The Earthood team monitored and evaluated the PTEHG program, with visits to Village Forests in Central Kalimantan with KPSHK. One of the visits was to the Buntoi Village Forest, to the location of the burnt spot, ARR location, canal blocking and planting. Continue to the Mentaren I border, see the monitoring tower, the fire location, the blocked canal, and pass the Sala River. Earthood as an international independent auditor institution conducted site visits for audit programs, which were carried out from 16 to 22 February 2024 in Gohong Village, Kalawa Subdistrict, Mantaren I Village, and Buntoi Village, Kahayan Hilir District, Pulang Pisau Regency, Central Kalimantan. Through this site visit, the Earthood team can directly see the real conditions of development, program progress and information disclosure carried out by KPSHK.
Buntoi Village Forest with an area of 7,025 hectares, in 2015 the condition of the forest ecosystem was still good with a large biodiversity of wood trees with various types of wood available, namely meranti, belangiran, ramin, garunggang, jinjit, asam – asam, galam and jelutung. Diversity of fauna such as orangutans, proboscis monkeys, monitor lizards, birds (hornbills, sabaru, parrots, pergam, punai), snakehead fish, deer, pangolins, snakeheads, sun bears, squirrels and slow lorises.
However, it was unexpected that the fires in 2015-2017, the same as other Village Forests on peat land and the extinction of the diversity of flora and fauna, were not easy to go through the recovery process so they only became overgrown with bushes. Only a small number of tree species remain, such as tumih, belangiran, garunggang, jelutung, and galam. A number of people who hunt from outside the village are also a factor in the extinction of fauna, including wild boars, deer, pangolins, rice snakes, lizards, punai birds, paragam birds and parrots.
LPHD Buntoi has seven Social Forestry Business Groups (KUPS), namely Honey KUPS, Rattan KUPS, Fisheries KUPS, Nursery KUPS, Rubber KUPS, Oyster Mushroom KUPS, and Ecotourism KUPS. The seven KUPS have planted trees under the PEN and KBR programs, namely balangeran, sengon, pantung, rubber and rattan trees, as well as building work huts. The total area of village forest planted by KUPS is 21 hectares around the Core Tertiary Channel (STI) area. STI is a program from President Soeharto’s time to create a canal approximately 14.9 km long from the Kahayan River to the Buntoi Village Forest. The length of the STI that enters the village forest is 7.3 km. Meanwhile, there are 8 rivers/handels with a length of 6 km and a width of 2 – 4 m with the aim of providing access to the gardens.
The planting was carried out in 2020 by 6 KUPS and in 2018 the Oyster Mushroom KUPS was planted. Each KUPS obtains permission to manage or plant in the village forest from the LPHD chairman and the village government.
During the first year of the PTEHG program, KPSHK together with LPHD and involving local communities built a Monitoring Tower (15 meters high) to monitor forest and land fires, this was based on the fulfillment of the infrastructure and infrastructure of the Republic of Indonesia Minister of Agriculture Regulation Number 05/Permentan/KB.410/1/2018 concerning Clearing and/or Processing Plantation Land Without Burning (Ministry of Agriculture Regulation No. 5 of 2018). Apart from that, TPK and TPH patrol teams were also formed to facilitate infrastructure and equipment for patrols. Construction of the STI Buntoi Canal Block for peat restoration, which is an effort to restore the degraded peat ecosystem so that its hydrological condition, structure and function are close to their original state. Canal blocking has the function of holding water, maintaining soil moisture and water sources in case a fire is needed in areas that are prone to drought and are prone to fires.
Author: Aris M
Editor: Alma Tiara
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