UNDERSTANDING THE MAKING OF REDD AND THE KALIMANTAN FOREST AND CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP (KFCP) IN CENTRAL KALIMANTAN THROUGH DIFFERENT MODES OF ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

This is primarily an investigation of a large Australian initiated Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) Demonstration activity known as Kalimantan Forest and Climate Partnership (KFCP) in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. This thesis is based on fieldwork among villagers living along the Kapuas River in Central Kalimantan who are participating in KFCP, as well as with NGOs, which are working with the project, and NGOs that are working against the project. Based on my findings from my fieldwork with the aforementioned actors, I argue in this thesis that ground dynamics that are constitutive of the REDD/KFCP process in Central Kalimantan comprise three modes of political engagement, which I name: peasant, political and administrative. I view the activity with REDD in general in Central Kalimantan and within the KFCP-area in particular in relation to the emerging possibilities that the post-Suharto landscape is offering. I argue that NGO`s such as WALHI and AMAN frame REDD within a fighting - ethos (perjuangan)- and use REDD/KFCP as a tool to re-politicise issues which under the authoritarian Suharto was not doable.