other reports to the Programme Manager in Bogor. The Team noted that the financial reports from the Kota Agung location are often late to arrive in Bogor and sometimes lacks detail which is a prerequisite for accountability. The Team advices that cash advances are reconsiled by the administrator in Kota Agung within 15 days, and that the Programme Manager needs to ensure that financial administration, including sufficient supporting documentation, is handled in incompliance with the operational procedures agreed. In general, the Team found that the expenditure reporting and goods procurement have to be improved, including the communication between Kota Agung and the PKBI office in Bogor. Furthermore the PKBI office in Bogor needs to maintain an inventory of all field equipment which needs to be updated quarterly. The planned financial audit is expected to assess the present accounting system, the overall accountability procedures put in place and general financial management and reporting and will present its findings in a separate specialist report. 4.5 Composition and effectiveness of consultancy inputs, national project staff and National Park staff The RPU Programme in BBSNP has provided NP with protection from poaching and habitat disturbance for the rhinos population in the important areas of BBSNP through the establishment and operation of RPU and with its supporting management, coordination and supervisory structures. There are nearly 40 people working for RPU in BBSNP, in the year of 2003 all of these RPUs are supported by the CEPF through the IRF. The RPU consist of four people per unit, the RPU leader came from Polisi Hutan (BBSNP Rangers), and the other members of RPU are recruited from the local community. The composition of the existing staff in the RPU programme has proven to be very 14 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia effective, the composition between one Polisi Hutan and three community members also provides a good balance and an effective team. The Polisi Hutan who is in charge as the head of the RPU, provides the formality and legality for the RPUs when they are in action and at the same time the three community members usually give adequate support; especially in communicating with the villagers and intelligence gathering operations. Administratively the RPUs are managed by the IRCP or PKBI’s Programe Manager office in Bogor. The Programme Manager is a senior government official from PHKA, fully seconded to PKBI – RPU. The mision observed a weakness in communication between the Programme Manager and the RPU supervisor in Lampung. The team feels that a new Programme Manager (the current Programme Manager is vacating his post early 2004) has to pursue a more active involvement with the field RPU programme through the supervisor and field coordinators; this would benefit the programme. The Programme Manager also needs to work more closely with the field coordinators and the financial administrators to make sure that technical and financial reporting is timely. This information and reporting is very important to measure the RPU effectiveness, and to keep the donors informed. Technically the RPUs are managed by the head of BBSNP under the guidance of the Indonesian Rhino Conservation Officer. Since the BBSNP has a total of 67 Polisi Hutan, it is suggested that the rest of the BBSNP Rangers (Polisi Hutan) should be trained and used in more and more park protection and management duties. They should however remain under the direct and full control and funding of BBSNP; it is not advisable to expand the RPUs as a special force funded through IRF because if funding dries-up, non-Government RPU members will have to be laid off. The team would like the RCO to take the lead in coordinating with head of BBSNP to engage the nonRPU – forest rangers into a regular system of patrols and also position them to make the Park authority more visible to the public. It would be a good first step if the RCO can also work within DG PHKA to leverage Government co-funding for the RPU programme. This in a sense would be a start towards answering questions of sustainability of the RPU programme. PKBI / RPU enjoyed the services of an in-house Technical Advisor who is contracted by the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and deputed to the programme. The Technical Advisor has performed a significant and important role in raising funds and in keeping open the communication with international donors. The advisor also has years of experience in Asian Rhino conservation issues and envisioned and led the setting-up of the RPU programme. The team noted that the Technical Advisor also works very closely with Programme Manager and RCO to prepare and finalise the annual reports and other relevant technical materials. The Technical Advisor is also involved in advising PHKA and helping maintain international interest in Indonesian rhino conservation. He also acts as the information provider to DG of PHKA. We feel that the technical advisor should try and meet with the members of the RPU teams, field coordinators and the Supervisor more often in order to help prevent the communication gap that occurred between the field operations and the office in Bogor mid-way through this Project. The PKBI office in Bogor provide the financial and administrative support, there is one staff work as the internal financial controller for RPU accounting supported by CEPF. At present the finance and administration has been strengthen by the appoinment of the full time financial and administration assistance base in Kota Agung. The PKBI database is well structured and contains most of the data gathered by the RPUs. The database shows the relevant records of enforcement action in the BBSNP dating back to the year 2000. The database should be important tool for the BBSNP authority for their enforcement planning and management. In 2003 this review has been the only international consultancy input to the BBS’ RPU program funded by CEPF. In early 2004 a financial audit will be conducted by a registered auditor. 4.6 Coordination and management arrangements with BBS and other Governmental Authorities 15 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia 4.6.1 Linkages and Effectiveness The objective of the PKBI (IRCP) is to contribute to the long-term viable conservation and management of Indonesia rhinos and their habitats, through collaboration and coordination for planning, funding, administration and implementation of Rhino Conservation Programme. Beside working with the Government of Indonesia, the International Rhino Foundation also cooperate with the AsRSG to provide stategic and technical advice for rhino conservation, liase and consult with the SSC of IUCN and working with Yayasan Mitra Rhino for fund raising in Indonesia, also to provide the secretariat and serve as administrative base and communication link among the interest paties, YMR has been active to provide representative and national promotional support for RPU programme. PKBI should be able to provide access to all data obtained from RPU activities, especially to PIKA (MoF Indonesian Nature Conservation Information Centre) in Bogor. In BBSNP the RPU data should be stored in the BBSNP office and shared with WWF and WCS whom already have their own database management system to support the longterm survival of Elephant, Rhino and Tiger in BBSNP. 4.6.2 Emerging Issues A total of 19 RPU operate In the year 2003, Kerinci Seblat NP (3 units), Bukit Barisan Selatan NP (8 Units), Way Kambas NP (5 units) and Ujung Kulon NP (3 Units). The 16 RPU that operate in the southern part of Sumatra should have a strong present in the region to address the important of threatened mammal-species conservation and their habitat. RPU operations currently rely on NGO funding. It is recommended that a specific strategy is developed under a CEPF supported project with IRF which explores possibilities to mobilise Governmental funds to support RPU-type operations. 