Ecological restoration forest landscape restoration for asia pacific forests 2016 04 eng

20

3.4.2 Indonesia

Indonesia has introduced some 150 official rehabilitation projects in the last 50 years; the number has increased rapidly since the 1990s in tandem with the deforestation rate Box 3. The technical approaches were mainly the taungya system for conservation of watersheds, single- and multi-species industrial plantations and restoration enrichment planting of degraded lands for community and farm forestry programmes. Several policies were promulgated to support the restoration work. The main ones included steps to reclassify forests, reforestation funds, a transparent and participatory master plan and a policy focusing on people’s involvement in forest rehabilitation Box 3. Despite the successful establishment of industrial timber plantations by some corporate growers, efforts to restore forest cover on degraded lands in Indonesia have been much less successful. Nawir and Rumboko 2007 point out that some US68 million were allocated for rehabilitating 5.5 million ha, but this only achieved restoring 19 percent of the area. Although the cost for rehabilitation was effective, the funds were misused. In some cases, reforestation funds were siphoned off for non-forestry purposes. Nawir and Rumboko 2007 reviewed the conditions which can strengthen forest restoration Box 4. They relate very strongly to community participation, clarity of ownership issues and encouraging greater private sector involvement in forest restoration. Box฀4.฀Conditions฀to฀strengthen฀forest฀restoration฀in฀Indonesia: •฀ Reform the funding mechanism policy to avoid project-oriented approaches at the expense of also considering the broader context in which forest restoration is taking place. •฀ Address the causes of deforestation and degradation in the design of the restoration initiative. •฀ Increase community participation by ensuring both short- and long-term benefits. •฀ Strengthen institutional arrangements and ensure ownership issues are clear in order to reduce conflict and improve community participation. •฀ Address the factors that influence community adoption of forestry restoration initiatives e.g. ignorance of the techniques. •฀ Ensure long-term management planning and sustainability for restoration initiatives. •฀ Use the restoration approach that best fits the local conditions – the status of the forestland, markets and the population is going to influence the outcome of restoration work. •฀ Make good use of the decentralization policy by getting the local government, which knows the most about local conditions, to lead the process of designing the most appropriate restoration programmes. •฀ Encourage the private sector to lead restoration programmes with commercial interests, with government- Box฀3.฀Major฀forest฀restoration฀policies฀of฀Indonesia •฀ Forest Land Use by Consensus 1984 – targeted for improving rehabilitation in state forests. •฀ Reforestation Funds 1980, 2002 – supported forest plantations and state forest rehabilitation programmes. •฀ Master Plan for Forest and Land Rehabilitation 2000 – provided the basis for planning rehabilitation programmes that could be integrated, transparent, participatory and based on local regions’ aspirations and uniqueness. •฀ National Movement for Forest and Land Rehabilitation 2003, 2007 – focused on people’s involvement in forest and land rehabilitation. •฀ Forest Landscape for Revitalizing Communities 2002, 2009 – included community-based forestry plantations, community forestry, village forests and ecosystem restoration. •฀ New strategic priorities for 2010-2014 were announced in 2010 – they included establishment of forest area zoning units, forest rehabilitation and watershed carrying capacity improvement, fire control, biodiversity conservation, revitalization of forest use and forest industry, empowerment of local communities, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and strengthening forestry institutions. Source: Nawir et al. see p. 53 3. Sandification Control Programme. 4. Key Shelterbelts Programme. 5. Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Development Programme. 6. Fast Growing and High Yielding Forests Base Construction Programme. Source: FAO 2010 a,b 21

3.4.3 Myanmar

Forest cover restoration in Myanmar has mainly occurred through the establishment of plantations. Various types of plantations have been introduced including commercial plantations of native species teak, Xylia, Pterocarpus, pine etc. and industrial plantations fast-growing species of mostly exotics to afford watershed protection and to meet local fuelwood supply. The taungya system is still widely used for rehabilitating degraded forests; with declining interest in intercropping, this system however, requires modification to attract communities to practise it. While teak, Xylia and Pterocarpus are commonly used for commercial plantations, more drought-resistant species such as Azadirachta, Albizzia and Acacia are employed with intensive ground preparation in the dry zone areas. While the targets for plantations have been set high, the annual averages are in the range of 20 000 to 30 000 ha. Besides plantations, rehabilitation enrichment planting of logged natural forests continues. While the original forest policies, based on the 1894 Indian Forest Policy, focused mainly on timber production, the Myanmar Forest Policy Act of 1995 requires managers to take a broader approach and take account of environmental and social objectives and not only production goals Box 5. Community forests owned by communities on a long-term lease from the state have received the highest attention in areas that are highly degraded and vulnerable to climate change such as the dry zone regions and the Shan Plateau. This led to the establishment of the Dry Zone Greening Department for supporting the establishment of “forest plantations for local supply and greening of the environs.” Despite all these restoration efforts, forests are still declining at about 1 percent annually. However, policy changes, particularly those related to community forestry and efforts to meet the local needs of people, are currently under consideration. In the mid-2000s, privately-owned teak and hardwood plantations were allowed and they are likely to increase in the future.

3.4.4 Nepal

During the 1950s, Nepal nationalized its forest estate, resulting in heavy loss of forests. The subsequent land degradation caused Nepal’s foresters to look towards forest plantations as a means of reversing forest losses. Research as early as the 1950s favoured planting the exotic Pinus roxburghii on degraded hill sites. These early studies also suggested Schima wallichii and Shorea robusta could be useful species for forest restoration because they are capable of regeneration by coppicing and, even if damaged, can grow back if protected from fire and grazing. In the 1970s, plantations of these species were the main forms of forest restoration. Over time it became evident that plantings under the control of communities tended to be more successful than those established by the government. As a result, the role of community forestry grew into a major platform for forest restoration. Several policy steps were involved. Following heavy deforestation and soil damage, more conservation-based policies were formulated with strategies and programmes to arrest deforestation. The 1976 National Forestry Policy Plan of Nepal addressed deforestation and gave emphasis to industrial development, but also recognized people’s participation in forest management. The Master Plan for the Forestry Sector 1989 forwarded many strategies and programmes, including the community forestry and the leasehold forestry programmes as effective interventions to reverse deforestation and forest degradation. The Revised Forestry Sector Policy 2000 provided clear options for management of degraded and open Box฀5.฀Focus฀areas฀of฀Myanmar’s฀Forest฀Policy฀Act฀1995฀ •฀ Protection of soil, water, wildlife, biodiversity and the environment. •฀ Sustainability of forest resource use. •฀ Basic needs for fuel, shelter, food and recreation. •฀ Efficient use, in a socially and environmentally friendly manner, of the full economic potential of forest resources. •฀ Participation of people in the conservation and use of forests. •฀ Public awareness of the vital role of forests in the well-being and socio-economic development of the nation. Based on these focuses, the National Forest Master Plan was developed to cover the period 2001-2030 with regard to, inter alia, conservation, harvesting of natural forests, exports, NWFPs, forest regeneration and rehabilitation, and watershed management. Source: Ba Kaung see p. 79 dominated agencies paying greater attention to programmes that are geared towards conservation and protection of ecosystem services. Source: Nawir and Rumnoko 2007