Yogyakarta - Faculty of Forestry Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and WWF-Indonesia officially signed a cooperation agreement on the management of the Heart of Borneo (HoB) area on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at the Auditorium of Faculty of Forestry UGM.

The signing was done by Dr. Efransjah, Executive Director of WWF-Indonesia and Prof. Dr. Ir. Mohammad Na'iem, M. Agr. Sc, Dean of Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The signing process was also witnessed by officials from the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia, namely the Director General of Nature Conservation Forest Protection (PHKA) of the Ministry of Forestry, Ir, Darori, MM, Secretary General of PHKA, Ir. Hartono, M.Sc, Director of Area Conservation and Protected Forest Development of PHKA, Ir. Sonny Partono, MM, Director of Conservation and Biodiversity, Dr. Ir. Novianto Bambang Wawandono, M.Sc and Director of Social Forestry Development, Directorate General of BPDAS PS of the Ministry of Forestry Dr. Ir. Haryadi Himawan, MM.

The presence of the Ministry of Forestry officials is in support of efforts to manage important areas in Kalimantan, which has just been designated as the lungs of the world in Presidential Regulation No. 3 of 2012 concerning the Kalimantan Island Spatial Plan. The signing ceremony was also attended by a member of the WWF-Indonesia Foundation Board of Trustees, Mr. Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo.

The purpose of the cooperation agreement between UGM and WWF-Indonesia is to give real contribution to each other in realizing the sustainability of the Heart of Borneo region. The Heart of Borneo is an area in the heart of Borneo covering approximately 23 million hectares that is ecologically interconnected and is an initiative supported by three countries namely Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

"The management of the Heart of Borneo area as one of the National Strategic Areas (KSN) requires a multidisciplinary approach. Therefore, cooperation with various stakeholders, including educational institutions or academics, is very important," said Dr. Efransjah. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by WWF-Indonesia and Faculty of Forestry UGM today is one of the efforts to encourage more strategic cooperation for nature conservation and sustainable development in the Heart of Kalimantan.

Meanwhile, the Dean of the Faculty of Forestry of Universitas Gadjah Mada, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Naiem M.Agr.Sc responded to this collaboration as support from academics in efforts to manage the Heart of Borneo area based on landscape integrity, ecosystem sustainability and community welfare.

Furthermore, according to Prof. Dr. Muhammad Naiem M.Agr.Sc, Faculty of Forestry UGM together with several faculties at Gadjah Mada University offer 7 pillars of sustainable Hearth of Borneo landscape management, which include (1) low carbon development design and modeling, (2) equality of access and stakeholders, (3) monitoring or MRV (measurement, reporting and verification), (4) availability and vulnerability of environmental services, (5) policy and governance, (6) alternative energy development, and (7) strengthening human resource capacity. .

Hartono, M.Sc who is also the Vice Chairman of the HoB National Working Group responded positively to the cooperation between UGM and WWF-Indonesia in the management of HoB area. "It is expected that this collaboration can create new breakthroughs in the implementation of the five HoB programs, namely cross-border area management, protected area management, sustainable natural resource management, ecotourism development and human resource capacity building," said Hartono.

At the closing ceremony of the signing of this cooperation agreement, Director General of PHKA, Ir. Darori, MM, said that the cooperation between UGM and WWF-Indonesia is important to strengthen the implementation of the green economy which is one of the objectives of the Heart of Borneo National Strategy Area (KSN).

On the same day before the signing of the cooperation, a Workshop on Multi-Disciplinary Approaches in Developing an Equitable Development Paradigm in the Heart of Borneo Region was also held which was initiated by Faculty of Forestry UGM, HoB National Working Group (Pokjanas), PHKA Ministry of Forestry and WWF-Indonesia. .

The half-day workshop was opened by the Vice Chancellor of Universitas Gadjah Mada and Ir. Hartono, M.Sc who also represented Pokjanas HoB delivered a keynote speech on the management of the Heart of Borneo region to date.

In the workshop, Dr. Efransjah delivered a keynote paper on green economy in an effort to accelerate development growth in the Heart of Borneo region, which in Indonesia is known as the Heart of Kalimantan. Furthermore, the workshop also reviewed the development of green economy in the Heart of Borneo region from various perspectives such as economics, engineering, socio-politics and law. Reviews from these various perspectives were delivered by several experts from Gadjah Mada University.
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For more information, please contact:

• Taufik Tri Hermawan, M.Si, Faculty of Forestry UGM, t3hermawan@ugm.ac.id
• Elisabeth Wetik, Heart of Borneo (HoB) National Communications Officer WWF-Indonesia, ewetik@wwf.or.id

Note to Editors:
About WWF Indonesia
WWF is an independent, global conservation organization founded in 1961 in Switzerland, with nearly 5 million supporters and an active network in more than 100 countries. In Indonesia, it operates as a national organization in the form of a foundation and works in more than 25 fieldwork areas in 17 provinces. WWF-Indonesia's mission is to save biodiversity and reduce the ecological impacts of human activities through: promoting a strong conservation ethic, awareness and conservation efforts among Indonesians; facilitating multi-stakeholder efforts for the protection of biodiversity and ecological processes at the ecoregion scale; advocating for policies, laws and law enforcement that support conservation; and promoting conservation for human well-being through the sustainable use of natural resources. For more about WWF-Indonesia, please visit the website http://www.wwf.or.id/ and the WWF-Indonesia membership site at http://supporterwwf.org/.

About Heart of Borneo (HoB)
The Heart of Borneo initiative is a tri-national initiative of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia to manage highland tropical forest areas in Borneo based on the principles of conservation and sustainable development. The goal of the HoB initiative is to maintain and sustain the benefits of one of the best remaining rainforest areas in Borneo for the well-being of present and future generations. The Heart of Borneo is part of the HoB area in Indonesia. On February 12, 2007, the Governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia declared a commitment to maintain and sustainably manage the HoB. In Indonesia, the Heart of Borneo region covers three provinces namely West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. For more information on the Heart of Borneo in Indonesia, please visit www.heartofborneo.or.id.