4.7 Coordination with other NGOs operating in the BBS area 4.7.1 World Wide Fund for Nature – Indonesia WWF-Indonesia has been working in BBSNP since 2000. Its’ work has mainly concentrated on community empowerment and building awareness in villages outside the BBSNP. In addition, WWF has also made funds available through an USFWS grant for building and renovating guard posts and for field allowances for the rangers when they are posted to these guard posts. Also, the WWF BBSNP project has been running a investigation of coffee grown in the encroached areas of the Park and tracing their routes internationally. There has been regular data sharing between WWF-Indonesia’s BBSNP Project Executant and the RPU supervisor at the field level. That cooperation is now weaker since the WWF Project Executant resigned from the project. However WWF has been a partner in RPU programme by co-funding the Indonesian RPU programme since 1998. Outside of BBSNP, WWF-Indonesia has been running a multi-province intelligence network to collect data on trafficking in tiger, rhino and elephant parts. However, the relationship of this intelligence gathering network to the RPU programme has been very informal and unclear, though some data sharing occurs. It appears that a few activities carried out by the RPU supervisor and WCS’s WCU are again replicated by WWF’s trade and intelligence network. The assessment team felt that a more coordinated approach between WCS, WWF and the local NGOs like WATALA and ALAS would go a long way in helping clarify roles and responsibilities when working on law enforcement and media advocacy and help in being more effective. The Team had a discussion with Iwan Kurniawan (acting WWF BBSNP team leader) concerning their plan to work in the vicinity of the BBSNP with the community on the problem areas for Elephant, Rhino and Tiger. In the near future a collaboration between WWF and RPU in stabilising the problem area after the RPU operation is planned. 4.7.2 Wildlife Conservation Society 16 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia The WCS-Indonesia Program works under a MoU with the DG PHKA - Ministry of Forestry. WCS-IP works throughout Indonesia focusing on conservation research, policy, and awareness. The goal of the WCS-IP is to conserve Indonesia's wildlife populations and their habitats. The program aims to maintain viable wildlife populations by using several approaches: • Research: providing Indonesia with reliable and relevant data for conservation • Training: providing Indonesia with knowledgeable, motivated conservationists • Implementation: assisting local stakeholders including the Government and non-Government groups of Indonesia to protect their natural heritage • Education: disseminating the information gathered to the widest possible audience to develop local and international support for conservation measures In BBSNP WCS has been active since 1996, and many research results have been reported since. At present WCS works with the BBSNP to implement more specific research on the flora and fauna in parts of the BBSNP prime habitat. WCS has a research camp in Cangu and an office in Kota Agung. WCS has around 30 staff work in the park, and around 8 people work in the Bandar Lampung office. The strong present of WCS and their research focus has helped CEPF to extent their commitment to conserve the BBSNP. Since 2002 CEPF has supported WCS to lead the CANOPI programme which will build a local and regional partnership for longterm BBSNP management. The Team also comments on the CANOPI in section 5.3. 4.7.3 National Non-Governmental Organisations The RPU program enjoy the support from several civil society organisation, especially from the local media (print and radio). A number of Nature Lovers Organisations (attached to Universities and schools) have expressed their simpathy for the work of thye RPUs. Recently some of the local NGOs (Watala, ALAS and AJI) and the Provincial KSDA, fostered by WCS, have formed a Wildlife Crimes Unit (WCU), to address the need for better advocacy in the processes of law enforcemant. Furthermore the WCU will regularly produce a newsletter and outreach materials, alongside with their capacity to advocate and assist the legal process in court. In addition ALAS plays an important role in advocating better management of BBSNP, especially in the Belimbing area. Beside the organisations mentioned above, which work directly with law enforcement, there are many other organisation that work in the community level such as the YASADANA, working on a credit union in the community of Sukaradja and Pemerihan, and the LSPPM, working with local farmers for organic farming. These organisations work at the grassroots level and can be an effective channel to promote the megafauna protection of BBSNP. The most experienced NGO workimg in West Lampung is Watala; with the support of the Ford Foundation they work very closely with the District Government to improve regional development planning and to promote community forestry. Organisations such as LK21, Wanakala, YMHI, Panthera Rafflesia and others are active and concerned with the BBSNP issues, but some of them have only an indirect present inside the park. 4.7.4 Emerging Issues The proposed CANOPI structure as the CEPF respons to protect the Sundaic lowland forest hotspot, caused a new waive of attention to create new programmes and approaches to save the BBSNP. The Team had a limited time and opportunity to talk with all the diverse stakeholders concerning the future of the CANOPI, however we believe that the partnership in CANOPI should reflect the need to create the immediate capacity of the BBSNP and at the same time can leverage support from the District Government around the park. The cohesive and collaborative spirit of the many organisation that work in the BBSNP should be maintained by facilitating a regular informal meeting to share and fine tune the conservation effort in BBSNP. In addition outreach and promotion activities to the general public in regional and national level should continue. 17 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The Evaluation Mission concludes the following: • Sumatran Rhinos remain critically endangered world wide. The Sumatran Rhino population of BBSNP appears to be the second largest in the world while its conservation status, as for all megafauna in the Park, remains under critical poaching pressure. Without the active support of CEPF funded IRF-PKBI-RPUs, there would most likely be less rhinos in BBSNP than there appear to be nowadays. • The RPUs are effective and meet their objectives. • The RPUs appear to be the only field-based activity which addresses short-term threats to BBSNP. • The RPUs appear to be the only field-based activity which is alligned to BBSNP’s proposed conservation management strategy. • In order to further improve effectiveness and consolidate biodiversity values in BBSNP, much work is needed to address issues such as encroachment, illegal logging, non-timber forest product collection, conservation education of the general public, addressing confusing responsibilities between BBSNP, Districts and Provincial Government, etc etc. for which WCS is currently developing a CANOPI framework program to be funded from CEPF resources. • RPUs should maintain its financial and organisational independence from the proposed CANOPI programme to ensure continuity and smooth functioning, but should work in close coordination with the CANOPI programme when it comes into operation, in order to achieve an integrated strategy to address the BBSNPs threats. • CEPF should favourably consider a proposal to be submitted soonest by IRF for continued funding of RPU work until 2006 in the BBSNP Landscape. Further detailed recommendations are provided in the three following sections. 5.1 On the Effectiveness of the RPUs • • • • • • It has been verified that all Indicators set in the Project Document are being met, if not a higher performance is being achieved. The RPUs effectiveness is therefore beyond doubt. The Evaluation Team is convinced that without the active work of the IRF -PKBI-RPUs, less rhinos would be remaining nowadays in BBSNP. The number of patrol days Indicator is however not being met. This is due to investigation work being conducted in the wider region which is not counted as patrol days. Also it is the Evaluation Mission’s experience and opinion that a target of 15 patrol days per month is ambitious. A more realistic target is being recommended. It has been verified that the RPUs are well integrated within the BBSNP organisational structure, with the Head of BBSNP being in charge of technical supervision and the PKBI Programme Manager being in charge of administration. The formula of one BBSNP ranger and three community members making-up one RPU has been effective in maintaining a good balance of government officials and non-government staff. This formula should be maintained and replicated in other planned RPU (or any Protection Unit operation for that matter) operations. It has been verified that the RPU activities are supported by NGOs involved in community development activities with the note that not only marginalised violators should be apprehended but also the middlemen and finaciers behind them. The Evaluation Mission observed impressive progress in intelligence gathering and prosecution of violators, including middlemen, in the courts. Informal cooperation with WCS’s Wildlife Crime Unit and WWF has contributed to this good result. It is recommended that the RPUs strengthen their intelligence efforts so that more violators can be apprehended and prosecuted, especially middlemen. As soon as the BBSNP – RPU court cases are documented and filed in the court, the WCS-WCU and WWF teams should take-over the monitoring and progress throught the jurisdiciary process. This task should not be performed by the RPUs because of lack of technical expertise and diversion of the RPU’s core business (i.e. first-line protection of large mammals). For this purpose, WCS-WCU and WWF (or as a part of CANOPI) are recommended to consider contracting a full-time lawyer specialised in wildlife regulations. 