Indonesia - Kerinci-Seblat Integrated Conservation and Development Project : regional impact assessment

This regional impact assessment (RIA) analyzes the effects of a series of boundary revisions which have reduced the area of the Kerinci-Seblat national park, a consolidation of separate blocks of conservation reserves and protection forests. A host of development pressures, such as access proposals, encroachment from shifting cultivation and cinnamon plantations, and logging in the lowland forests, compound the threat to the area's biodiversity value, particularly the destruction of habitats neded for the long-term protection and maintenance of wildlife species. Among the Kerinci-Seblat RIA's purpose is the evaluation of: (1) the potential impacts of adjacent development activities on biodiversity conservation and park integrity; and (2) the negative impacts of the Kerinci-Seblat's Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICDP) design on opportunities for future economic development. Any new roads built have to be accompanied by the strengthening of enforcement capability to prevent human encroachment, the park's fragmentation into isolated blocks, animal migration, and the loss of genetic resources. Restrictions on mining activities will have the following impacts and mitigations: (1) No further mining concessions will be granted; (2) Mineral exploration can continue,for five years, after which the concessions will be cancelled uncompensated if no economically viable mineral potential is determined; (3) The acceptability of mining will be determined on a case-by-cas (4) Ore processing should be by closed-circuit cyanide process, and ore belonging to small gold miners should be subsidized in order to lessen the miners' dependence on mercury. Because of these restrictions, the impact of the park and ICDP on mineral resource development should be minimal. To prevent further human encroachment, a 3-year moratorium should be placed on new road construction. Effectively managing the buffer zones around the park will require agriculture crop zoning guidelines. Educating farmers about choosing crops and practices and providing program incentives will help protect biodiversity. Licensed handlogging will control the timber used up in community forests, which originated from protected forests.