Communities and forest management in East Kalimantan : pathway to environmental stability

The first study focused on the migrant community in Datarban to investigate land-use changes in highly pressured forest areas, the second on Diak Lay, a traditional community, to examine the difference between traditional forest use systems and commercial timber operations and discover better ways of managing forest resources. The studies showed that forest use practices by concessionaires, developers, migrants, and local populations, particularly near roads and urban centers, have rapidly degraded Kalimantan forests, but also that traditional communities have a thorough knowledge of forest ecology and regenerative processes based on centuries of experience with long-rotation agriculture. The report recommends that a small proportion of East Kalimantan"s forests be developed for settlements, agriculture, and fast-growing timber plantations, but that the remaining forest be allowed to regenerate under the stewardship of local communities. Traditional wisdom, combined with more recent scientific experimentation, suggest that rapid regrowth can be achieved if cutting and burning are controlled, and that forest productivity can be increased through enrichment planting and other manipulations of the natural environment.