18 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia • • • • • • • • The Evaluation Mission believes that a better skills-transfer can be reached between RPUs and regular BBSNP rangers. Therefore it is recommended that a specific Output or Activity will be created under a future continuation of a CEPF supported project with IRF which provides for training to regular BBSNP rangers. It has been observed that further equipment (vehicle, computer) and infrastructure (guard posts, barriers on road) needs exists within the BBSNP structure which would enable the NP to make visible its presence in the field and thus enhance the Park’s eroded status amongst civil governments (Districts, Provinces). Therefore it is recommended that a specific activity be created under a future continuation of a CEPF supported project with IRF which provides for such equipment and infrastructure to BBSNP, seeking to leverage Governmental funds if realistically possible and aiming at getting rangers back to manning guard posts. It is also recommended that the RPUs are provided with new equipment (GPS, camera, radio, compass, etc) as their current equipment is ageing and in some cases malfunctioning. It has been observed that the line of command and the line of reporting within the RPU structure, especially where it concerns the Programme Manager and the Supervisor, is not entirely clear and shows some gaps. It is therefore recommended that the primary responsibility, including reporting, for field operations lies with the Supervisor and the Programme Manager concentrates on administrative and liaison (with central Government) responsibilities. For that purpose the Supervisor needs an assistant and a computer (also to store and retrieve data). Alternatively, the Supervisor position could be re-defined into a technical consultancy input. It is recommended that a plan be made and included in a proposal from IRF to CEPF to further build capacity throughout the structure. Including adminsitrative skills for the Supervisor, refresher courses in patrol and survey techniques for all RPU members, exchange visits of RPUs with other RPU-type operations elsewhere in Indonesia and possibly overseas (South Africa, India) exposure to law enforcement operations of a selected number of RPU members, the Supervisor and selected BBSNP staff . The Evaluation Mission observed the central and critical role of the Supervisor. He is able to motivate all RPUs and is very effective in intelligence gathering. Apart from that the tasks for this person are too many, and he being the critical person also makes the whole operation vulnerable. Therefore it is recommended that the Supervisor be assigned an assistant to help with adminstrative tasks. This assistant to the supervisor should also be taught on the job how to manage and motivate RPUs and how to collect and use intelligence information. The Supervisor should have the final say in the selection of such an assistant. It has been observed that the reporting flow between field and Bogor (where data are processed) is not always timely and that no reporting back to the field occurs. Therefore it is recommended that more discipline is observed by the Supervisor to supply data to Bogor and that Bogor provides monthly synthesis reports back to the field to aid subsequent operations. It has been observed that the sketchmaps in patrol reports are not collated into one master map. Thus it is hard to get an idea about actual effort and the spatial coverage of the RPUs every month. This hampers effectiveness of RPU operations. Therefore it is recommended that patrol maps are digitised in Kota Agum (e.g. WWF) for swift return to the RPUs to enhance patrol planning and monitoring. 5.2 On Linkages with Governmental Institutions, especially Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park • • • It has been verified that the IRF-PKBI-RPU project is well integrated within the central Governmental structure with the Director of Biodiversity Conservation within the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Forestry (who is designated Rhino Conservation Officer by the Government) acting as the project’s supervisor. It has been verified that the IRF-PKBI-RPU project is highly respected and actively supported by the Ministry of Forestry. The Evaluation Mission is concerned about the long-term sustainablity of RPU operations as they rely on NGO funding. Therefore it is recommended that a specific strategy is being developed under a future continuation of a CEPF supported project with IRF which explores possibilities to mobilise Governmental funds to support RPU-type operations. 19 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia • It has been verified that the RPUs are well integrated within the BBSNP organisational structure, with the Head of BBSNP being in charge of technical supervision and the PKBI Programme Manager being in charge of administration. 5.3 On Linkages with the Foreseen CANOPI Programme • • • • • • • • • • • It appears that the internal coordination of IRF-PKBI-RPU input into the development of the CANOPI Programme has been sub-optimal and that IRF technical advisors have not been engaged in this development sufficiently. It also seems that WCS has not engaged the IRF technical advisors sufficiently and worked through the Supervisor without informing his superiors. It is observed that the draft logframe for CANOPI does not clearly define Outputs for each area of speciality (advocacy, law enforcement, conservation education, biodiversity research, community development, etc); several Activities re-occur under different Outputs. It has been observed that after consultations by WCS, the draft CANOPI logframe has not been shared with the key reciepient, i.e. BBSNP, and also not with all NGOs operating in the BBSNP landscape (e.g. IRF). It has been observed that the draft CANOPI logframe is poorly integrated with the priorities set by the key recipient, i.e. BBSNP. CEPF should assure that the projects and programmes it funds are better aligned with Government strategies and priorities. It has been observed that local NGOs are uncertain about their role and mandate, let alone financial arrangements, within the proposed CANOPI framework which will be contracted to WCS. A clearer definition of Outputs according to areas of specialisation, would benefit creating a logical and effective implementation by the various specialised partners. It has been observed that the draft CANOPI logframe includes RPUs as one activity amongst six Outputs. Diluting RPU’s critical role in maintaining large mammal populations within BBSNP in such a way, is likely to be at the expense of the RPUs effectiveness. In other words, protection work (as carried-out by the RPUs) as it appears in the draft CANOPI logframe will not receive the attention it requires. It is recommended that the CANOPI logframe is re-drafted so that it addresses BBSNP priorities better (a letter of recommendation from BBSNP should be included in the Project Proposal). It is recommended that the CANOPI Project Proposal clearly defines which parties in the framework will be responsible for which Outputs against which financial means and this should be binding for the duration of the CANOPI programme. It is foreseen that a division of tasks between work to be done within the BBSNP and in its bufferzones will improve clarity and thus effectiveness. Therefore it is recommended that a separate contract is negotiated between CEPF and IRF for the period 2004 – 2006 for RPU work within BBSNP and a separate contract between CEPF and WCS for CANOPI work in the BBSNP bufferzone. A well-defined MoU between IRF-PKBI and WCS-CANOPI which defines each other’s roles, responsibilities and exchange of information (especially regarding Law Enforcement) has to be a prerequisite before any of the two contracts can be signed. 20 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia ANNEX 1: DOCUMENTS CONSULTED 1. CANOPI Logframe version created June 10, 2003 2. CEPF Offline Application Form for this project (including logical framework and budget). 