Open Letter of ARPAG  for
International Meeting UNFCCC Bangkok 2009
Local Peoples’ Initiative
Solidarity to Save Peatland Ecology in Central Kalimantan-Indonesia

International Meeting UNFCC  – Bangkok  29 September – 9 October 2009

By; Aliansi Rakyat Pengelola Gambut (ARPAG) Kalimantan Tengah – INDONESIA
 

A green landscape lying in equator of Borneo (Kalimantan) Island Indonesia, peatland of Central Kalimantan is one of the largest and richest resources in South East Asia. Kalimantan island  or well-known as Borneo laid at 40 24` North to  40 10` South and 1080 30` East to  1190 00` East with area wide of + 535.834 km2. The Indonesia part of Borneo occupied 28 % of all teresterial of Indonesia.  The North of Borneo is Indonesia’s neighboring countries, Malaysian Serawak and Sabah, and Kingdom of Brunei Darusallam. 

The separation of and division of the island represent colonial presenced long time ago. The island of Borneo is rich with   plenty natural resources, tropical forest, minerals, fresh water, and coastal resources. The richness significantly contributes to Republic of Indonesia’s revenue particularly from forest and mineral resources (coal, gold, oil and gas).

Kalimantan suffered to over exploitation of naturall resources, serving raw materials to rich countries in Europe, USA, Australia, Canada, German, and Japan. Extraction of forest resources and mineral resources from beneath the earth of Borneo bring severe impact such as ecological destruction and social disintegration of local inhabitants of Borneo. Global development process led by Northern Countries has failed, resulting to global catastrophy in the form of climate change, adding more suffers to humankind, including those who live in Borneo. The development has failed, because it is formed and developed upon the foundation of greediness and capitalistic economy, exploiting and suffering the natives. In Central Kalimantan, peatland forest is shrinking because of conversion for large palm plantations, monoculture tree plantations, and mining.  We are the witness of gigantic projects of peatland conversions to serve Northern Countries wealth.

Peatland forest of Indonesia is the largest tropical peatland in the world, approximately 38 million hectares (Ministry of Forestry: 1997). As the world praising for growth, the richness of peatland turned into a curse. New Order Regime in 1997, implemented Mega Project of Peatland Development. One million hectare of peatland in Central Kalimantan was converted into paddy field. For local peoples, peatland is the soul of life. It gave resources for Ngaju people to continue live sustainably for centuries. The Ngaju from generation to generation gathered timber and non-timber resources in sustainable way. The gathered rubber sap, rattans, cultivate rice, hunting, and develop various fish ponds (tatah, handil and beje) to continue live in decent way. From peatland resources, the Ngaju could earn income for education, health, food, housing and cultural life.  The Ngaju employed sustainable customary rules to use peatland resources sustainably for centuries, until the ambition of development destroyed the peatland.

Peatland of Central Kalimantan is rich with bio-diversity. Half of the peatland area are rivers and wetlands with endemic vegetation. In some area of the peatland, the water colour is black, but full of life resources. That is why it is known also as black water ecosystem.  Local inhabitants started to suffer when President Suharto issued Decree no 82/1996 to convert 1 million peatland into rice-field. The project laid in District of Kapuas, Pulang Pisau, and South Barito. It also converted peatland in the City of Palangkaraya.

The project was failed totally. In the aftermath, the project didn’t give any benefits to environment and local people, but tremendous suffers instead. Peatland turned into disaster generating machine. The project displaced 82,000 local peoples from their homeland and source of living. Hundreds of thousands hectares of rubber and rattan gardens were destroyed, and also drinking wells, fish ponds were plumetted. Wetlands were drained by canals and became prairie vulnerable to fire. Peace life turned into conflicts and disasters.

Since 1997, forest and peatland fires happened every dry season up till now. In the rainy season, flood and inundation spread wider and wider. Food became rare and since then the area was proned to food in-security. Many peoples lost their jobs because of displacement and land grabbing. The project was truly a disaster for the inhabitants of peatland ecosystem of Central Kalimantan.

And now, our land, our ancestral land is threatened by new kind of projects. Conservation to keep carbons and carbon sink.  After UNFCCC COP-13 in Bali, the Reduction Emission from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD) projects encroached to our land to off-set  carbon emission of Northern Countries that are reluctant to reduce their fossil fuel consumption.

And again, for the sake to reduce emission, the peatlands of Central Kalimantan has been the area to serve northern countries thirst of fuels. To produce palm oil for agrofuels to feed northern cars. And also, the peatland of Central Kalimantan is also reach of minerals, oil, gas, coals, and gold. Some international conservation NGOs have started projects for conservation to contribute to prevent climate change. But, with the richness of peatlands soil and the mineral beneath, who would guarantee that peatland will keep intact.

We, the inhabitants of peatlands, learned from our own and our ancetors experience how to live sustainably in peatland. We protect our customary forest, our fish ponds, cultivate rice and gathered rattans and rubbers carefully to give chance of our next generation to have decent life, and we expect them to do as we do to protect the interest and the life of our next generations.

