Balinese company Asia Pacific Consulting Solutions (APCS) uses a unique approach to foster responsible management of Indonesia's forests. Their group scheme supports operations in progressing step by step towards FSC forest management certification. The stepping stones are NEPCon’s LegalSource and FSC’s controlled wood certification. During May 2015, NEPCon issued all three certificates to APCS.
The group’s two first members are PT BIOS and PT Klia, mangrove forest operations located in Western Kalimantan.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world’s mangroves are being cleared 3–5 times faster than terrestrial forests. Mangrove timber species are not well suited for high-quality commercial products, and the timber is mainly used for woodchips and charcoal. However, even a low market value may be a rescuing factor for mangroves.
Mangroves are important for wildlife and almost 80% of the world's global fish catches depend on them directly or indirectly. In addition, mangroves retain massive amounts of carbon and provide food security for coastal populations. They also provide an effective buffer against high waves and even tsunamis.
“Given the pressure on mangrove forests, responsible timber harvesting may be their saving grace. The alternative is often destructive logging or clearing for coastal development or aquaculture,” explains Christian Schriver, Regional Manager of NEPCon Southeast Asia.
Certifying social and environmental responsibility
The forest areas in the group scheme consist of only two main timber species. Yet they are home to wildlife species including proboscis monkeys and Irrawaddy dolphins. The operations' own high conservation value (HCV) inventories have resulted in the set-aside of 34% of the total area for conservation, and have established buffer zones 500 m wide in areas next to protected forest.
WWF Indonesia has been engaged with the two companies since 2011, providing important assistance on implementing best forest management practices including assessing HCVs, developing management plans, and biodiversity monitoring.
WWF’s Global Forest and Trade Network Indonesia Manager Joko Sarjito says, “Conservation management to protect proboscis monkey habitats can be integrated with mangrove harvesting activities. The FSC certificate verifies that the management of both concessions supports sustainability and protects the monkey’s habitat.”
Fairus Mulia, Director of both the PT Klias and PT BIOS operations, stresses that achieving a certificate is not in itself the primary goal. "We want to ensure that we're managing the mangroves responsibly and sustainably for the benefit of future generations and to gain global recognition for our effort. To achieve this, of course the financial benefit of certification becomes a key factor in supporting our activities."
Indonesia's forest sector is known for high levels of illegal logging and corruption. To handle these threats, APCS has set up a corporate social responsibility programme, and the group has conducted social impact assessments and participatory rural assessments. Local villagers are allowed to collect non-timber forest products such as crabs and Nipa palm leaves used for traditional roofing, and receive social assistance from the companies.
A unique approach
Executive Director of NEPCon Peter Feilberg believes that the approach spearheaded by the APCS might be part of the solution to saving the world’s mangroves.
“Engaging small operations in FSC certification is a major challenge worldwide,” he says. “The set-up used for the APCS scheme breaks the process up into several smaller steps, ensuring a real incentive for the forest owner to complete each step. The Indonesian FSC forest management standard, the FSC controlled wood standard and the LegalSource standard are well aligned with each other, which eases progress from one level to the next. This type of group scheme may help to keep mangroves standing by linking their responsible management with economic value.”
Mangrove trees can withstand desiccation as well as tidal flow, high waves and salty water, yet they are disappearing 3–5 times faster than other forests.
Mangroves provide diverse ecosystem services, including carbon storage and wildlife and fish habitats.
The BIOS and Klias operations allow local villagers to continue collecting Nipa palms used in traditional roofing.
Crabs, mud lobster and river prawns are the staple food of the mangrove, and local people can also still collect these non-timber forest products in the BIOS and Klias concessions.
Life in the mangrove follows the rhythm of the tide, and planting in nurseries like this takes place when the tide goes out.
When the tide comes in, timber is floated out from the forest or shipped in small boats.
Rivers and other watercourses are the highways of the mangrove, and forest workers travel in small boats.
The loss of mangrove forests also means the loss of biological diversity, food security and coastal zone resilience, but this group scheme might be a step on the road to protecting these forests for future generations.