A

fter the Danish government officially cut its funding to Hutan Harapan (Forest of Hope) in Jambi this year, PT Restorasi Ekosistem Indonesia (REKI), a private company established to manage the forest, needs to find another way to fund its operations.

Since 2011, Denmark had been the main donor of Hutan Harapan, the oldest ecosystem restoration concession (ERC) forest in Indonesia, through a joint project called Environmental Support Program Phase 3 (ESP3).

The Danish government had provided up to US$12.7 million in financial support, as well as technical assistance to manage the forest, which was channeled to REKI via non-governmental organization Burung Indonesia. This year will be the last year of ESP3 since the government intends to channel the fund to other countries in need.

In 2018, over 20,000 out of 98,555 hectares of the total area managed by REKI were claimed by encroachers who planted palm trees on the land.

Although the company had limited access to Hutan Harapan by intentionally not repairing the uneven road that leads to the forest, encroachers still find ways to access the forest.

REKI’s operational director, Lisman Sumardjani, said the company found it challenging to stop the encroachers as the forest is surrounded by oil palm plantations and factories.

“It is quite difficult to overcome this issue because they [the encroachers] are coming from many openings throughout the forest area,” Lisman told reporters during a presentation in Hutan Harapan headquarters in Jambi recently.

The encroachment business, according to Lisman, is huge with an illegal plantation estimated to make up to Rp 200 million ($13,841) each month. It also caused a problem for REKI because the company has to pay land taxes and currently owes up to Rp 8 billion to the country.

REKI’s head of srategic partnership and land stabilization, Adam Azis, said his company had tried to reduce the number of illegal activities through conflict resolutions. According to Adam, 11 out of 25 indigenous communities in the forest area had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a partnership with REKI.

“Those who haven’t signed the MoU include those who still don’t understand the partnership concept and expect the agreement to grant them an ownership certificate,” he said.

As for those who already signed the MoU, Adam said, they will receive REKI’s help to develop the land through agroforestry projects. In return, those communities are not allowed to damage the forest and are required to help the company prevent illegal poachers and encroachers.

Unfortunately, the company is outnumbered by the number of encroachers, illegal poachers and illegal logging industries alike in the area.

“To put it simply, when we’re in the middle of capturing an encroacher to bring them to the authorities, another one enters the forest. It’s a never-ending cycle,” he said.

Per Rasmussen, national program adviser for the Denmark Environmental Support Program, acknowledged that his team had asked the company to reduce the number of encroachers and poachers to zero in 2016. However, REKI could not fulfill the request as there were too many encroachers and poachers for the company to handle.

When asked about REKI’s next plan to fund its operations, Adam said the company would look for a new donor as well as develop a new business plan.

“So far, we’re eyeing Germany to be our next donor,” he said.