We totally understand that the destruction of peatlands in Central Kalimantan started in 1996. We also understand that climate change is the ultimate indicators of the failure of global development. In regards with climate talk in UNFCCC Process, we put our concerns and worries because so far the efforts to save the climate in UNFCCC is a mask to expand dirty and destructive industries through off-sets mechanism as in the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) and highly proposed in REDD. ARPAG demanded that the solution in UNFCCC process will not undermine local peoples rights to natural resourcs and our struggle to regain our rights in Central Kalimantan. We demanded all parties to respect the rights of local and indigenous peoples as guaranteed in UN Declaration of Rights of  Indigenous Peoples and the Constitution of Republic Indonesia.

ARPAG was formed in 2007, as a result of consolidation and conscience to unite, to learn, and share knowledge among people, that what the peoples have been doing to regain rights and replenish peatland forest are for the safety of peoples living space and peatland ecology in the future. Our struggle is guaranteed by Indonesia’s Constitution, where peoples have rights to natural resources, decent life, and sovereignty. We will struggle for new society that base on democracy, sosial justice, self determination, peace, and economic authonomy, and sustainability of peatland ecosystem. We will halt all activities and investment that would destroy and displace people eventhough they are masked with conservation efforts, mining and monoculture plantations.

We respect all efforts of all parties who work for environmental and social justice. We learn together internationally and nationally of what has been happening to reach agreement in Copenhagen, next December 2009. Therefore, based of the mandate of 7000 members of ARPAG who lives in 52 villages we share our concerns to the UNFCCC Session in Bangkok this week;

1.    ARPAG  principally give highly respect to international efforts to save the earth. Therefore, we keep continue to observe, communicate, and take position to what has been happening to UNFCCC process. We demand the UNFCCC process to find the best solution, to respect and recognise local initiatives to save the earth and prevent any efforts including conservation efforts that would displace indigenous and local peoples from their homeland.
2.    ARPAG with 7000 members in 52 villages together with Yayasan Petak Danum in Kapuas, has been a lot of efforts to save and replenish peatlands resources since 1999. We replant 50,000 hectares of endemic trees, rehabilitate rattans forest (13,000 ha), rubber forest (5000 ha), fish ponds, and developing traditional paddy fields, and revitalise customary forest system. We built school for traditional and wise peatlands management and enhancing strategic dialog with local government, central government, and NGOS nationally and internationally.
3.    ARPAG demand rich countries and Annex 1 countries; USA, Canada, Australia, Rusia, France, United Kingdom, Japan, and the rest of Annex 1 to reduce their emission into “zero” to save the earth and all  humankind.
4.    ARPAG demanded to delegation of Republic Indonesia consists of Government Officials, NGOs, and Business to stop negotiation that will undermine the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Rights to self determination on natural resources and cultures is indivisible part of human rights. We have been exist for centuries as free societies that reject any exploitation or colonisation of our own government, foreign nations in the name of conservation projects.
5.    ARPAG reject the proposal of MAWAS National Park (+ 377.000 hectares), oil and gas exploitation, palm plantations, and tree plantation in the ex Mega Project of Peatland. These projects are threatening the existence of local communities  and have been operating through violence of security apparatus (Police and Armed Forces) to smooth the projects. We believe that all conservation efforts are to protect the interest of oil exploitation that was discovered by Dutch-Indies Government in 1930s.
6.    ARPAG reject expansion of Palm Plantation (+ 360.000 hectares) in ex Mega Project of Peatland. The project is threatening the life of local peoples and peatland ecosystem. ARPAG realise that this project  will provides materials for food and agrofuels to  northern countries. The project will displace peoples and destroy local peoples life resources, rubber forest, rattans forest, fishponds and other natural resources.
7.    ARPAG reject all form of foreign aid to save peatland that generate from carbon trading or debt under the scheme of REDD or any other scheme.  The aid will bring severe impact to peoples and peatland resources. The aid will undermine peoples sovereignty over resources. Parties who involved in the investment of off-sets will control, dictating, and shringking the roles of government to protect people and peatland resources.
8.    ARPAG demand UNFCCC process in COP 15 to stop all negotiations covered by conservation efforts to stop climate change. We suspect there are a lot of interest of mining, plantations, and biopiracy involved in in the name of conservation. The on going negotiation to push conservation is a form of new colonialism to of Northern Countries to Southern Countries.
9.    ARPAG will keep to protect and preserve customary forest and peatland through cultural and customary system. The sound of Gong (traditional form of bell) and the gobble of rooster is the boundaries of our land. We will preserve banks 5 km from the water body in each water (river, ponds, and lake).  Our life is lying on the sustainability of lakes, peatlands, and wetlands. As long as the environment and nature keep intact we will still be exist from generation to generation.

Kuala Kapuas, 01 October  2009
Aliansi Rakyat Pengelola Gambut (ARPAG)

Muliadi. SE
Sekretaris Jenderal

Sekretariat Kerja ARPAG:
Jl. Karuing No. 06 RT. III RW. XVI Kelurahan Selat Dalam Kecamatan Selat 73516
Kabupaten Kapuas, Kalimantan Tengah – INDONESIA Telpon/Fax: 0513-22352, mobile phone: 081352761222
Email : petakdanum@gmail.com Blog:  www. petakdanum.blogspot.com www.sekolahgambut.blogspot.com, www.rotanpetakdanum.blogspot.com