Background of SCF establishment
Sulawesi Island is the 4th ( fourth ) largest island in Indonesia which is rich in potential natural resources which, if managed properly, will provide welfare for the people who live in it. Ironically, according to various records which confirm that the Sulawesi Forest experienced an average damage of 270,171 ha / year during the period 1985-1997. Data for 2003 shows that the number of poor households in villages located inside and on the edge of the forest reaches 46.29%, while outside the forest area is 39.40% of the total population in Sulawesi.
And one of the best solutions to this problem is to provide adequate access to the community in a fair and sustainable natural resource management (PSDA). To make it happen, it requires commitment and joint efforts of all parties, including the community, government, businessmen, NGOs, mass media and universities. In this regard, it is necessary to create a conducive climate, especially the melting of communication between the parties, community empowerment, equal space for dialogue and support for inclusive institutions and policies.
During the last 5 years, the support of the cooperation program between the British and Indonesian Governments through the Multistakeholder Forestry Program (MFP) in the Sulawesi region has facilitated 10 learning sites in community-based natural resource management (PSDABM). Some of the main themes facilitated are Forest Conflict Resolution, Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP), Watershed Management, HPH-People and Agroforestry / Social Forestry. These sites are located in 5 provinces, namely Southeast Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo. Administratively, it is spread over 165 villages / kelurahan involving around 20 thousand farmers organized into 203 farmer groups.
This experience has provided valuable foundations and lessons in facilitating communication and fostering constructive cooperation between parties. Although the results that have been achieved have not been fully optimal, but as a minimum initial effort has provided hope that will allow the improvement of the livelihoods of the poor in the frame of sustainable forest resource management. In order for the community's hopes or needs to be realized, there are several fundamental problems that need to be continuously facilitated, namely: (i) legal certainty of public access in PSDA is not clear, (ii) awareness of the community's strategic position as productive assets and sustainable safeguards in PSDA has not fully gain the trust of various parties,
The formation of the Sulawesi Community Foundation was initiated by the initiation of CELEBES Credit in 2003, at the MFP-DFID Partners meeting in Makassar in 2003 by MFP-DFID Partners. Then proceeded to the Sulawesi Trust Fund Foundation Idea Development Workshop in Manado, 22-24 August 2005, and politically the establishment of the Sulawesi Community Foundation was agreed upon in a Workshop on the Implementation Plan for the Sulawesi Trust Fund Foundation in Makassar on 27-28 September 2005 involving the Network NGOs, Community Groups, Government Agencies and Universities in Sulawesi Island
Working area
As the agreement was made at the time of its establishment, the SCF (Sulawesi Community Foundation) working area covers the Sulawesi Islands Region which is currently divided into 6 provinces (South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Gorontalo and North Sulawesi). In carrying out its mandate, the SCF work area is divided according to provincial government administration, in each province SCF has strategic partners who are members of a multi-stakeholder network / forum.
