Posted on 26 October
2010
A new report released today by the three
Bornean governments - Brunei, Indonesia
and Malaysia - is a leading example of how
the economic value
of forests is being recognized and secured
through innovative finance.
The report: ‘Financing
the Heart of Borneo – a partnership approach
to economic sustainability’, outlines three
main sources of finance for conservation
and sustainable development activities within
the 22 million hectares of trans-boundary
tropical rainforest on the island of Borneo
- known as the Heart of Borneo (HoB).
Two of these sources;
in-country government based (such as royalties,
incentives and tax breaks s) and market
based (such as payments for watershed services,
REDD+ and bio-prospecting) are sustainable
in the long term. The third source, the
more conventional donor funding, is seen
as an interim form of funding to help build
the enabling conditions for the first two.
The new tri-governmental
report sets out a pathway to understand
the economic value of the HoB’s natural
capital in terms of the ecosystem services
it provides, such as carbon storage, regulating
water flow and providing new genetic resources
for medicines.
Bio-prospecting in Brunei
Haji Saidin Salleh,
from Brunei’s Ministry of Industry and Primary
Resources, said the report is the first
of its kind which demonstrates that protecting
forest ecosystems in the HoB makes economic
and social sense.
As an example, the Brunei government in
partnership with the Japanese National Institute
of Technology and Evaluation, is currently
exploring the potential for ‘bio-prospecting’
of its rich forest and biological genetic
resources.
“Brunei recognizes the
tremendous value that the Heart of Borneo
represents to the world, in terms of eco-system
services and as yet undiscovered chemical
compounds. The will to protect the area
for future generations is very strong, but
we need to generate additional financial
support to achieve this vision – this report
is our first steps to identifying where
that support may come from,” he said.
Watershed protection
payments in Indonesia
Indonesia’s HoB representative,
Dr Andi Novianto from the coordinating Ministry
of Economic Affairs said a crucial next
step in securing sustainable sources of
finance is to mainstream forest and watershed
services in to national and local development
plans.
For example, in the
conservation district of Kapuas Hulu in
Kalimantan, an on-going initiative supported
by WWF, CARE and the International Institute
for Environment and Development seeks to
reward upstream communities for their stewardship
of crucial watershed areas which provide
a valuable ‘service’ to users downstream.
“The Kapuas Hulu project
is our first ‘district level’ pilot program.
The long term aim is to encourage all ten
districts in Kalimantan to maintain their
forests, in return for which, they would
receive financial compensation for the carbon
stored, biodiversity protection and ecosystem
services that these forests provide the
island, country, region and ultimately the
world,” Dr Novianto said.
Malaysia’s Malua BioBank
Malaysia too has developed
innovative financial arrangements, as the
report demonstrates with the Malua BioBank
in the Bornean state of Sabah. Here, the
Sabah government has licensed conservation
rights for 50 years to the Malua BioBank,
with a private investor committing up to
US$10 million for the rehabilitation of
the Malua forest reserve.
International support
at the CBD
Speaking at the report
launch, Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary
of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) said multi-national and multi-lateral
agencies need to continue efforts to finance
conservation and sustainable development
and the HoB is proving to be a sound investment.
"It is my pleasure
to launch the HoB sustainable finance report.
This is important for the negotiators of
this Convention as it shows how the ecosystems
of HoB can be a part of a sustainable future.
It is a call to stop talking, and start
acting!" said Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf.
Leading global conservation
organization, WWF, assisted the three governments
in the preparation of the report and its
Director General, Jim Leape, was on hand
at the launch to pay tribute to the progress
that had been made in the three years since
the signing of the HoB Declaration.
“All three Bornean countries
should be congratulated for their commitment
towards this trans-boundary conservation
programme and the progress made so far.”
“Finding appropriate
sources of sustainable finance will be vital
to tri-government conservation and development
efforts for the HoB. We need to capitalize
on the value of nature and mainstream it
within economic development plans. It is
obvious that protecting ecosystems and biodiversity
makes long-term economic sense,” he said.
