Participatory mapping of customary forest use to influence spatial planning
The International Land Coalition case study “Participatory mapping of customary forest use to influence spatial planning” (ILC_ID) is situated in Sekadau District, West Kalimantan Province of Indonesia.
In West Kalimantan large tracts of forest have been converted into palm oil plantations, in particular after the timber boom ended in early 1990s. The creation of these palm oil plantations has been made possible after Indonesia started decentralising its policy making in 1999, in part to create favourable conditions for private investments, which mostly went into palm oil plantations.
Socio-economic and spatial planning is multi-level in Indonesia, and undertaken at national, provincial, district, sub-district and village level, with the higher plans guiding the the lower ones. Currently, community participation in socioeconomic and spatial planning is marginal at all levels, including the village, sub district, and district levels. As a result interests and needs of local communities are not addressed in a systematic manner. These communities mostly consist of indigenous Dayak people, who control and manage their land and forests as common property, according to a customary tenure system that is not protected by formal titles.
Since 1996 the Indonesian Community Mapping Network (JKPP) has applied participatory mapping to make explicit the customary use of land and forest by local communities and to support their claims for recognition of this customary use. The process involved (1) participatory mapping in 11 villages in the Nanga Mahap sub-district, (2) focus group discussions with district and sub-district administration as wel as the local communities, (3) analysis of the district spatial planning policy and its (in)consistencies with the community maps, (4) formulation of a socio-economic and spatial plan for the 11 villages, incorporating negotiated trade-offs between various interests, (5) public consultation and endorsement by both the village communities and the sub-district government, and (6) public launch, submission and dissemination of the sub-district Spatial Plan.
The entire process benefited empowerment of the Dayak people, through a deeper understanding of their environment and use of natural resources, increased awareness of their own rights on natural resource use as well of spatial planning processes, and the value of multi-stakeholder interaction. In terms of formal recognition of indigenous territories, the outcomes were mixed: while initiating a wider discussion and accepted by the district government, the Spatial Plan was not accepted by the District Forest Agency and not integrated in the Spatial Plan Policies of Sekadau district.
JKPP identified positive effects of participatory mapping, particularly in strengthening awareness of rights, networking, engagement in local planning, development and negotiation processes, as well as some risks (that only village elites get involved in the process, or that the mapping may exacerbate internal conflicts).
A major challenge is that the national and district governments’ regard of community maps was very low and that it takes time for the value of participatory mapping to get recognition.