Restoration from a gender lens: in conversation with Rahmawati

How long have you been doing this work?

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Rahmawati
Rahmawati

This is the first time we have focused on working with young women on environmental stewardship and we’ve been able to do it because of the REDAA funding. We work on other projects with women but not specifically young women (we think of ‘young’ women as ranging from 15 to 35 years old).

The reason we are focusing on young women is because they represent the next generation and can influence the future. With more awareness and knowledge they can take the lead on mitigating the effects of the problems in the region and bigger issues such as climate change.

Can you briefly explain the problem you are facing in West Kalimantan?

This area of Kalimantan is famous for palm oil plantations – a large number of companies from Singapore and Malaysia operate here across several districts. There’s also gold and bauxite mining: done by Indonesian companies but also businesses from Malaysia, Singapore, India and China.

Extensive deforestation results from these two activities. Indigenous communities are also affected by floods and haze from fires and now it’s difficult to find clean water because both the mining and plantations have caused serious environmental damage.

Communities are having conflicts with the companies – especially the palm oil plantations – over their land tenure and labour issues. There’s no doubt that rights are being abused.

How are you hoping young women will get more involved?

In Indonesia there is a strong patriarchy – women are seen as being in the kitchen and just housewives. In reality, they are much more involved in many other things. They work as farmers, contributing their skills at every stage from planting seeds to harvesting but this isn’t recognised by village governance structures. 

With this programme we can make sure young women are seen differently and can participate in decision making about environmental conservation.  In big meetings we want them to be able to participate; to argue and express opinions about what they think should change environmentally. 

What do men think of this initiative?

Husbands will support their wives to do this. Actually, young men are also often excluded from decision making [but the patriarchal system works for them, rather than against].

You’ve got a programme goal of cutting deforestation rates, encouraging stronger sustainable land management and restoring critical ecosystems. You also want people to benefit from eco-friendly income opportunities. Can you tell us a bit more about how you will do this?

We hope we can start by changing habits – or at least manage them better – by encouraging farmers to use organic rather than chemical fertilisers. 

Then we will tackle sustainable land and forest management. We’ll offer training for how to manage income from farming in three districts. These three districts, Kubu Raya, Kapuas Hulu and Mempawah, have very different characteristics. 

The first, Kubu Raya, is dominated by peatlands. Women here are farming and gardening to produce vegetables, so they will benefit from land management and how to manage money.

The second, Kapuas Hulu, is characterised by customary forests – it’s an area famous for the tree that provides material for weaving fabric, and they live with local wisdom. Women here will need specific training for sustainable forest management, as well as how to produce organic fertiliser and manage money. We’ll build on existing local knowledge.

In Mempawah, the third district, there is a certified village forest. But the three villages – Kubu Raya and Kapuas Hulu – are situated between an area of palm oil plantations and bauxite, gold mining and industrial tree plantations and these are all so near to the communities in Sekabuk Village.

This programme is building leadership for the next generation – women can do that – they have awareness of what is happening to the communities, what the source of the problem is, and they will be trained to speak up and campaign.

Who are they trying to influence?

They will raise awareness across the whole of the village and reach wider communities with what the problems are and how to tackle them. These places are also experiencing the impact of climate change so they must take action to mitigate the effects of this as well.

Eventually they might also work to influence local and national governments to stop the mining – that’s our big goal – the national government has the power to do that.

And any final thoughts?

In West Kalimantan so many communities are affected by the actions of private companies – plantations and mining. As a lawyer, I am fighting cases all the time, representing labourers who are being discriminated against. Women are particularly affected – women who do ‘day work’ and receive tiny amounts of pay for what they do. It’s a violation of their human rights – it’s time they were empowered to speak up and take action.