Lestarilah Indonesia Season 11 this time is special to celebrate 33 years of the Indonesian Tropical Nature Institute. Together with Hartono Adi Prabowo as the guest speaker, they will discuss forest certification. He is currently working at the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Indonesia as FSC Country Manager Indonesia, as well as one of the founders of the Indonesian Tropical Nature Institute.
He has extraordinary experience related to forests, starting from his professional involvement in forest business companies in Kalimantan, then he is active in consulting to prepare and assist many parties so that the wood products produced have trisibility, so they have easy and clear origins. where wood products are produced, are now active in the sustainable forest management standard developing organization known as FSI.
According to Hartono, currently there are several companies that have shown their commitment to join in the certification, although this is still very small compared to the total number of natural forest concessions and plantation forests in Indonesia. In this context, certification is a concept that gives appreciation to forest processors, both companies and communities who have met sustainability standards in managing forests. In general, the standards are measured from three aspects, namely economic aspects, social aspects, and environmental aspects. If you pass, you will be given a graduation certificate as a company that implements sustainable forest management or responsible forestry practices. Currently in Indonesia there are 3.2 million hectares of forest that have been certified.
Certification requires certain fees and requirements, and it is usually the large timber companies that can afford to do so. For community forests, they apply for certification not as individuals, but they join groups, either in the form of associations of farmer groups or cooperatives. This is done because they generally have limited land, plus costs for preparation and certification costs which can be more expensive compared to the amount of production. There is a scheme called group certification or group certification that allows existing farmer groups to join. So that from a production and economic point of view it is also profitable enough to continue certification.
This is also a challenge in inviting small-scale forest farmers to become certified. The certification scheme is prepared based on the applicable forestry sciences. Sometimes this term for farmers is something new. They generally cultivate wood to just make a living, not as a business activity in general. For example, in Java, it is known as cutting need. They still don't think about sustainability, moreover to be able to understand the requirements it also takes time. "In Indonesia, certification of community forests takes a long time. It's not about giving them an understanding of certification concepts, but for them wanting to join a group to be able to progress to this certification. It's also a process that takes quite a long time to convince them. The view is that without a certificate we can still sell wood. So this is something that is challenging to provide incentives.”
Hartono does not promise economic benefits, but rather increases in quality, increases in productivity, increases in performance. What is expected is that the benefits are indirectly productive of plants, for example, better quality so that the price will also be better. So actually this certification hopes to be used as a tool to improve the performance of small holders.
According to Hartono, now people are competing to return to wood, including construction. The packaging construction all goes back to wood and there is even such a thing as transparent wood. So the need for wood will definitely increase. According to him, in this discussion, Indonesia must start developing a strategy for how to prepare our existing forests, which may be in a slightly damaged condition, to develop. "Why wood because when we use wood we actually prevent carbon emissions, when we use wood it means we store carbon in the building as long as the construction has not been burned." At this time, he has also made introductions between the association of architect designers and friends of timber entrepreneurs in Indonesia.
In responding to the future of social forestry, how do we collaborate with relevant parties, both inside and outside Indonesia who have already established social forestry. He believes that one day the role of the community will become bigger, it does not mean eliminating large-scale businesses, they will be healthier and stronger if they are supported by a strong community. Certification can be a tool to improve performance and productivity. It is also hoped that the certification system will keep abreast of developments because standard requirements can always change according to existing conditions. (IK)