3. IUCN-SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group [IUCN-SSC AsRSG] (1997): Asian Rhinos, status survey and conservation action plan IUCN Gland Switzerland 4. Kinnaird, Margaret F., Eric W. Sanderson, Timothy G. O’Brien, Hariyo T. Wibisono and Gillian Woolmer (2003): Deforestation Trends in a Tropical Landscape and Implications for Endangered Large Mammals. In Conservation Biology Vol 17 No 1 pp 245 - 257 5. PKBI Annual Report 2001 6. Laporan PKBI tahun 1999 – 2003; dibuat untuk expose kegiatan PKBI 1999 – 2003 tanggal 27 Juni 2003, di Departemen Kehutanan Jakarta. 7. A MOU between DG FPNC, MoF Republic of Indonesia and IRF and ARSG and Yayasan Mitra Rhino; concerning a collaborative programme of Indonesian Rhino Conservation. Incl. Programme Direction. 14 Jan. 1998. 8. Letter from DG of PHKA date 2 October 2003, No. 948/DJ-IV/KKH/2003; concerning Perpanjangan MOU Pelaksanaan PKBI (IRCP) Indonesian Rhino Conservation Programme) Signed by DG – Koes Sapardjadi 9. Operation Procedures 2002 Indonesian Rhino Conservation Programme, Jan. 2002 10. Pedoman Operasional Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia, Bogor April 2002. 11. Quarter 1 – Report Anti Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers, and other Megafauna within Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatera. (PKBI Technical and Financial Report to CEPF January – March 2003) 12. Quarter 2 – Report Anti Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers, and other Megafauna within Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatera. (PKBI Technical and Financial Report to CEPF April – June 2003) 13. Proposal and Grant agreement between CI Foundation and The IRF 1 Jan. 2003 – 31 December 2003 : Anti Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers, and other Megafauna within Sumatra’s Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Ecosystem. 14. Taman Nasional BBS Usulan Anggaran Kerja tahun 2002 – 2003 15. Questionair to RPU members in BBS on their leadership and management - 2003 16. Daftar hadir pertemuan dengan misi evaluasi RPU, Kamis, 20 Nov. 2003 di Kantor TNBBS 17. Contoh laporan dasar patroli RPU (4). 18. Contoh surat perintah tugas dari TNBBS kepada Koordinator Lapangan - RPU 19. Contoh usulan anggaran RPU, dari Koordinator Lapangan 10 April 2002 20. Draft usulan anggaran RPU 2002 – 2003 – Hasil rapat 21. Surat KORLAP RPU BBS kepada Dir. IRF 5 Juni 2002, re, permasalahan dan usulan 22. Hasil/ Keputusan Rapat Intern PKBI di kantor PKBI Bogor 23 Agustus 2002 21 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia 23. Hasil rapat internal RPU BBS tgl 30 Juni 2003 di Kota Agung 24. Input from R. Lee – WCS for RPU (Internal letter) 25. Contoh surat perintah tugas dari Kepala TNBBS utk RPU 26. Matrix hasil pertemuan RPU TNBBS dan TNWK tgl 15 April 2003 di Plang Ijo W. K. 27. Contoh laporan keuangan RPU TNBBS kepada kantor PKBI Bogor 28. Daftar nama pekerja RPU TNBBS 29. Daftar hadir peserta pertemuan evaluasi RPU Nov. 19 2003 di kantor WCS Bandar Lampung 30. News Letter Satwa Liar edisi 1 Nov. 2003 - WCU 31. Surat dari Agus S. kepada Donatur PKBI tgl 22 Nov. 2003 32. Info umum – leaflet tentang PKBI (2 halaman) 33. Daftar inventaris RPU TNBBS kendaraan dan alat 34. Usulan anggota RPU PKBI TNBBS kepada CEPF Nov. 2003 35. Kasus kasus Tindak Pidana di bidang kehutanan yg ditangani TNBBS Jan. – Juli 2003 36. Kasus kasus Tindak Pidana di bidang kehutanan yg ditangani TNBBS Jan. – Sep.2003 37. Laporan triwulan 1 Januari – Maret 38. laporan triwulan April – Juni 39. Laporan triwulan Juli – September 40. Laporan kegiatan RPU TNBBS dan TNWK 2003, sbg bahan presentasi di kantor WCS lampung 41. Graphik kasus kasus perburuan info dari TNBBS, ditangani oleh RPU, UPT dan proses kepolisian 42. Catatan informal meeting 14 Nov. 2003 tentang WCU 43. Surat dari Supervisor kepada Manajer Program PKBI, ttg kunjungan reviewer CEPF 44. Daftar inventaris Balai TNBBS per 31 Dec. 2002 45. IRCP note on the Cons. Biol article – vol. 17, No. 1 Feb. 2003 46. WWF Indo Pprop: Securing Landscape and habitat for long- term survival of the Sumatran Rhino, Tigers and elephant in BBSNP 47. Usulan kepada konsultan CEPF dari anggota RPU 48. Daftar gaji tahun 2003 utk anggota RPU 22 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia ANNEX 2: ASSESSMENT PER INDICATOR Project Title: Anti-Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers, and Other Megafauna within Bukit Barisan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia Year 1 | Quarter 1,2 &3 Purpose Purpose: Indicator 1. No quantitative increase in poaching of rhino and tiger. Indicator 2. Increased number of poachers convicted throughout the project period. Outputs Output 1: Indicator 1.1 Eight (8) antipoaching teams continuously deployed in BBS ASSESSMENT SOURCE COMMENTS NOVEMBER 2003 Reduction of poaching of megafauna, in particular rhino and tiger, and improvement of law enforcement for rhino and tiger conservation. RPUs and Q1 This is a good achievement and No poached shows that the RPUs are covering rhinos or tigers & Q2 reports all the important rhino and tiger detected in the areas. Also, the intelligence Park from in gathering seems to have Q1, Q2 and improved considerably and that Q3. the RPU supervisor seems to have the means to detect poaching of large mammals if and when they occur. 13 verdicts Q1 & Q2 The project has exceeded reached out of reports and expectations on this front by the 17 cases discussions increasing the number of that RPUs with RPUs convictions manifold as compared investigated to previous years and also and helped the securing the toughest sentence NP file awarded for an wildlife offence in charges. In a Indonesia case relating to poaching of an elephant, a sentence of 4 years and 3 months awarded to one of the poachers. ASSESSMENT SOURCE COMMENTS NOVEMBER 2003 Operation of 8 Rhino and Tiger Patrol Units, including Management and Coordination. In operation Q1 & Q2 and functioning reports as well well as checking in the field. 23 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia Indicator 1.2. At least 15 days per month on patrol in the field for each antipoaching team. The teams have achieved 10 and 11 days in the last two Quarters respectively. Q1 & Q2 reports and discussions with RPUs Indicator 1.3. Zero (0) traps permitted to be placed or to remain long enough to entrap rhinos or tigers in areas covered by the anti-poaching teams. 100% of any traps detected will be destroyed. Indicator 1.4. All poachers whose traps are located will be identified and reported to the local authorities for apprehension and prosecution. No evidence of rhino or tiger poaching as a result of nondetection of traps by the RPUs during the project period. Q1 & Q2 reports and discussions with RPUs and other NGO networks working in that area The RPU supervisor seems to have a very good idea of all the poachers operating and in and around BBSNP and their movements Discussions with RPU supervisor, NP authorities and NGOs The reports do not indicate the relationship of traps found in the field and the people responsible for them. This is too ambitious and we believe that the approach of the RPU supervisor in developing his intelligence gathering capacity in close collaboration with WCU and other NGOs is the right one Indicator 1.5. Zero (0) cases of poached rhinos and 75% reduction in cases of poached tigers in areas covered by the anti-poaching teams. No poaching cases reported since the initiation of this project Q1 & Q2 reports and discussions with RPUs and other NGO networks working in that area It would be good if the future reports indicate the level of poaching of rhinos, tigers and elephants before CEPF support for this work was initiated. The days given in the report actually reflect the time spent patrolling in the field. However, the RPU members are involved in law enforcement activities like raids to capture suspects, evidence collection and intelligence gathering which are not included in the number of days. We feel given the resources and challenges those 15 days may be too ambitious a target and it would be better to set a more realistic target of around 10-12 days a month for patrolling. 