3.7.1 History of Land-Use Management in West Kalimantan
3.7.1.1 Logging and Unplanned Land Use Before Innovative Peatland
Management
Previously, the working areas of WSL-MTI were logging concessions of the natural
forest business (Hak Pengusahaan Hutan, HPH) from 1969 to 1990. Before the
logging began, much of the area was covered by peat swamp forest, while the
southern part of the area was probably mangrove forest. However, mangrove forests
have been destroyed by logging and are now being replaced by nipa palms. The log
extraction was usually performed by a human-powered tram system.
The harvesting was selective cutting based on government regulation, so the
impacts of the logging operations were not highly significant compared with the
clear-cutting system that has been used for a few decades in industrial forest and oil
palm plantations. However, around the 1980s, there was a boom in the export of
ramin trees, which led to their excessive logging and significant deforestation. After
the HPH permission expired in 1990, the administrator who manages the forest
production area was absent until WSL-MTI received permissions for industrial
forest plantations (IUPHHK-HTI) in 2009. Simultaneously, the remaining forest
after HPH became open access for illegal logging and slash-and-burn cultivation.
The illegal logging used small canals to extract logs. Alternatively, the long sawn
boards, which were approximately 30 cm wide, were stretched across the forest
ground and the logs and sawn boards carried out by a custom-made bicycle.
However, large quantities of logs were frequently being hauled away as rafts
(Fig. 3.4). Therefore, Japanese and Indonesian companies focused on the situation
because the poorly managed peatland area could become more severely damaged
and will be a large GHG emission source.
Fig. 3.4 Log rafts were used as one a way to extract logs before starting forest plantation business
3 Large-Scale Practice on Tropical Peatland Eco-Management
101
3.7.1.1 Logging and Unplanned Land Use Before Innovative Peatland
Management
Previously, the working areas of WSL-MTI were logging concessions of the natural
forest business (Hak Pengusahaan Hutan, HPH) from 1969 to 1990. Before the
logging began, much of the area was covered by peat swamp forest, while the
southern part of the area was probably mangrove forest. However, mangrove forests
have been destroyed by logging and are now being replaced by nipa palms. The log
extraction was usually performed by a human-powered tram system.
The harvesting was selective cutting based on government regulation, so the
impacts of the logging operations were not highly significant compared with the
clear-cutting system that has been used for a few decades in industrial forest and oil
palm plantations. However, around the 1980s, there was a boom in the export of
ramin trees, which led to their excessive logging and significant deforestation. After
the HPH permission expired in 1990, the administrator who manages the forest
production area was absent until WSL-MTI received permissions for industrial
forest plantations (IUPHHK-HTI) in 2009. Simultaneously, the remaining forest
after HPH became open access for illegal logging and slash-and-burn cultivation.
The illegal logging used small canals to extract logs. Alternatively, the long sawn
boards, which were approximately 30 cm wide, were stretched across the forest
ground and the logs and sawn boards carried out by a custom-made bicycle.
However, large quantities of logs were frequently being hauled away as rafts
(Fig. 3.4). Therefore, Japanese and Indonesian companies focused on the situation
because the poorly managed peatland area could become more severely damaged
and will be a large GHG emission source.
Fig. 3.4 Log rafts were used as one a way to extract logs before starting forest plantation business
3 Large-Scale Practice on Tropical Peatland Eco-Management
101