The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

production forest, dark green – protection forest. Black arrowindicates location of Rimba Raya concession and red arrow showslocation of planned CPO harbor.Regency plans are consistent with provincial plans in showingredesignation of production forest to conversion forest. Thecurrent draft spatial plan for Seruyan District has allocatedalmost 40% of the district including the Rimba Raya area asconversion forest (Figure 24).Moreover, similar district plans throughout the province areproviding impetus for larger scale land use redesignation toaccommodate the regional expansion of oil palm plantations.Figure 23 shows an overlay of oil palm estates, where theyhave been allowed to operate in regards to the MinistryofForestry (MoF) spatial plan. It should be noted that MoFplanning takes precedent over provincial spatial plans unlessthey have been approved by BAPPLAN (Spatial Planning Agencyof MoF).Figure 24. Seruyan Regency Spatial Plan (2006-­‐2016). Colors:pink – conversion forest, yellow – conversion for community use,yellow/green – production forest, light green – limitedTable 15 examines the overlap between oil palm estates and theMoF Spatial Plan. Oil palm estates now occupy nearly 800,000haof production forest and another 800,000ha of estates haveentered the approval process. In order to legally operate onproduction forest, each estate must obtain a Ministerial Decree(surat pelapasan) that relinquishes this area from the permanentforest estate. Given the number of oil palm estates and the highdemand for further conversion, it becomes obvious why theprovince is seeking to change the land use status.83