Recultivation of former mining areas and sustainable forestry in North Rhine- Westfalia
A report by Rina Kristanti, Indonesia, about her stay in August 2017, which she con-ducted together with Yayuk Siswiyanti, Indonesia
I am Rina Kristanti, Doctor Candidate from the Forest Faculty IPB University (Bogor Agricul-tural University), Indonesia. I took part in the FEP in August 2017. It was supported by the DFV (German Forest Society) and the GIZ Forclime Indonesia Project. My position in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Republic of Indonesia is Policy Analyst of Sustainable Forestry Management. My main task in the office is to prepare materials for policy making to support sustainable forest management. I carry out several tasks in sustainable forest certification, development planning, MRV as well as give technical assistance for the concessionaires in order to ensure that production forest utilisation is implemented by the concessionaires in a sustainable way.
After my FEP-stay, I continued my work on my doctoral research. The progress is one inter-national journal at Jurnal Manajemen Hutan Tropika (Scopus index), 25 (1), 69-81 with the title of “Institutional Performance of Mining Reclamation in Forest Areas of East Kalimantan”. I also joined a 3 weeks course in International Autumn Course 2019 in Kyoto University to dis-seminate my research result and I won the price of the best oral poster presenter in Graduate School Global Environmental Studies Kyoto International Symposium 2019. The topic I pre-sented was The State of Mining Reclamation in East Kalimantan Forest Areas. Those publica-tions and events are so important as the effort for research advocation that mining reclamation is very important for environment and forest sustainability.
In my opinion, joining FEP is very beneficial for a technocrat like me as a policy analyst on sustainable forest management in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia. It was also beneficial for my study related to institutional development of mining reclamation in the forest area, since during the FEP, the mentors brought me to the mining reclamation site so I got the idea how other countries in particular Germany managed their recultivation. My expectation of joining FEP was to enhance my knowledge and networks. This program is beneficial both for my academic and career prospective. The FEP definitely has been a very efficient and effective learning method from the experts to develop my practical work skills as a policy analyst in SFM. Moreover, I cherished the opportunity to enhance my practical work experience in Germany institutions since it is proven developed the implementation of SFM.
My experience and impression about FEP is that the forest management in Germany based on its functions and designation is totally different from the concept in Indonesia. The concept of forest management in Germany was very insightful for expanding my knowledge related to Forest Management Units (FMU), private forest domination in forest ownership, plantation structure and harvesting technology, development of new type of forest land utilization, na-tional park management and its infrastructure development, coal mining and reclamation management, timber trade, GIS and online timber trading and the German's culture and their bonding with the forest. I was totally enriched by the source persons and the mentor during the program. Not only related to the forestry but also with the culture and food as well. It was so amazing! Thank you DFV, FEP, GIZ and source institutions and mentors who welcomed me warmly and shared the beneficial knowledge to enhance my capacity to support SFM in Indo-nesia.
My impression about FEP is that the DFV, the host institutions, mentor and resource persons were very professional and cooperative, the selected materials and field sites fitted with the participant’s interest, accommodation and transportation was impeccable, and Sabine as the coordinator was so professional and helpful on the program. Thanks a bunch Sabine and Markus Kühling! For inputs, I propose the DFV as well as GIZ to arrange and conduct regular joint meeting between FEP alumni, DFV, hosts and GIZ to update and widen the knowledge as well as develop a portal to connect all alumni and related stakehoders to create sustainable networking. I really wish all parties will keep in touch and maintain this network.
At last, I would like to dedicate high apreciation to Deutscher Forstverein for hosting, arranging and sponsoring the training as well to GIZ FORCLIME Indonesia Programme (GIZ-FIP) for the partial sponsorship. High appreciation is also dedicated to the host institutions and teams including German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Ministry of the Environment and Conservation, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia (MUNLV-NRW), Faculty of Forestry of the University of Göttingen, Forest Management Unit (FMU) of Rhein Sieg Erft, Ruhrgebiet Rheinelbe and Munsterland, Eifel National Park, Neheim Vocational Training Centre, City Forest Management of Gottingen, European Forest Institute, and Graflich Nesselrodesche Verwaltung Winterscheid. Last but not least, the participant would like to dedicate appreciation to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Republic of Indonesia and to Department of Forest Management Faculty of Forestry IPB University for giving opportunity to the participant to join the Forest Expert Program during conducting the doctoral program.
Rina Kristanti