The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

CM2. Offsite Stakeholder ImpactsCM2.1. Potential Negative Offsite Stakeholder ImpactsIdentify any potential negative offsite stakeholder impacts that theproject activities are likely to cause.If the project successfully prevents oil palm companies fromoperating in the Project Area, some people who might have beenemployed by these companies may not have access toemployment in the region. The overwhelming trend in standardemployment practices of local palm oil companies is to hiretransmigrant labor from offsite locations such as Java andSumatra. Therefore, in practice very few of these employeeswould not have been hired from inside Project Zone communitiesand those that would be employed would most likely be hired onan “ass needed” seasonal basis. During interviews with the localcommunities, project proponents, World Education, OFI andDaemeter all independently found that only a handful ofcommunity members were employed by the large palm oiloperator on the northern border of Rimba Raya. See Communitysections for more details.There is a history of illegal logging inside the Project Area andextending into Tanjung Puting National Park, and evidence thatsome illegal logging activities may be ongoing in the southernportion of the Project Area. If project activities are successful inprotecting these forests and eliminating the threat of illegallogging, then individuals who rely on this practice for theirlivelihoods will see their benefits reduced. However, availableinformation indicates that most if not all large-­‐scale illegal loggingis undertaken by communities from outside the Project Zone, andthat they have no traditional or communal claims to the land.The loss of benefits derived from such illegal activities is outsidethe scope of project requirements as defined by the CCBAstandard.Threat to Subsistence LivelihoodsProject Proponents recognize that one of the fundamentalcomponents to Rimba Raya’s success is the participation andsupport of affected communities. Villages have patterns ofhunting and harvesting that are both steeped in tradition andcontribute to local economies. Consequently, it is important thatefforts at protecting the forest do not inadvertently infringe uponthese activities. Concurrently, there are concerns that areduction in regional palm activity would diminish employmentopportunities on plantations, further harming local economies.Taken together, it is necessary to address possible negativecommunity impacts from the project.Although InfiniteEARTH aims to safeguard the forest against theincursion of palm oil plantations, there will not be an impositionof curbs to traditional modes of hunting and harvesting.InfiniteEARTH recognizes the economic and cultural value of suchactivities, and does not seek to restrain them. In fact, curbs arelargely unnecessary, as hunting and harvesting from the forestare not significant contributors to local economies. Moreover,the opportunity cost of jobs from palm is minimal, as most laboris hired from outside of local communities. InfiniteEARTH willalso provide employment through the provision of social serviceprograms.245