Report on Sustainable Forest Management in Sawinggrai
Following several successful cooperations in the past few years (such as SEFA 2018 | A Holistic Solution to Papua’s Plastic Pollution or SEFA 2020 – Schoon water en plastic afval), this year’s International Development Project is collaborating with Stichting Duurzame Samenleving Papua Barat (SDSP) once again. This time on the subject of Sustainable Forest Management.
Background
Deforestation in West Papua not only threatens a million hectares of rainforests but also the local population. The joint mission of SDSP and IDP is to make sure that locals can live off and benefit economically from the rainforests with the help of ‘food forests’. Planting a great variety of seeds yields various fruits and vegetables, both for own consumption and sale throughout the entire year. IDP conducts research on an existing food forest in Sawinggrai, Raja Ampat, West Papua province to support the livelihood of locals and the preservation of rainforests.
Introduction
For the duration of a year, starting in October 2021, the International Development Project (IDP) Committee of the Sefa Study Association is once again collaborating with the Stichting voor Duurzame Samenleving Papua Barat (SDSP). The IDP committee unites master students from the faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Amsterdam, who provide economic and business consultancy to an NGO of their choice. SDSP is a non-governmental organisation based in the Netherlands, which is committed to environmental protection in West Papua and the support of the livelihoods of West Papuan people. The following report is the outcome of this collaboration, written by the IDP committee upon completion of desk research in Amsterdam and field research in West Papua.
The project the IDP committee has chosen to focus on, is the plantation of a sustainable food forest in Sawinggrai, which started in 2019. The aim of the project of growing a sustainable food forest is to offer qualitative fruits and vegetables to the inhabitants and to grow a sustainable garden which does not deplete resources but enhances the fertility of the soil. Our research is twofold: in a first instance we are reporting to SDSP the current state of the food forest. In a second instance we are giving economic and business counselling on how to render the food forest financially sustainable for the gardener in charge of the forest.
Our report is structured as follows; we first introduce the methodology used in this report, where we explain the purpose of this report and introduce the desk and field research conducted during the past academic year. Followed by the results section where we carefully explain our observations from both the desk and field research. Subsequently, based on our findings, we provide recommendations for SDSP. Ultimately, we conclude the research on sustainable forest management in Sawinggrai in the last section of this report.
Aim of the Research
As previously mentioned, the aim of our research is twofold; we are firstly reporting to SDSP about the current state of the forest. Secondly, we are giving economic and business counselling on the ways to render the food forest financially sustainable.
Conclusion
The collaboration with SDSP and the insightful field visit allowed IDP to gain a deeper understanding of sustainable forest management in Sawinggrai. A month spent in West-Papua granted enough time for us to observe and find out the gardening habits of locals. Besides, we had the chance to visit the food forest on several occasions and engage in interesting conversations with Mr Rudisman. We are convinced that the information we gathered and later documented will provide valuable insights for SDSP in terms of the future.
View and/or download the report
View and/or download Report on Sustainable Forest Management in Sawinggrai (pdf) by IDP committee: Claire Remmy, Judith Jorg & Anna Takacs
Thanks to
This program has been funded by Contribute Foundation.
View and/or download the report
View and/or download Report on Sustainable Forest Management in Sawinggrai (pdf) by IDP committee: Claire Remmy, Judith Jorg & Anna Takacs
Thanks to
This program has been funded by Contribute Foundation.