24 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia Outputs Output 2: Indicator 2.1. Information will be collected from, by paying incentives and rewards to, local residents around BBS leading to prevention of poaching and/or apprehension of poachers. The goal is first 100% identification of any poachers who may have been operating in BBS and eventually 100% prevention of poachers by identifying persons preparing to conduct illegal operations in BBS before they can even enter the Park ASSESSMENT SOURCE COMMENTS NOVEMBER 2003 Enhancement of the BBS Intelligence Fund Additional RPU technical The new head of BBSNP has been funds for this advisor, catalytic in helping increase the activity have supervisor, rate of convictions by showing helped achieve staff and head vigor in pursuing the cases an increased of BBSNP brought to him by the RPUs and rate of his role should not be understated convictions for in the impact RPUs are having in poaching and protecting the large mammal other illegal populations. activities within the park. 25 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia Outputs Output 3: Indicator 3.1. Six (6) poaching cases successfully completed with appropriate convictions. Lawyers will be employed and paid to prosecute the cases. Moreover, service costs and fees will be provided to the judiciary to ensure completion of prosecution of the cases, hopefully resulting in convictions. Indicator 3.2. Adequate and supportive coverage of poaching cases in local and national media by providing journalists with incentives and services to visit the locations of poacher activity and record and report the events once the case is in the courts. Additionally, assistance will be provided through press releases and information packages produced by the anti-poaching team program IRCP/PKBI staff. ASSESSMENT SOURCE COMMENTS NOVEMBER 2003 Expansion of BBS Law Enforcement and Advocacy Program. The programme has exceeded all expectations on this front by securing more than twice the number of verdicts than targeted for. No. of cases filed = 19 No. of cases processed = 13 News (printed media), RPU reports and supervisor Making additional funds available under CEPF funds for this activity has helped the effectiveness of RPU increase manifold. However, the people convicted so far are the poachers in the field. Few, if any, of the middle men and the big bosses have been convicted. This should be the focus of the NP authorities, enforcement agencies and the NGOs working in and around in Lampung province in close collaboration with the RPU programme and should be addressed under CANOPI. From all reports and discussions that the assessment team had during the mission suggests that there has been an increase in media reporting of wildlife offences and the record convictions secured recently. Q2 report with overview of press coverage. Meetings with RPU administration, Supervisor, NGOs in Lampung province. News clipping from regional and national news paper and some record of electronic media coverage (Radio and TV) WCS's WCU programme seems to have helped in establishing this link through a representative in the group from a grouping of independent journalists. Other NGOs also have helped with increasing the awareness among the common public and judiciary. 26 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia Outputs Output 4: Indicator 4.1. Independent assessment report of effectiveness of current program and recommendations for improvement and continuation. Since this assessment is to be independent, IRF will confer with CEPF on selection of appropriate persons and use of acceptable methods. ASSESSMENT SOURCE NOVEMBER 2003 Independent Program Assessment Currently being carried out COMMENTS 27 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia ANNEX 3: TERMS OF REFERENCE Title: Project: Independent Program Assessment for Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund ("CEPF") Anti-Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers and Other Megafauna within Sumatra’s Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Ecosystem. Context: This consultancy is needed to assess and report on the effectiveness of the current program and to provide recommendations for improvement and continuation. Profile: The Consultant Team will combine expertise on: • Sumatran Rhino Biology. • Rhino Monitoring and Area Survey. • Conservation of Megafauna in SE Asia. • Conservation Management in SE Asia. • Law Enforcement in the Context of Poaching and Encroachment. • Training and Evaluation of Field Staff. • International Conservation Programs. • Advocacy and Public Awareness. Qualifications: The Consultant Team Members will be: • Internationally Recognized Senior Specialist with significant relevant experience in SE Asia. • Persons not employed or affiliated with the Funding Sources, The Grantee or the Program. • Persons able to communicate and report in English and Indonesian (the Team Leader). Team The Consultants Team endorsed by CEPF will consist of: • Mr. Sukianto Lusli MSc, Executive Director, BirdLife Indonesia (Teamleader) • Mr. Gerrit Polet MSc, Chief Technical Advisor; WWF - Cat Tien National Park Conservation Project Vietnam • Mr. A. Christy Williams PhD, Programme Manager, Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS) The team members will be contracted by Grantee in accordance with the specifications and the budget of Project Output4: Independent Program Assessment. Duties: The Consultant Team will: • Consult with the PKBI Program Management and the Government Program Supervisors (DG PHKA, RCO). • Consult with CEPF Program Supervisors. • Consult with the representatives of the Programs’ previous and current sponsors and donors. • Consult with the Head and Staff of Bukit Barisan Selatan NP. • Consult with the PKBI Lampung Supervisor and BBS Field Coordinator. • Consult with the relevant national and International NGOs active in BBS. • Consult with the RPU team leaders and members. • Accompany an RPU on a regular patrol. Result: A report in English, with a summary in Indonesian, will be submitted before leaving Indonesia that includes the following components: • An assessment of the effectiveness of the Program, including the organization and management structure. • An assessment of the future needs for the program to attain its ultimate goal of a safe and expanding Rhino population in BBS. • Recommendation for modifications and expansions of the operations and procedures. • Recommendations for future funding from CEPF and other donors. • An itinerary and brief summary of the work done • A list of the agencies and persons consulted. 28 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia ANNEX 4: PROGRAMME OF THE MISSION DATE Friday November 14 Saturday November 15 Sunday November 16 Monday November 17 TIME 20:00 09:00 whole day morning 14:00 14:00 – 18:00 09:00 – 12:00 12:00 – 14:00 Tuesday November 18 14:00 – 17:30 08:30 – 9:30 9:30 – 15:00 15:30 – 16:30 Wednesday November 19 05:00 9:00 – 15:00 19:00 – 22:00 Thursday November 20 07:30 10:00 – 13:00 14:00 – 14:30 15:00 – 17:00 17:00 – 17:30 19:00 – 21:00 07:00 – 18:00 07:00 – 18:00 Friday November 21 Saturday November 22 Sunday November 23 Monday November 24 Tuesday November 25 Wednesday November 26 Thursday November 27 Monday December 1 19:00 – 20:30 08:00 – 10:00 10:00 – 14:00 14:00 – 19:00 08:00 – 20:00 06:00 whole day whole day whole day 09:00 – 10:00 11:00 – 15:00 10:00 – 12:00 14:00 – 16:00 WHAT arrival of Gert Polet arrival of Christy Williams Reading documents reading documents arrival of Sukianto Lusli pre-mission meeting with Nico van Strien meeting with Ministry of Forestry – Department of Conservation; Mr. Kurnia Rauf meeting with PKBI Programme Manager; Mr. A.A. Hutabarat mission discussions travel to Bogor meeting with CEPF, WCS, WWF, STCP visit PKBI office in Bogor; meeting with Data Base Operator travel to Bandar Lampung visit Way Kambas RPU and SRS meeting with WCS, Watala, Alas, WWF, WCSWCU, and KSDA Lampung.... teams in Bandar Lampung travel to Kota Agung meeting with Head of BBSNP and staff meeting with WWF team in Kota Agung meeting with Head of BBSNP meeting with WCS team in Kota Agung evaluation team discussions joint RPU patrol in BBSNP (Williams & Polet) further discussions with RPU administrative officer, BBSNP, WWF and WCS (Sukianto) evaluation team discussions further discussions with RPUs in Kota Agung travel to Bandar Lampung individual team members writing-up individual team members writing-up travel Bandar Lampung – Jakarta team discussion and writing-up writing-up writing-up and compilation of report compilation of report De-briefing meeting with IRF, PKBI, CEPF Meeting with Mr. Dadan (Database manager) and Ms. Ninda and Santi (Finance & Administration) in Bogor office Finalized Draft Report 29 Effectiveness Assessment of RPUs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park – Indonesia ANNEX 5: PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS CONSULTED PLACE JAKARTA PERSON Nico van Strien ORGANISATION International Rhino Foundation Ministry of Forestry – Directorate of Biodiversity Conservation Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia DATE November 16 Yayasan W W F Indonesia Wildlife Conservation Society Indonesia Program Sumatran Tiger Conservation Programme Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia Program Konservasi Badak Indonesia November 18 Moch Saleh WCS –IP November 19 Purwanto Dwi Nugroho Wawan Eryanto Firman S. Joko S. Verry I. S. WCS –IP WCS –IP ; WCU BKSDA ; WCU AJI Lampung Watala ALAS November 19 November 19 November 