Support The Resilience Of Indigenous Peoples And Local Communities, These 3 Organizations Launch Nusantara Funds

Nusantara mutual cooperation. Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI

JAKARTA - To ensure the resilience and resilience of indigenous peoples and local communities, three organizations consisting of the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN), the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), and the Indonesian Environment Center (WALHI) launched an initiative called the Nusantara Fund, today.

This initiative aims to provide direct funding to the member communities of the three institutions, in order to be able to move more massively in maintaining the earth for the survival of human life in the future.

The Secretary General (Sekjen) of AMAN and co-founder of Dana Nusantara Rukka Simbolinggi said that the Nusantara Fund was the first initiative in the world in terms of direct distribution of grants to indigenous peoples and local communities to continue various activities in protecting and managing land, water, territory, customs, the environment, and other agrarian sources.

"Obviously, 80 percent of the world's biodiversity is protected and managed by indigenous peoples and local communities. With the support of the Nusantara Fund, we hope that the contribution to reducing emissions, deforestation and forest degradation will be even greater," he said at a press conference in Jakarta, Monday, May 8.

Rukka said that so far global funding to respond to climate change and protect the environment targeting indigenous peoples and local communities was only USD 270 million or USD 16 percent (USD 47 million) which was channeled directly to indigenous peoples and local communities around the world.

In this picture, he explained, the area and living space of indigenous peoples and local communities are increasingly threatened by the weak protection and recognition by the government and the swift flow of investment. "We need to make new breakthroughs to protect and manage the land, territory, and resources of indigenous peoples and local communities," said Rukka.

On the same occasion, Secretary General of the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) Dewi Kartika said, the launch of the Nusantara Fund is a momentum to show solidarity across movements from indigenous peoples, agrarian reforms, and the environment. "Nusantara funds will also help the community in terms of strengthening the organization and also build economic independence," he said.

In addition, said Dewi, the idea of establishing the Nusantara Fund has also gone through a participatory process at the community level, where the three institutions conduct consultations with their member communities spread across various regions and are carried out from mid to late 2022.

Until finally as of December 2022, trials of the implementation of the Nusantara Fund have been distributed to 30 indigenous communities and local communities in Indonesia.

"The indigenous people and the local community are groups of people who understand how to protect the environment. It has been proven from generation to generation to being at the forefront of protecting the environment, and we believe that the community level will be able to manage the support of the Nusantara Fund well," he said.

In line with Dewi Kartika, WALHI Execution Director Zenzi Suhadi said that the support of the Nusantara Fund for indigenous peoples and local communities to respond to climate change will have a positive impact on Indonesia.

According to him, when indigenous peoples and local communities are able to protect their nature and food sources, the people of Indonesia and the global community will enjoy it in the future. "The clean air we follow, the food we enjoy, because indigenous peoples and local communities are able to protect the earth and produce food for us," he said.

Zenzi assessed that as a country that has the largest tropical forest in the world, Indonesia is expected to be able to become a buffer for the earth and at the same time answer the current challenges of climate change.

"Nusantara funds are needed to provide support to indigenous peoples and local communities who have been building the economy, restoring the environment, maintaining forests, and contributing to climate change mitigation," he explained.

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (MenKopUKM) Teten Masduki who was also present at the event expressed his support for the launch of the Nusantara Fund.

"I think financial support related to the economic development of the community at the grass root level is very good. They have simultaneously strengthened the economy to be more consistent," he said.

"Because it takes a long time to implement a social/economic change policy," added Minister Teten.

According to Teten, what the three organizations have done is right and in the future it can be collaborated with existing programs in the government.

"I think every ministry, such as the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, ATR/BPN, KKP, including MSMEs, has a blu program to provide funds, we can distribute financing. If the compensation is not ready because there are incubator funds, the program blooms, KUR can be used as economic strengthening," he explained.

In the future, continued Teten, his party will open up opportunities to cooperate with the three existing organizations to support the Dana Nusantara program.

"I am very open, earlier I said that currently the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs is strengthening cooperatives in the real agriculture, fishermen, oil palm farmers and others sectors, I think this can be done," he concluded.