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Borneo Forest Management Witness Audit

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Borneo Forest Management Witness Audit

Earlier this year, Certification Manager, Andy Grundy and Certification Officer, Sonia Nayar witnessed a forest management audit in East Kalimantan, Borneo, carried out by our partner in Indonesia, Mutu Agung Lestari.

Forestry team members, Sonia Nayar and Andy Grundy, visiting partner auditor Mutu Agung Lestari in East Kalimantan, Borneo

The trip was part of an annual monitoring programme for our partner certification bodies and allowed Sonia and Andy to witness a potential new forest management auditor, as well as the chance to trial an exciting new timber sampling technique for isotope testing. It was an amazing opportunity to learn more about tropical forestry, and Andy and Sonia were particularly interested to gain more insight into social issues within FSC Certified concessions.

Members of the Forestry team, Sonia Nayar and Andy Grundy, with the auditor team from Mutu Agung Lestari in Borneo

The audit team: Happy Tarumadevyanto (Audit Team Leader), a local stakeholder, Andy Grundy (Witnessing Lead Auditor), Sonia Nayar (Observer), Andri Pradhika (Auditor), Taufik Margani (Interpreter)

The certificate holder’s concession covers 69,690 hectares and mainly consists of primary and secondary dryland forest, of which almost 47% is production forest. There are 62 wood species in the concession, including 11 protected species. The main commercial species are Keruing (Dipterocarpus spp.) and Meranti (Shorea spp.), of which there are 13 species. The annual allowable cut is 76,090.36 m3/year.

The audit team worked long days and spoke to a variety of stakeholders including government ministries, NGO’s, environmental consultancy groups, local villagers and contractors.

Forestry worker taking samples of timber in Borneo

Using the pickering punch to collect samples for inclusion in a global database of isotopes for wood testing.

A highlight of the trip were the journeys by speedboat and longboat, which were necessary to reach the logging concession base camp. These trips included a pit stop to eat fresh forest durian fruit floating on the river, traversing whirlpools and white-water rapids, spotting wildlife, such as eagles, hornbills and a family of macaques!

Forestry team members, Sonia Nayar and Andy Grundy, taking a boat ride with the auditor team in BorneoBoat ride in Borneo arriving at the rainforest

Boat journeys up the Mahakam River

 

Concession base camp in the morning mist at the base of a rainforest in Borneo

Concession base camp in the morning mist

 

Forestry team members, Sonia Nayar and Andy Grundy, having a stakeholder consultation meetingForestry team members, Sonia Nayar and Andy Grundy, having stakeholder consultation meetingsForestry team members, Sonia Nayar and Andy Grundy, having stakeholder consultation meetings

Stakeholder consultations

 

Forestry team member, Andy Grundy crossing a rope bridge in a forest, as Sonia Nayar looks onAudit team and Forestry team members, Sonia Nayar and Andy Grundy, hard at work in forest in Borneo

Audit team hard at work