19 November 19 November 19 November 19 Tamen Sitorus Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park WCS PKBI Yay. WWF Yay. WWF Field Coordinator Supervisor November 20 Kurnia Rauf A.A. Hutabarat BOGOR Chairul Saleh Robert J. Lee Neil Franklin Purbasari Surjadi Dadan Subrata Santi & Ninda BANDAR LAMPUNG BUKIT BARISAN SELATAN NP in KOTA AGUNG Muniful Hamid Subakir KOTA AGUNG Maya, Tiung All RPU members Iwan Kurniawan Elisabeth Purastuti Rudy Akbarta Arief Rubianto November 17 November 17 November 18 November 18 November 18 December 3 December 3 November 20 November 20 November 20 November 20, 21 and 22 November 20, 21 November 20, 21 November 20, 21, 22 & 23 30 Project Summary Information Project title: Partnership for the Conservation of Sumatran Natural Heritage UNF/UNFIP Project code: SCO-INS-04-319 UNF/UNFIP Programme Framework: Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Project purpose: Testing networking and partnerships to development approaches to build and strengthen collaboration among Government, civil society and private sector for the conservation of the rainforest heritage of Sumatra, Indonesia Duration: 2.5 years (30 months) Starting date: 1 October 2004 Location: Sumatra, Indonesia Name of UN organization: United Nations Educational, Science, and Cultural Organization World Heritage Centre and UNESCO Office, Jakarta, Indonesia Non-UN Executing partners: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS); Directorate of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA) of the Ministry of Forestry, Government of Indonesia; Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF) Cost of project: US$ 2.15 million United Nations Foundation (UNF): US$ 1.8 million ($900,000 matched by $900,000 from CEPF); Parallel Funding: $350,000 (to be raised from other donors) SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT Illegal logging, agricultural encroachment, hunting and wildlife trade, and forest fires are some of the greatest threats that will likely raze the remaining Sumatran forests unless immediate and comprehensive strategy for collaborative action are taken by the Government of Indonesia, NGOs and the private sector. This project aims to minimize the impacts of these threats through investments into partnership building for conservation action in the cluster of the three protected areas along the Bukit Barisan Range of Sumatra; namely the Gunung Leuser (GL), Kerinci Sebelat (KS) and the Bukit Barisan (BB) National Parks (NP), currently under consideration for the World Heritage List as a Criteria iv Cluster nomination. The project proposes to provide a comprehensive management system by integrating training and NGO development into research, park management, and regional planning. In order to achieve this mission, the Conservation Action and Network Program, Indonesia (CANOPI) – a program of strategic alliance and collaborative conservation – employs four primary strategies and a set of actions for each strategy, which are: 1) gather and promote knowledge on priority species, ecosystems, and issues and building conservation constituencies and training the next generation of conservation professionals and leaders; 2) strengthen the management of BBSL through strategic alliance building including collaborative management and partnership; 3) develop investment strategies for BBSL and linking park planning and management to regional government planning and policy; and 4) increase awareness of local constituents on the value and activities of the park and its management. The project will establish the basis for integrated bioregional planning, along with providing the basic conditions for developing a co-operative relationship between the three parks in the cluster nominated for World Heritage as the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS). Various sectors of society will be invited to contribute to the effort: academic and NGO sectors will help meet management demands on research, education, training, communications and advocacy, the private sector will participate in investing in ecological friendly agricultural practices and selected buffer zone development activities, and public sector agencies themselves will improve law enforcement and co-ordinate policies and activities amongst a wide range of resource use Upon project completion, conservation efforts in this cluster site will be well sectors1. coordinated and opportunities for cooperation will be regularly identified and used. Signed on behalf of: Signature Date Name/Title UNESCO Birgitte Moller Director, Bureau for Relations with Extra budgetary Funding Sources Wildlife Conservation Society John G. Robinson Senior Vice-President and of the Director International Conservation Programs UNFIP 1 Amir Dossal Executive Director A buffer zone is typically an area bordering protected areas designed to safeguard the protected areas from outside threats such as economic development. Ideally, there are a mosaic or expanses of natural habitats in order shield protected areas and accommodate needs of wildlife populations. Contacts: Claire Varrelmann Weber Shandwick 972-830-2896 cvarrelmann@webershandwick.com Jason Anderson Conservation International 202-912-1464 j.anderson@conservation.org SAVE THE TIGER FUND ANNOUNCES ALLIANCE WITH CRITICAL ECOSYSTEM PARTNERSHIP FUND New Agreement will Extend Reach of Tiger Conservation Efforts WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 19, 2004) – Save The Tiger Fund (STF) and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) have joined forces to link tiger conservation programs across Asia, a major step in unifying the efforts of many conservation organizations. Unified action is critical in addressing today’s threats to tigers, which include highly organized regional networks that are smuggling tiger parts and are often linked to trafficking in narcotics and weapons. “Although terrorist threats, the economy and diseases have knocked the tiger off front page news, its status in the wild remains in need of urgent action,” said John Seidensticker, STF Council chairman and senior scientist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. “Scaling up efforts together is essential to ensure that we do not lose ground against the remarkable progress made so far and, just as important, that these negative forces do not impede further success.” Despite predictions of doom for this majestic cat, wild tigers continue to survive in a patchwork of areas across Asia, from the tropical rain forests of Sumatra and Indochina to the temperate oak forest of the Amur River Valley in the Russian Far East. “Save The Tiger Fund has a proud 10-year history focused on the conservation of wild tigers through solid science, improved habitat protection, enhanced capability of local leadership and community engagement - all of which will now grow and deepen by the addition of this new partnership with CEPF," said John Berry, executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which established STF in partnership with ExxonMobil Foundation in 1995. -more- STF Announces Alliance with CEPF 2 Since its founding, STF has supported 226 tiger-conservation projects in 13 countries. Now STF and CEPF – two major grant makers – will forge united tiger conservation strategies, catalyzing partner organizations and community groups to combine efforts to benefit tigers and people alike. Partnerships are the hallmark of both funds, with a focus on uniting efforts at all levels to achieve greater impact. “Collaboration among donors and those in the front line is essential for larger, landscape-level programs,” said Jorgen Thomsen, CEPF executive director and senior vice president of Conservation International. “Save The Tiger Fund’s unique way of investing in conservation leaders and allied efforts has made a tangible difference for tigers. Bringing our efforts together will make greater outcomes possible to save tigers and many other species.” Tigers live on land that provides some of the most fertile and abundant natural resources for humans and wildlife alike. Often referred to as an umbrella species, tigers range over large landscapes that support a complex web of life; to save the tiger is to save all that lives in an entire landscape. As part of the new alliance, CEPF has pledged $3 million over three years to at least double the size of STF’s grant distribution in Asia’s biodiversity hotspots, the biologically richest yet most endangered areas. ExxonMobil Foundation has also committed an additional $3 million. “Important strides have been made in tiger conservation in recent years,” said Ed Ahnert, president of ExxonMobil Foundation. “However, the tiger’s status remains tenuous, despite growing cooperation among those working for its survival. This partnership and major new funding commitment represent an opportunity to truly mobilize the global tiger-conservation community and establish a sustainable future for wild tigers.” About the Organizations The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (www.cepf.net) is a joint initiative of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. Formed in 2000, CEPF is now -more- STF Announces Alliance with CEPF 3 supporting more than 110 nongovernmental organizations, community groups and others who work to conserve threatened ecosystems. Conservation International administers CEPF. