Almost 40 per cent of land in the 22-million hectare Heart of Borneo (HoB) conservation area can be managed by the private sector, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) has estimated based on a report it launched recently.
This figure was based on an estimate on current concession allocations, which make up 8.6 million hectares or 39 per cent of HoB, and thus stressed the importance of the private sector’s role in realising the goals of the tri-nation initiative.
“Many of the key threats to the HoB are perceived to arise from private sector activity, but equally, the private sector has the opportunity to be the source and implementer of solutions to environmental and social challenges, and can continue to be a driver of economic and social development,” said the WWF report, called “Business Solutions: Delivering the Heart of Borneo Declaration”.
The 82-page report, which was launched on November 16, highlighted options for businesses within and around the HoB area, particularly those in the mining, forestry and palm oil industries, to pursue more sustainable operations.
Growth in both Borneo island’s population and international demand in products from these three sectors have resulted in increasing pressure on Borneo’s forests, the document noted.
“To date, the exploitation of Borneo’s natural resources for short term financial returns has not given sufficient consideration to the broader environmental, economic and social implications of this activity,” the report said.
It was the recognition of this growing pressure on the forests and the need to resolve it which gave rise to the signing of the HoB declaration in Bali, Indonesia in 2007 by the governments of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Brunei pledged 58 per cent of the country to make up 1.6 per cent of the 22 million hectare conservation initiative.
Apart from placing emphasis on the sustainable use and protection of the HoB area, the declaration also considered the socio-economic welfare of the people of the three signatory nations.
The report recognised that the past exploitation of Borneo’s forests have led to reduced poverty rates in the participating countries, with the private sector expected to continue to play an important role towards further reducing poverty across the island.
“However, as the forests retreat, it is becoming increasingly clear that the current growth path is not sustainable in the long term… Without a re-evaluation of the economic growth model in Borneo, the prospects for sustained long-term poverty reduction may be limited,” the report said.
From the 8.6 million hectares of concession area, only eight per cent or 651,000 hectares were said to be sustainably managed under internationally-recognised certification such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil standards.
Based on the concession allocation figures, Brunei was only involved in the forestry sector, with about 138,000 hectares out of nearly six million hectares of forestry activity in HoB.
In a footnote, the report said: “The conditions in Brunei differ from elsewhere on the island for these (three) sectors: palm oil and mining are not significant, and Brunei does not export timber. In fact, Brunei imports approximately 20 per cent of its domestic timber needs and is attempting to provide the remaining 80 per cent on a fully sustainable basis.”
To help the island’s private sector towards more sustainable practices, increasing the support and buy-in of industry was seen to be “critical” to the success of the HoB Declaration.
The WWF has also launched the HoB Green Business Network (GBN) to further engage the business community and raise awareness on the tri-nation conservation initiative.
The report, which compiled more than six months of intensive research and interviews with nearly 200 businesses in the three sectors, found that 46 per cent of respondents were unaware of the HoB.
A majority, however, recognised that adopting sustainable practices would improve their public image, while nearly half believed that pursuing “good environmental and social practices” would lead to higher profitability in the long-term.
The businesses interviewed also laid out the challenges to adopting such practices, citing lack of financial support to change practices to ones that are generally perceived to be “high cost and have limited benefits”, lack of knowledge and human capacity on such practices, and lack of access to buy-ins to support sustainable practices from the relevant parties.
The report used the businesses’ recommendations to outline sustainable options for each of the three industries in dedicated chapters in the 82-page document.
“We are hopeful that the analysis and solutions presented in the industry-specific chapters of this report will serve to inform and strengthen the business case for sustainable production and crucially, will help to remove some of the perceived barriers to action.”
“As a potential source of solutions to environmental challenges and a driver of economic growth and development, the private sector will be central to this hoped-for transition to a green economy in Borneo.”
