Jakarta – The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) has asked companies holding Forest Utilisation Permits (PBPH) to contribute to mitigation and adaptation to climate change, such as the ministry’s Climate Village Program (Proklim), officials said Friday (1/4).
MoEF Director General of Climate Change Control Laksmi Dewanthi said during a virtual discussion “Synergy of Climate Village Program with Production Forest Management” that the government expects the involvement of forestry companies “to achieve the establishment of 20 thousand climate villages by 2024 throughout Indonesia that have resilience and are able to adapt to climate change.”
There are currently 3,270 climate villages and targeted to reach 4,000 climate villages this year. Dewanthi explained that there are three agendas in the ministry’s climate change adaptation, namely economic resilience, social security and livelihoods, and ecosystem and landscape resilience. She said that adaptation actions have more challenges because they are intangible and specific from one ecosystem to another.
MoEF will build collaboration with various parties to achieve these targets, including with forestry companies that are members of APHI (Association of Indonesian Forest Entrepreneurs). APHI Secretary General Purwadi Soeprihanto said that Proklim is very relevant to sustainable forest management. He said, a harmonious and climate-resilient society will be the capital to achieve the climate change mitigation target implemented by the association members.
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Sinar Mas Head of Partnership and Engagement Trisia Megawati said that to support Proklim, her company was strengthening the Fire Vigilant and Prosperous Village or Desa Makmur Peduli Api (DMPA) program which was run as part of the company’s commitment to achieving environmental and forest sustainability.
APP Sinar Mas has allocated a support fund of USD 10 million for this program. There are currently 394 villages involving more than 31,000 families all over the country.(Hartatik)
Banner photo: Rainforest jungle in Borneo, Malaysia, deforestation to make way for oil palm plantations. (Jonathan Yee/shutterstock.com)