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (www.nfwf.org) is a private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization established by Congress in 1984 and dedicated to the conservation of fish, wildlife and plants and the habitat on which they depend. The Foundation creates partnerships between the public and private sectors and strategically invests in conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. ExxonMobil Foundation began funding tiger conservation in 1992 and has invested more than $11 million to date in tiger range countries, representing one of the largest corporate commitments ever made to saving a species. ExxonMobil's funding enables STF to support projects that advance conservation science and conservation leadership, and improve the welfare of local people who share the land with wild tigers. For more information about Save The Tiger Fund and tigers, please visit www.5tigers.org or see the electronic press kit at http://www.5tigers.org/stf_cepfpresskit.htm. ### 6 August 2004, 20:56:21 WWF Welcomes Indonesian Government's Declaration of Tesso Nilo National Park Major Step to Save Indonesia's Last Sumatran Tigers and Elephants Press Release - For immediate release – 5 August 2004 Jakarta, Indonesia -- WWF, the conservation organisation, welcomes the Government of Indonesia's recent declaration of Tesso Nilo National Park, covering 38,576 hectares in Riau Province, Sumatra. Although the new park covers a fourth of the 155,000 hectares proposed by the local government, it is a big first step towards securing the future of Sumatran tigers and elephants in Indonesia. “This is a giant step towards our vision of a greater Tesso Nilo National Park, that will make it possible to secure the protection of the magnificent Sumatran tiger and elephant," said Dr Mubariq Ahmad, WWF Indonesia's Chief Executive. Tesso Nilo is one of the last havens of Sumatran tigers and elephants. It is home to three per cent of the world’s mammal species. With over 4,000 plant species recorded so far, the forest of Tesso Nilo has one of the highest levels of lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science. It is also one of the largest remaining lowland forest blocks on the island of Sumatra. "By establishing the Tesso Nilo National Park, Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry is giving a positive signal towards the protection of these last lowland forest frontiers," added Mubariq. The park's establishment is also significant in that the World Bank has forecasted Sumatra's last lowland forests could disappear by 2005. Only 50 years ago, nearly the entire island was covered with forest. WWF Indonesia therefore looks forward to further commitments on enlarging the Tesso Nilo National Park as soon as possible. The initial proposal called for the establishment of 155,000 hectares as a national park in Tesso Nilo. However, much of this area are still held as active logging concessions by three companies. A fourth of this area - 38,576 hectares - which forms the newly declared National Park, is a former logging concession of Inhutani IV, a government-owned company. The company had returned its logging concession licence to the Government. WWF hopes that the other three companies will follow Inhutani IV in returning their logging concessions to the Government in the near future. This would then open the way for the Government to expand the park to cover the initial proposed area of 155,000 hectares. With the establishment of the park, the challenge now is to secure its protection. Tesso Nilo is highly threatened by illegal logging, carried out to supply an illegal saw mill and a legal pulp and paper mill operating in Riau. WWF calls on these industries to stop sourcing timber from Tesso Nilo. The conservation organisation also urges the local governments and the Ministry of Forestry to ensure firm and effective law enforcement to stop illegal logging in the new park and the greater Tesso Nilo proposed boundaries. WWF has been helping to secure the protection of Tesso Nilo, and remains committed to working with the national and local governments to manage the new park. Work is currently in progress to establish a Joint Management Board which will ensure collaborative management of the new park. The Board will involve all stakeholders, including the government’s Regional Conservation Office, District and Provincial government officials, the private sector, representatives of the local communities adjacent to the park and WWF. In addition, WWF has facilitated and supported the establishment of the Tesso Nilo Community Forum, which is run by all 23 local communities living in the buffer zone of the greater proposed National Park. These communities work together to protect the Tesso Nilo forest and have a unified voice on the Joint Management Board. The Forum also works to secure alternative sustainable income from nontimber forest products, for example, by jointly producing wild honey. For further information: Nazir Foead, Director of Species Programme, WWF Indonesia, tel: +62-811-977604, email: nfoead@wwf.or.id Bambang Hartono, Tesso Nilo Project Leader, WWF Indonesia, tel: +62-761-32901, email: bhartono@wwf.or.id This press release and associated material can be found on http://www.wwf.or.id/tessonilo/www.wwf.or.id Versi Cetak | Beri Komentar | Lihat Komentar | Kirim ke Teman Hak cipta WWF Indonesia. Diperkenankan mengutip isi situs ini dengan menyebutkan sumbernya. Untuk mengutip isi situs ini hubungi webmaster WWF Indonesia. Tiger Conservation October 2004 Participants to Workshop in Riau Make a Commitment to Curb Illegal Logging, Wildlife Poaching and Forest Fires th th On October 6 and 7 , 2004, WWF facilitated a meeting hosted by the Riau Forestry Department to discuss appropriate action to mitigate illegal logging, wildlife poaching and forest fire. 65 participants including high ranking military, police, ministry of Forestry and other government officials, and law enforcers of the four Tesso NiloBukit Tigapuluh Landscape Districts, NGOs and media attended the meeting. The Head of KSDA from the Forestry Department called for active participation from all in the effort to stop tiger poaching and support for tiger conservation. Otherwise, due to alarming levels of tiger poaching, encouraged by the trade of their parts he feared our future generations would not be able to see the tiger in the wild. In the meeting the Riau Forestry Department presented a number of illegal logging cases and obstacles faced in mitigation efforts, BKSDA presented their mitigation strategies for Tiger Poaching, the Riau Environment Impact Control Service gave a presentation of Forest Fires, WWFIndonesia presented the Manual For Combating Illegal Logging developed in collaboration with ITTO. Discussions were aimed at achieving a consensus to support efforts to combat illegal logging, wildlife poaching, and forest fires. The meeting resulted in a declaration of commitment to curb illegal logging, wildlife poaching and forest fires, signed by 28 participants to be sent to their superior for follow up. (open for public) (For further information, contact Nur Anam: aragati@yahoo.com ) Community Handling Unemployment By Developing Sialang Honey Business In Tesso Nilo Sialang Lestari Honey Business Group board Photo: Alhamra/doc WWF WWF has provided assistance in developing a wild honey business in Logas Tanah Darat sub district, Kuantan Singingi district since 2003. This wild honey is unique in the sense that the bees naturaly build their hives in the giant indigenous Sialang trees. Work focused on raising awareness concerning the economic and conservation value of the sialang honey, the formation and strenghtening of a business group “Sialang Lestari” in September 2003, provision of honey productions equipment, marketing assistance, and protection of the habitat of sialang trees. Judging the potential development of this business that can contribute for sustainable natural resources utilization and promote the community life level by reducing number of unemployment therefore additional resources to speed up this business is needed. Riau provincial Man Power Service pays interest in WWF work on social economy development conducted