Inclusive Detail Spatial Planning and KLHS (SEA) in Sukadana Town, Kayong Utara District, West Kalimantan
Indonesia - 09 March, 2020
Law No. 32/2009 stipulates that the Government and Regional Governments are required to make a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) or KLHS to ensure that the principle of sustainable development has become the basis and is integrated in the development of an area in the form of policies, planning and programs (Kebijakan, Rencana dan Program/KRP). Damage to natural resources and the environment will be more effectively prevented if the KRP formulation have considered environmental problems and threats from the beginning.
KLHS is a strategic instrument, through this study a public policy can be formulated that considers and integrates the principles of sustainable development. In the case of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or AMDAL, the negative environmental impacts are prevented and controlled through redesign of the construction, improved operating procedures and enhanced social relations governance at the site level; while KLHS, the principles and message of sustainable development are inserted and integrated into the KRP of a development plan or regional spatial planning and detail spatial planning.
In 2019, Tropenbos Indonesia in collaboration with Directorate General of Spatial Planning and Land Utilization, National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) and Kayong Utara District (KKU) to develop inclusive RDTR and KLHS in Sukadana Town (KKU District capital), which is composed of 5 villages, i.e. Pangkalan Buton, Pampang Harapan, Harapan Mulia, Sutra and Gunung Sembilan.
Learning from limited chemistry between KLHS and RDTR and limited consideration to stakeholders and local community voices, efforts have been made to improve those by taking the following approaches.
A. Intensive communication/consultation between RDTR and KLHS Teams
KLHS and RDTR are carried out by separate agents (consultant) that work exclusively at different time frame with limited communication. Normally RDTR is developed first, then followed by KLHS. As a result, KLHS is often just a formal document which has limited influence on the RDTR’s KRP. The limited engagement, communication and consultation between RDTR and KLHS Teams are often the case, this often led to misunderstandings, while there is still limited mechanism to reconcile the results at the expense of poor KRP.
To improve the bad common practices, for the case of Sukadana, RDTR was conducted in parallel with KLHS, therefore both processes could be conducted in interactive/iterative manner. Through KLHS, draft of RDTR’s KRP were improved, enriched, and shaped with sustainability, adaptability, and resilience features. Those three features are important to improve RDTR as over 40 percent of the Sukadana town are closely border with the Gunung Palung National Park (north, east and southeast part); and the other 40 percent encircled by Karimata Sea (west part). Within KLHS study, the Sukadana Town is viewed as a man-made ecosystem that should be developed in sustained, resilient, and adapted way with two natural ecosystems surrounding it.
B. Taking into account of stakeholders and local community voices during RDTR and KLHS development
Taking into account of stakeholders and community concerns and aspirations concerning sustainable development issues is a mandatory according to the Government Regulation No. 46 of 2016 (Procedures for Strategic Environmental Assessment/KLHS). During KLHS development, the community concerns and aspirations were explored through direct and indirect approach with focus on the challenges and prospects of the sustainability and resiliency the town ecosystem.
The direct approach is carried out through Focus Group Discussions (FGD), in-depth interview and rapid field observations. Series of FGDs with village heads, community leaders and local NGOs in Sukadana Town and Ketapang District were conducted. Meanwhile, to explore more profound information from the Regent (Bupati), officers of the District Agencies, village heads, key-village champions, the in-depth interviews were used. Further, rapid field observations throughout the town and its surrounding ecosystems were conducted to verify and clarify the findings.
The indirect approach is applied through secondary data analysis. The objective is to figure out the whole socio-economic and demographic conditions of the community that could reflect the sustainability of Sukadana Town according to the Indonesian Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Based on the result of both activities and combined with the future prediction of the Sukadana Town sustainability under the scenario of intervention program, then KLHS provided bundle recommendations for greening policies, planning, programs and regulations of the RDTR. (EP)