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Cablegate: Indonesia Prepares for Second Heart of Borneo Meeting

Published: Mon 4 Feb 2008 08:46 AM
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RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0219 0350846
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040846Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7883
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1484
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4697
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TAGS: SENV EAID KGHG ECON PGOV ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA PREPARES FOR SECOND HEART OF BORNEO MEETING
1. (SBU) Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam will meet on
February 27-28, 2008 for the second Heart of Borneo (HOB) trilateral
meeting in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. At this meeting, the parties
intend to consider and adopt a "Decision on the Institutional
Arrangement for the Implementation of the HOB Initiative". This
will consist of the adoption of a "Strategic Plan for the
Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Heart of Borneo",
and the establishment of a "Committee on the Implementation of the
HOB Initiative" (The Committee on HOB).
The Committee on HOB and HOB Secretariat
----------------------------------------
2. (U) The Terms of Reference (TORs) for the Committee do not
diverge substantially from the proposals made at the first HOB
trilateral meeting. The meetings of the Committee (at least once a
year) will replace the trilateral HOB Initiative meetings. The TORs
also establish a Secretariat of HOB and Open Ended Advisory Group on
HOB to support the Committee on HOB. The draft decision documents
do not specify the location of this permanent Secretariat -- the
subject of debate at the first trilateral meeting in Bandar Seri
Begawan in July 2007, when Brunei offered to host the Secretariat
and finance it for the first several years. Our contacts at WWF
Indonesia indicate that the Government of Indonesia (GOI) is now
more amenable to Brunei's offer.
Strategic Plan for HOB and National Action Plans
--------------------------------------------- ---
3. (U) The Strategic Plan that the parties will adopt in Pontianak
identifies four broad programs:
-- Transboundary management
-- Protected areas management
-- Sustainable natural resources management (outside protected
areas), and
-- Sustainable financing
Corresponding tables list proposed actions for each program.
Indonesia brought its draft national action plan to the first
trilateral meeting in July 2007. However, Malaysia and Brunei were
not ready with theirs at the time, so the three parties postponed
discussion of a harmonized master action plan for the second HOB.
Indonesia's HOB National Working Group has continued to refine the
action plan. It is currently meeting in Balikpapan, East
Kalimantan, to finalize a draft dated January 22.
Financing and Donor Activity
----------------------------
4. (SBU) According to WWF Indonesia, the GOI and the National
Working Group would like external donors to help fund the trilateral
Secretariat, as well as provincial-level secretariats. Germany,
SIPDIS
through GTZ, is contributing 2.5 million euros under an agreement
signed last November to support Indonesian implementation of the HOB
Initiative. The two governments are still discussing implementation
but expect to begin disbursing funds during the latter half of 2008.
Interested corporate partners such as BHP Billiton, an Australian
coal mining company that operates in Central Kalimantan, are
awaiting further developments before making firm commitments to
support HOB. GOI spending on the HOB Initiative so far has been
extremely limited. The 2007-2008 national budget allocated the
Ministry of Forestry 75 million rupiah (roughly $8,000), and East,
Central, and West Kalimantan Provinces 100 million rupiah each (less
than $11,000) for HOB-related activities.
5. (U) Post can forward by email draft texts of the referenced
documents upon request (The Indonesian draft action plan is
available only in Bahasa Indonesia). Contact Machut Shishak
(shishakma@state.gov) or Sri Murniati (murniatisx@state.gov).
HUME
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