The Long Isun Community Rejects Carbon Funds to Protect Forests and Tradition

The Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling Indigenous community in Long Isun Village, Mahakam Ulu Regency, East Kalimantan, was worried about the presence of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility-Carbon Fund (FCPF-CF) program. They feared that access to the forest, which is their living space and source of livelihood, would become difficult, and their ancestral traditions would be disrupted. This in-depth article is the first part of a series of reports on this program in East Kalimantan. The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility-Carbon Fund (FCPF-CF) is a carbon project envisioned by the World Bank in collaboration with the Indonesian Government. Its objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, known as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). The World Bank will provide an incentive of US$100 million, equivalent to IDR 1.6 trillion until 2028 if the Indonesian Government can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22 million tons of CO2e. Damianus Nyuk, the Village Head of Long Isun, stated that they did not want the program in the name of forest protection to change their relationship with the forest. Regulations restricting access to the forest have the potential to conflict with the life of the Long Isun community, who have long depended on customary forests. The Accountability Counsel highlighted the issue of consent based on prior information without coercion (padiatapa) or free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) in the project. Julio Castor Achmadi, Communities Associate at the Accountability Counsel, stated that a project involving the World Bank should follow their environmental and social safeguards framework. The Accountability Counsel highlighted the issue of consent based on prior information without coercion (padiatapa) or free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) in the project. Julio Castor Achmadi, Communities Associate at the Accountability Counsel, stated that a project involving the World Bank should follow their environmental and social safeguards framework. Dew still clung to the leaves. The mist still hung over the jungle of Long Isun Village, Mahakam Ulu Regency, East Kalimantan, that morning. Bonaventura Bayau, the customary leader of the Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling in Long Isun Village, was walking along the village road towards the forest, where they farmed, while greeting the residents as usual. “The Umaq Suling tribe deeply love and protect the forest,” he said, in June 2026. The indigenous community in Long Isun has a tradition of farming. This tradition has been passed down through generations, long before the residents knew the words "carbon" and "deforestation." Over the last seven years, this ancestral tradition now has to face the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility-Carbon Fund (FCPF-CF) program. This is a carbon project envisioned by the World Bank in collaboration with the Indonesian Government. Its objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation or reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). The World Bank will provide an incentive of US$100 million, equivalent to IDR 1.6 trillion until 2028 if the Indonesian Government can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22 million tons of CO2e. The first phase of this carbon money flows to 417 villages and 24 sub-districts, as well as 143 community groups and seven indigenous communities. This incentive is for activities that contribute to forest protection and improving livelihoods. East Kalimantan is one of the pilot regions and the first recipient in Asia-Pacific for performance-based carbon financing from FCPF-CF. The reason is that this province has vast tropical forest cover, namely 54% or 6.5 million hectares, which is strategic for climate change mitigation. Another claim is that East Kalimantan also has commitments to reduce emissions and forest degradation. One of the recipients of this money is Long Isun Village. Nevertheless, this promise of money did not melt the hearts of the indigenous people in Long Isun Village. The Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling community firmly rejected the FCPF carbon fund offer for the sake of their forest and traditions. “Whatever the situation, we still hold on to the forest because it is our living space, where we farm and cultivate to meet our daily needs.” The forest in Long Isun Village has existed for hundreds of years. According to Bonaventura, having the forest means guaranteeing the tradition of the Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling Indigenous community remains preserved. They are worried that the requirements of the carbon project limit customary rituals and traditions such as farming and land clearing. “In our tradition, burning fields has specific rules and rituals, such as installing customary boundary markers and never causing large forest fires,” said Bonaventura. Kukuh refuses, awaiting recognition of customary forests Other considerations rejected the carbon incentive are about territorial boundaries. The Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling Indigenous community has long proposed recognition and demarcation of customary forests of 108,450 hectares to the central government. In June 2026, they can get recognition of Customary Law Community from the Mahakam Ulu Government. Long Isun Village has been striving to obtain recognition of this customary territory since 2018. The struggle intensified when there was a territorial conflict with the timber company, PT Kemakmuran Berkah Timber (KBT), a subsidiary of Roda Mas Group. The company's concession overlapped with the customary territory of the Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling. The residents' rejection of the company peaked in 2014 when one of the customary leaders, Teodorus Tekwan Ajat, was criminalized for alleged extortion and was held in detention for 109 days at the Kutai Barat Police Station. Damianus Nyuk, the Village Head of Long Isun, said that Tewan's detention was a form of criminalization for