in villages surrounding Tesso Nilo. As one of the program of local government is reducing unemployment level in the province of Riau, the government through Man Power Service asks for collaboration with WWF in the development of this honey bee business. The collaboration is in terms of sharing fund and program which will be managed and supervised by both WWF and Riau province Man Power Service. This service then has committed to give financial support for this business development for 2004 and 2005. For 2004 the service allocates Rp 199,780,000 for the development of this business taken from Unemployement Handling Movement National Action while for 2005 this service allocates Rp. 299,670,000 for this business development from Riau Regional Reveneue and Expenditure Budget. Another success that has also gained from WWF Social Economy Development program is the establishment of village regulation on protection of sialang tree habitat in Rambahan village, Kuantan Singingi district in August 2004. WWF helps facilitate the community and village institutions to develop the regulation that rules about protection, utilization of sialang tree habitat as well as sanctions over the distruction of the habitat. ( open for public ) For further information contact Syafrizal: Acong_minas@yahoo.com Community Tesso Nilo Community Forum Occupy a New Secretariat Since established on January 2004, the Tesso Nilo Community Forum has been temporarily stationed in the WWF office in Pekanbaru. Recently, in September 2004 the forum has moved to its own official premises in Pangkalan Kerinci, Pelalawan Pangkalan Kerinci is much closer to Tesso Nilo National Park, and more accessible especially by the communities in the directly adjacent villages to Tesso Nilo. Furthermore almost 90 % of the national park is located within Pelalawan district. It is hoped that this closeness will help the forum to communicate its programs and mission as mandated by its members to the local community, government and other stakeholders. This way the forum will be able to assist communities in problem solving directly and locally.( Open for public ) For further information contact Samsuardi: sam_gajah@yahoo.com) Park Management Land Use Planning of Five Districts in TNBT Landscape in Question The Tesso Nilo-Bukit Tigapuluh (TNBT) landscape, popullated by one million people, is riddled by conflicting interests. If not addressed, this situation could threaten the ecosystem’s integrity and undermine development invested in the area. One example of this conflict is reflected in legal forest conversion that does not take into account the ecological value of the converted forest, illegal logging, overlaps in landuse policies or practices, all of which in the end sacrifice protected areas. The conversions of Riau’s natural forests are determined by local land use policy. Flawed policies can result in the destruction of natural forests. There is an urgent need to reduce the negative impacts of such policies through advocacy and consultation mechanisms. One such initiative is a legal review being carried out on the land use policy documents of Kampar, Kuantan Singingi, Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir, and Pelalawan districts; in which, all are connected by the TNBT corridor. The review carried out by Greenomics Indonesia in Collaboration with WWF-Riau Elephant Conservation Program, indicates various analytical flaws in the process of land use planning in the five districts. The final land use reports of all five districts revealed that 30 to 87 percent of the data groupings that are required to be considered as a basis of analysis by the Ministerial Decree327/Kpts/M/2002 of the department of Public Works were not given due to attention and in some cases not even considered. The inadequacy of legaly required data in the planing process has resulted in an analysis that does not syncronize land use categories such as agriculture, village areas and city land use within the context of the protected area. The land use plans do not explain the interaction between these areas and the protected area. Especially in terms of land use within the protected area, and in the villages and cities conected to the protected area. The risks that these land uses could have on the protected area have not been considered. There is a need to improve forest land use plans in all five districts by developing them in a comprehensive and procedural manner. This needs to be done in consultation with all stakeholders including the department of Forestry, the department of Public Works, the Forestry office of Riau, and provincial and district land use planning teams as well related communities, experts and business. This is needed to ensure that the consensual process is in line with the higher level land use plans for the area.( open for public ) For further information contact Dudi Rufendi: drufendi@wwf.or.id Communication Tesso Nilo Project Participated in Book Exhibition To celebrate “Visit the Library’ day, the Riau Library and Documentation Board conducted a multi media exhibition, including a documentary film show on October 2-4. Local and national media publishers and Riau based universities took part in this event. WWF Tesso Nilo project also joined the exhibition with the aim at raising public awareness about the importance of conservation in Tesso Nilo.. Students are watching and answering questionnaire : Photo: Dani/doc WWF The Tesso Nilo communication unit disseminated posters, stickers, leaflets, and bulletins to visitors, the majority of whom were secondary school students. Many visitors stopped by the WWF stand and asked for information. On the second day, the Tesso Nilo team showed a documentary film about the tradition of harvesting honey from the sialang tree to visitors. While watching the film the audience answered questionnaire on what they know about Tesso Nilo and related conservation activities. Inputs gained from these questionnaires will help the communication unit improve its environment education program for schools. The Riau library will continue to periodically show documentary films and has invited WWF to continue showing documentary films on conservation. (open for public) Students are in crowd taking posters and stickers : Photo: Dani/doc WWF $61,730 $2,117,555 $3,484,871 $291,126 $870,000 $61,730 $1,367,316 $500,000 $900,000 $233,874 $994,972 $260,000 Total Save The Tiger Fund* Partnership for the Conservation of Sumatran Natural Heritage Conservation of Sumatra Tiger in Tesso Nilo/Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape Creation and Management of the Tesso Nilo Protected Area as a Centerpiece of Sumatra?s Tesso Nilo Bukit/Tigapuluh Conservation Corridor Empowering Local People and Local Government to Support Batang Gadis National Park $61,730 $199,547 Expansion of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park and Protection of Its Wider Ecosystem $61,730 $690,585 $900,000 $500,000 $318,809 $118,000 $870,000 $291,126 $900,000 $500,000 $380,539 $179,730 $232,746 Anti-Poaching Patrols for Rhinos, Tigers and Other Megafauna within Bukit Barisan National Park and Ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia * CEPF has entrusted Save the Tiger Fund with making tiger-related investments in the tiger-range areas where CEPF is active. The total amount of CEPF’s investment in Save the Tiger fund is $3,000,000, which has been matched by $3,000,000 from the ExxonMobil Foundation. CEPF: International Rhino Foundation Co-Financing: Save the Tiger Fund, WCS and WWF Project/Regional Leveraging: Government of Australia CEPF: Komunitas Konservasi Indonesia (WARSI) Co-Financing: Government of Australia Project/Regional Leveraging: Global Conservation Fund CEPF: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Project/Regional Leveraging: ExxonMobil Foundation CEPF: United Nations Foundation Project/Regional Leveraging: United Nations Foundation CEPF: World Wildlife Fund Co-Financing: World Wildlife Fund CEPF: WWF Indonesia Co-Financing: WWF Germany and other WWF national offices CEPF: Yayasan Bina Ketrampilan Desa Co-Financing: Government of Australia $232,746 $48,000 $482,500 $48,000 Batang Gadis National Park Development and Management Support $5,000 Project/Regional Total Leveraging Leveraged $21,000 $21,000 Co-Financing $300,000 Motivating Governments to Address Illegal Wildlife in Southeast Asia CEPF: Conservation International-Center for Conservation and Government Co-Financing: Conservation International CEPF: Conservation International-Indonesia Project/Regional Leveraging: Private Donor CEPF: Conservation International-Indonesia Project/Regional Leveraging: Global Conservation Fund Funding Amount Conservation of the Sumatran Orangutan in the Northern Sumatra Corridor Project Title Organization