{"id":12792,"date":"2019-12-17T13:38:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T12:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/?p=12792"},"modified":"2021-12-06T11:23:33","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T10:23:33","slug":"ensuring-sustainable-land-use-planning-to-improve-climate-resilience-in-bulungan-4-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/en\/news\/ensuring-sustainable-land-use-planning-to-improve-climate-resilience-in-bulungan-4-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Ensuring sustainable land use planning to improve climate resilience in Bulungan: 4 lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Due to landscape degradation caused by economic pressures, the Bulungan Regency (Kabupaten) in North Kalimantan (Indonesia) is increasingly vulnerable to disasters such as floods and landslides. To improve climate resilience of the area, the Regency\u2019s Spatial Plan needs to ensure a sustainable balance between nature, farmlands, industrial areas and living areas. IUCN NL partner Sawit Watch is closely involved in the Strategic Environmental Assessment process that needs to ensure this. In this article, Astrid Puspitasari from Sawit Watch shares their experience.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Header photo: Inundation in Bulungan, Indonesia (c) Sawit Watch<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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With its many rivers, the Bulungan Regency in the province of North Kalimantan is naturally vulnerable to floods. This vulnerability is exacerbated by economic pressures, such as mining, deforestation and industrial plantations. \u201cPeople in the densely populated Kayan delta are most affected,\u201d says Astrid Puspitasari, who works at the environmental department of Sawit Watch. \u201cUpstream, the Kayan River Basin is the lifeblood of the people in Bulungan. Communities along the Kayan river traditionally use it to fish and grow crops.\u201d Climate disasters such as floods and landslides destroy their homes and their crops.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Spatial planning to improve social and environmental conditions<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cThe pressure on the ecosystem could be aggravated with the development plans in the North Kalimantan Province Spatial Plan and Regency Spatial Planning,\u201d Puspitasari says. \u201cHowever, such spatial planning has the potential to improve the social and environmental conditions for the area. The protection of the watersheds and the Kayan delta should therefore be a priority in the Regency\u2019s development plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Ensuring long term sustainable development<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Indonesian legislation requires local governments to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to ensure social and environmental aspects are taken sufficiently into account in their Spatial Planning. The results of the SEA need to be integrated in the Spatial Planning, to ensure long term sustainable development.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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During a Strategic Environmental Assessment, stakeholders and potentially affected groups need to be identified and meaningfully consulted to help define the scope of the analysis and to share the findings and recommendations. Sawit Watch participated in the SEA working group in the Bulungan Regency. \u201cIn 2017, together with government officials, academics and other civil society organisations, we started preparations for the SEA as part of the drafting of a sustainable regional spatial planning in a participative way,\u201d Puspitasari says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Lessons on effective Strategic Environmental Assessment<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Sawit Watch was previously also involved in the setting up of a Strategic Environmental Assessment in the Berau Regency in East-Kalimantan and captured several lessons to facilitate the process in Bulungan:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Lesson 1: Involve a broad range of decision-makers, including top level<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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During the preparation of SEA in the Berau Regency, the involvement of government officials was limited to staff of the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda). To ensure involvement of other top-level decision makers, such as the Head of Bappeda and the Regional Head (Bupati), Sawit Watch set up an intense communication process with important stakeholders within the government. \u201cThis way we aim to ensure that the local government and its staff support this process and are willing to use the various insights generated from this SEA study in the preparation of the Bulungan Regency Spatial Planning,\u201d Astrid Puspitasari explains. \u201cWe are happy to see that the government is open and cooperative, so we are confident that the results of the study will be taken into account in the preparation of the Bulungan Spatial Planning document.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Lesson 2: Involve experts that know the local context<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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During the preparation of the SEA in Berau, the whole process was assisted by experts from Jakarta, on the island of Java. \u201cNo local academics were involved,\u201d Astrid Puspitasari states, \u201cwhile they are the ones best informed on the local situation. In the preparation of the SEA in Bulungan we therefore worked with local academics from the University of Borneo Tarakan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Lesson 3: Involve communities from the very beginning<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Spatial planning and regional policies that insufficiently take into account the environmental aspects directly affect local communities. Moreover, community members have a thorough understanding of local environmental problems, because they experience the impact of changes in their environment first-hand. \u201cSince the initial stage of the SEA process, we have involved communities, especially those in the areas affected by the development plan,\u201d Astrid Puspitasari says. \u201cFrom the very beginning of the process, community involvement is extremely important. Community insights are highly relevant in the identification of priority issues for sustainable development.\u201d Community members were also invited to discuss the effects of the draft policies, plans and programs for the regional development.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Lesson 4: Make sure you reach the people affected<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The community engagement activities were carried out through focus group discussions and public consultations. \u201cIt is important that these public consultations not only take place in urban areas, but also within the affected communities in each sub-district,\u201d Astrid Puspitasari stresses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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In addition, Sawit Watch built a free online platform<\/a> where community members could directly upload problems, concerns and solutions to various development planning issues raised in the SEA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Recommendations from the Strategic Environmental Assessment in Bulungan<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The input collected from various parties and an analysis of the carrying capacity of the environment, which was also part of the SEA, now form the baseline against which each policy, plan and program needs to be tested. \u201cOne of the recommendations is to designate an additional 25,000 hectares of community-forest areas and to protect the watershed and Kayan delta in order to safeguard ecosystem services,\u201d Puspitasari explains. \u201cThe SEA also indicated the need to protect the water catchment area in the new city development areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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An additional recommendation from the SEA was to temporarily suspend the existing development plans that have a major impact on the communities until a more comprehensive environmental strategic study is carried out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The local government is taking into account the recommendations from the SEA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Pending approval<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Regency Spatial Planning 2019-2039 is currently awaiting approval. \u201cWe expect it to be delivered mid December 2019,\u201d says Astrid Puspitasari.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The SEA working group is tasked to monitor whether the recommendations and analyses put forward in the SEA process are being implemented. In addition, Sawit Watch continues to advise the local government on measures to maintain the environmental functions of the landscape and to improve resilience against natural disasters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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