Community Forest Tumbang Lahang Project

It was a time before the major palm oil boom had begun. Around the turn of the millennium, following the founding of Eco Hapakat’s predecessor foundation, a team of five full-time staff focused on designing and planning one of the first village forest projects in Kalimantan. The transition from the Suharto era to Indonesia’s early steps as a democracy was only three years old, and new forest management models were virtually unknown.

We developed a project for the sustainable use of forests surrounding the village of Tumbang Lahang, based on guidelines and standards from the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) in Japan. Together with the Indonesian forestry authorities, we worked to shape the concept of a “village forest.” The aim was to integrate forestry and economic factors alongside ecological criteria, with the local village population playing a leading and participatory role in all processes.

After about two years of work, a project proposal was completed and received positive feedback and approval from the ITTO, forestry research institutions, and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry.

However, due to global political tensions surrounding the Afghanistan crisis and the resulting strain between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds, securing funding became extremely difficult. The project was ultimately shelved by both the ITTO and the Ministry of Forestry.

At the time, preliminary investments totaled just under USD 100,000. By the time the global political climate had calmed, the palm oil boom was in full swing, and the conditions in the village forest of Tumbang Lahang had changed so drastically compared to the time of the proposal that resuming the project was no longer feasible.