Business Case in Sintang, West Kalimantan , Indonesia
In Indonesia both Rainforest Alliance and CDP implement Business Case activities under two strategic approaches:
- Local landscape partnerships have reduced GHG emissions, deforestation and biodiversity threats while increasing restoration and boosting livelihoods through implementing collective landscape action.
- Mainstream corporate, subnational, and investor contributions to landscape and jurisdictional level outcomes into global environmental standards.
About Sintang
The Sintang district has the third largest area in West Kalimantan Province, covering 2,163,500 ha. Administratively, Sintang is divided into 14 sub-districts and 391 villages.
As of 2021, its population was estimated to be around 420,000 people, with most of the population belonging to Dayak ethnic groups, followed by Malay and Chinese ethnic groups.
The forest area is representative of the tropical rainforest ecosystem that dominates peaks of Schwaner mountain range. There are about 817 recorded species of plants belonging to 139 families.
The communities living around the park are also primarily Indigenous belonging to the Dayak ethnic group.
In terms of economy, Sintang is primarily an agricultural region, with most of its population engaged in farming activities.
The main crops cultivated in the region are palm oil, as well as rice, rubber, and pepper. The Bukit Baka Bukit Raya national park is the most important protected area in the province with 180,000 hectares.
It is shared with Central Kalimantan Province. Most parts of the park are strongly fragmented. The major threats are often caused by shifting cultivation agriculture, sometimes intensified by forest fires, logging, and mining.
The park is a critical area for the translocation of rescued orangutans and has an important role in the hydrological function as a catchment area for Melawi Watershed in West Kalimantan and Regional Katingan River in Central Kalimantan.
According to the organization Tropical Forest Champions, 5 West Kalimantan contains about 6.4% of the carbon stored in Indonesia’s tropical forests. However, Sintang is among the districts with the highest rates of deforestation in Indonesia, per the Global Forest Watch (GFW) dashboard.
From 2001 to 2017, the district lost about 440,000 ha (21%) of tree cover, of which 79% was natural forest.
Conversion to palm oil is the leading cause of primary forest loss in Sintang, with rubber second.
Sintang also has critical development challenges, with the highest poverty rate in West Kalimantan, economic growth that is below target levels, an inequitable and inadequate provision of basic infrastructure, and other challenges.
At the same time, pressure on natural resources continues to increase due to persistent expansion of agriculture and plantations, especially from palm oil (both by companies and smallholders).
Activities
To achieve Business Case goals in Sintang, Rainforest Alliance is leading 4 components.
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LAND - USE PLANNING
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MULTISTAKEHOLDER PLATFORM
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PUBLIC POLICIES
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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION (RSPO)
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CDP works alongside Rainforest Alliance in Sintang, deploying activities to implement strategic approach 3 of the Business Case: Mainstream corporate, subnational, and investor contributions to landscape and jurisdictional level outcomes into global environmental standards.
Achievements to date
2022
Mapping of Key Initiatives
The LA/JA team initiated the mapping of key initiatives to ensure alignment across common frameworks associated with landscape action, resulting in the adoption of takeaways from ISEAL’s joint landscape position papers on claims (2022/2023) to enhance CDP’s questionnaire for the 2024 disclosure cycle.
2023
Teamwork
CDP collaborated with LandScale in updating and aligning maturity matrices for landscape initiative evaluation.
2023
Updates
CDP is advancing in the development of updates for the 2024 disclosure cycle. Proposed changes aim to enhance clarity and improve the quality of the disclosure data.
2023
Earth Innovation Institute
CDP established a formal partnership with Earth Innovation Institute (EII) to incentivize states and regions reporting to CDP’s disclosure platform and EII’s Green Jurisdictional Database aiming to:
a. To increase the capacity of subnational governments to disclose more and better-quality data to CDP.
b.To align subnational government´s data with that disclosed by companies to CDP.
Consequently, Companies and investors will gain improved visibility into the readiness of states and regions to participate in landscape-level environmental actions.
2023
Sign-Smart
The Rainforest Alliance supported the efforts of the Sintang district government to conduct a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory using the Sign-Smart application as part of the landscape diagnosis. This inventory aims to contribute to Indonesia's commitment to reduce emissions. GHG emissions were calculated using the Indonesian National Carbon Accounting System method. The inventory is included as an indicator in the LAP design.
The design of the LAP was completed during this period and agreed upon trough several meetings and discussions with more than 40 stakeholders from government organizations, CSOs, cooperatives, and oil palm companies.
2023
The Financial Assessment Tool
The Rainforest Alliance finished an initial assessment to explore investment opportunities within the landscape and identify financial policy gaps. This includes utilizing the financial assessment tool created by Clarmondial to assess investment opportunities involving the private sector. The assessment provides an overview of financial institutions operating within the landscape and analyzes financial policies related to sustainable development.
2023
The INCAS Method
The Rainforest Alliance supported the district government in conducting a GHG inventory based on land cover using the INCAS method. This contributes to the national inventory led by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The INCAS system is accessible online, enabling its use by local governments.
