Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (Lampung, Sumatera)

The Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant are disappearing faster than ever before. Massive, continuously accelerating deforestation is driving their extinction. WWF, the World Wide Fund for Nature, has pledged to save these critically endangered species.The UNESCO World Heritage Site Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) is one of their last retreats. Yet, large stretches of the park’s habitat have disappeared, replaced by the world’s second most traded commodity: coffee.

This program focuses on the economically and ecologically important Southern Sumatran coastal ridge region of Indonesia, whose main feature is the 3,568 km² Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP). Spanning the provinces of Lampung and Bengkulu, the area was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1935, was rezoned to a National Park in 1982 and became a United Nations World Natural Heritage Site in 2004, based on its globally significant, rare biodiversity values. The park is characterized by a rich biodiversity and is an important refuge for man endangered and endemic species, including the Sumatran Elephant, Sumatran Rhino, Sumatran Tiger, and the giant ‘flowers’ Rafflesia and Amorphophallus.

Encroachment and production of illegal coffee is posing a major challenge to the reputation of Indonesia’s largest production region in Lampung and southern Sumatra. The region’s coffee is being traded by some of the largest and most prominent coffee brands and trading companies in the world. Due to the lack of traceability systems in Lampung coffee buyers cannot be sure whether the coffee they buy stems from legal or illegal production. Much of this is due to the fact that coffee in southern Sumatra is produced by individual, small holder families and not by plantation companies. Furthermore, the majority of farming families are not organized in strong associations with good record keeping systems. A complex web of coffee collectors and traders add up to three links to the trading chain between producer and exporter.

The region’s coffee reaches global markets through a broad array of trade and marketing channels. In many overseas consumer countries, particularly in Europe, North America, and Japan, retailers, traders, consumers, and NGOs want to ensure that their coffee consumption is not damaging the natural resources and social fabric in the countries of origin. Key members of the international coffee industry have joined forces under efforts such as the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C) to promote responsible and sustainable coffee production. A number of certification systems, including organic, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, and Utz Kapeh have emerged to provide environmentally and socially responsible coffee products to consumers. A coordinated international effort applying these existing market forces to southern Sumatra’s coffee growing region could halt the systematic destruction of Bukit Barisan National Park the ensuing dramatic loss of biodiversity and tiger, rhino and elephant habitat.

Over the last several months, attracted attention to this issue has been growing in Indonesia and around the world and has mobilized a variety of stakeholders interested in working together on long-term positive and practical solutions. Following a symposium in Bandar Lampung entitled, “Coffee & Conservation in Bukit Barisan National Park” resulted in the Lampung Declaration which was signed by AEKI-Lampung and a number of companies, NGOs and government agencies. Thereafter, a number of international private sector entities and their local subsidiaries, including Ecomtrading, ForesTrade, and Kraft Foods, Nestle, Noble, and Olam have engaged in dialogues and / or field visits exploring a unified approach to protecting the park through responsible production of coffee and other commodities in the region.

Concurrently, WWF and DML, working primarily with ForesTrade-Indonesia, Rainforest Alliance, and the GTZ-PPP Program in Germany, has been developing the overall framework and field initiatives presented in this document. Based on the high distribution of key endangered species, the narrowness of the national park, and the accelerating deforestation rate there, WWF has decided to establish the program’s initial priority areas in the Pematang Sawa, Bengkunat and Suoh sub-districts located in the southern region of the park.

The major goals of the program are:

(1). To halt new encroachment in the most critical buffer zone areas of BBSNP, Pematang Sawa, Bengkunat, and Suoh Barat by 2010 through a combination of agricultural incentive schemes, protection measures, and policy initiatives.

(2). To realize the recovery of at least 50% of the currently active encroachment areas in Pematang Sawa and Bengkunat and 20% in Suoh Barat priority buffer zone areas by 2010.

(3). To create viable long-term sustainable agriculture production, trade and marketing programs in the above priority areas from the 2008 coffee harvest season going forward.

The primary objectives include:

(1). To mobilize a well-coordinated alliance of private sector, government, and NGOs to implement and provide financial, market, technical, and policy support.

(2). To develop and launch effective market-based incentives and official support
mechanisms that will enable long-term success and sustainability.

(3). To generate active and widespread participation and support from local community leaders, farmers, and organizations.

(4). To garner an adequate level of financial resources and investments from private sector, government, and NGO sectors to effectively implement the program.

(5). To document and disseminate the learnings and results locally, nationally, and
internationally.

The program’s desired outcomes are:

(1). Creation of an effective management, implementation, and stakeholder coordination team led by WWF-Indonesia and DML.

(2). Establishment of viable sustainable agriculture schemes using the 4C and/or various certification systems by the initial coffee harvest in 2008, starting with six initial villages, and expanding to 12 target communities by 2010.

(3). Creation of long-term market linkages for certified products between participating farmer organizations in the 12 target communities and major international buyers, producing at least 2,000 tons of improved quality coffee and 1,000 tons of certified cacao.

(4). Effectively performing BBSNP park protection and enforcement units halting new encroachment by 2010 in Pematang Sawa, Bengkunat, and Suoh Barat areas, resulting in essentially eliminating further encroachment in these critical buffer zone areas.

(5). Signing and implementation of community conservation agreements with all 12 target communities in Pematang Sawa, Bengkunat, and Suoh Barat areas.

(6). Establishment of supportive policies for biodiversity conservation of BBS by trade associations (i.e., AEKI and APEKI), district, provincial and national government agencies (Ministries of Trade, Forestry, Agriculture, and Local Government).

Results of the program are (among others):

(1) The establishment of a local, small-scale, community-based enterprise to run to coffee business and get connected to the international buyers directly. As a consequence, one of the previous natural monopoly trade intermediary could be out of business since it is no longer needed. The proposal is to change its role from a kind of rent seeking company into a real investor doing marketing, promotion and/or invest directly in the coffee production. Yet, it is an ongoing process since the new roles require different capacity and commitment.

(2) A newly invented potential business in nature tourism — while doing to patrolling for the elephant habitat and to keep it save from another future encroachment, the routine patrol by riding the elephant could a good tourist attraction. It is a double-benefit business proposal: to keep the coffee plantation out from the natural park, while protecting the park by doing paid elephant riding-patrolling. Both activities become a new venture for the local villagers.

(3) Further possibility is under survey, to develop a local coffee processing plant, rather than to export the raw material. But, it takes a different business plan and should be investigated further before it is proposed to the stakeholders.