YIDH has joined forces with the governors of Papua and West Papua provinces, Indonesia, together with companies and civil society organizations, to sign the landmark Manokwari Declaration to drive sustainable development and conservation in the region. YIDH will the support the pledge through Production, Protection and Inclusion (PPI) interventions.
The Manokwari Declaration consists of 14 joint commitments by key decision makers and stakeholders in building the provinces into a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous region for the benefit of indigenous Papuans.
It marks the journey of Papua and West Papua towards managing natural resources sustainably by and for the benefit of indigenous people through sustainable land use and conservation approaches within a framework of public-private-people partnerships (4Ps).
As part of the pledge, YIDH has convened stakeholders in Papua and West Papua to build green growth plans that include Production, Protection and Inclusion (PPI) interventions. This means creating areas where agricultural commodities are grown sustainably, forests and other natural resources are sustainably used and protected, and community livelihoods are enhanced.
Fitrian Ardiansyah, Chair of YIDH, said: “Together with partners, we are pleased to see the commitment made by both provinces, Papua and West Papua, in promoting and developing green growth, protecting and sustainably managing forest and key ecosystems in Tanah Papua and rolling out concrete implementation by using an integrated and sustainable landscape approach.”
The Papua region is the Indonesian part of the New Guinea island. It has a special autonomous status and budget. Since 2003, Papua has been arranged into two provinces by the Indonesian government, with the creation of the West Papua province, situated in the western parts of Papua province. This special status allows the provinces to issue provincial regulations that focus on forest, land and other natural resources management.
The declaration was signed during the International Conference on Biodiversity, Ecotourism and Creative Economy (ICBE) in Manokwari, West Papua on 10 October 2018.
At the opening ceremony, Governor of West Papua Dominggus Mandacan stated his commitment to set 70% of his provincial area to be a protection area. The Government of West Papua will also support mangrove, peat land and swamp forests to be managed by indigenous people, to support the national oil palm expansion moratorium, as well as conduct a review of palm oil concessions. YIDH is supporting the Papua and West Papua governments as well businesses in providing alternative solutions for managing stranded palm oil concessions.
Similarly, the Government of Papua is committed to developing a green growth plan in the province and mainstream this plan in a provincial mid-term development plan.
In the upcoming months, key partners and stakeholders of Papua and West Papua governments will work to identify the potential sustainable resources and development options for both provinces and develop the green growth plan document. This declaration sets the scene for the landscapes in Papua region to be managed sustainably in the future.
View the Manokwari Declaration here (pdf)