Bullet Point:
- Farmers for Forest Protection Foundation (4F) together with High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), Palm Oil Smallholders Union (SPKS), Greenpeace and High Conservation Value Network launched a Deforestation-Free toolkit for smallholders.
- The Deforestation-Free Toolkit for smallholders is the result of a collaboration of several organizations and has undergone a process of field testing with smallholders in West Kalimantan over the past 4 years.
JAKARTA– Farmers for Forest Protection Foundation (4F) together with 4 nonprofit civil society organizations namely High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), Palm Oil Smallholders Union (SPKS), Greenpeace and High Conservation Value Network launched the Deforestation-Free Toolkit for smallholders on Monday, June 24, 2024.
The Deforestation-Free Toolkit for Smallholders was produced in collaboration with several organizations and has undergone a process of field-testing with smallholders in West Kalimantan over the past 4 years. The guide is more than 54 pages of simplified, practical guidance for smallholder communities to identify and mapping areas of forest and land cover in their villages.
Tirza Pandelaki, Executive Director of 4F said “Not only does it contain practical guidance for identifying and mapping forest cover areas, the Deforestation Free Toolkit for Smallholders will strengthen natural resource institutions and governance, and implement forest protection management and monitoring tools, as well as provide incentives for communities to support these protections. These Toolkits require the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of the communities concerned.”
Chair of the Palm Oil Smallholders Union (SPKS), Sabaruddin, responded positively to the toolkit. He said that previously smallholders were often blamed for deforestation in Indonesia and their products were even excluded from the market. “We hope that with this toolkit, our smallholder members will have fairer access to the market,” Sabaruddin said.
Farmer representative from West Kalimantan and Secretary of the Poyo Tono Dayak Hibun Indigenous Community, Andi Valens, expressed their support for the Toolkit, “I saw for myself that the Toolkit was really developed based on inputs from farmers, indigenous peoples and local communities. When the Toolkit was piloted in West Kalimantan. I have seen for myself the positive impact. We need help from all parties so that farmers can implement best practices and continue to conserve forests without leaving our local wisdom and culture.”