defending customary territory. To this day, the territorial boundary conflict has not found a resolution. This agrarian conflict has sown suspicion among the community towards every government program. Therefore, Damianus did not want the forest protection-labeled program to change their relationship with the forest. According to him, the rules restricting access to the forest have the potential to contradict the life of the Long Isun community, who have long depended on customary forests. “If the government does not recognize Long Isun has a place, just move us to Malaysia! That's it,” he said. The women's group also unanimously rejected the carbon fund offer. For them, the forest is a source of life. From the forest, they can meet their basic needs. The forest also provides the materials they need for daily activities, such as rattan commonly used by residents for scraping, house walls, and rice drying places. The community also takes materials from the forest to make seraung as head protection when it rains. The forest is also a pharmacy and a library for them. In the forest, various medicinal plants and sources of traditional healing knowledge are stored, inherited through generations. “Even now, if children get sick, that is what we take first before consuming medical drugs,” said Ngayang Ding, Head of the Village Consultative Body (BPK) of Long Isun. He said that the rejection of the carbon fund does not mean the community does not care about forest conservation. On the contrary, the residents of Long Isun defend the forest based on ancestral knowledge and rules. Another reason why the Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling residents rejected the offer is the lack of socialization. He said that they never received direct and complete socialization of the program. Damianus also complained about this. Even though there was socialization from the Protected Forest Management Unit (KPHL) Batu Rook, he had not received adequate explanation about the mechanism, objectives, and consequences of the fund for the indigenous community's life. “If there is socialization about the carbon fund, it is not from the government (East Kalimantan Provincial/Mahakam Ulu Regency) itself,” said Damianus. Problems from the beginning This pilot carbon project in East Kalimantan continues despite the rejection from the Long Isun community. From the perspective of Julio Castor Achmadi, Communities Associate at the Accountability Counsel, the character of this multi-million dollar carbon fund project uses an approach that covers the broad administrative area, namely East Kalimantan as a whole. In other words, Long Isun Village is still included in the emission reduction calculation despite rejecting the carbon fund project. “So, from the beginning of the project design, it assumed all communities agreed.” The Accountability Counsel highlighted the issue of consent based on prior information without coercion (padiatapa) or free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) in the project. According to Julio, a project involving the World Bank should follow their environmental and social safeguards framework. One of these standards, he said, regulates the protection of indigenous communities. This process should include consultation, information openness, transparency, and protection of indigenous communities' access to forests and their customary practices. “This process did not run as it should in Long Isun.” Julio said that the Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling Indigenous community faced a number of pressures when expressing their rejection. One intimidation was an anonymous text message from the village head containing threats about the reduction of Long Isun Village's funds if they did not accept the carbon project. There were also threats stating that the rejection of the project would disrupt harmony with other villages. “So, there were practices or attempts at coercion so that Long Isun would not reject the project (carbon fund),” he said. The issue escalated on August 13, 2024. At that time, the community was invited to attend the technical verification process for customary law communities (MHA) at the Long Isun Village Office, Long Pahangai District. According to Julio, the community came because they thought the MHA recognition process was starting. “Suddenly when we arrived, the banner that appeared was the FCPF socialization,” he said. The community was then asked to sign a report that they had received the FCPF socialization. Several residents were forced to sign because they had no choice. The Accountability Counsel assessed that this incident was a form of manipulation in the consent process. The disappointed Long Isun residents stated the withdrawal of their signatures and their disagreement with the FCPF project socialization event. More than 300 residents signed the withdrawal of consent letter. Martha Doq, Director of the Women's Wisdom Association (PNP) East Kalimantan, said that the rejection was also because the status of the Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling customary territory was not yet clear. The Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling Indigenous community is still fighting for recognition of MHA status. “When this carbon funding came in, the name of Long Isun entered without the residents' knowledge. There was no FPIC process with the community,” Martha said. The Long Isun Village community received support from the Women's Wisdom Association, the Accountability Counsel, and the Forest Peoples Programme, which then filed a formal complaint with the World Bank Inspection Panel in November 2025. “Why does the World Bank not resolve the territorial conflict and not resolve the delayed MHA recognition?” Julio asked. The World Bank received the complaint. They formed an independent investigation body to verify the complaint. This team came directly to Jakarta, Samarinda, Mahakam Ulu, and Long Isun Village on February 17-26, 2026. Misalignment and Misdirection? The Accountability Counsel also highlighted the structure of the carbon project fund distribution (benefit sharing plan). According to Julio, the mechanism for distributing the funds is not fair to indigenous communities who have the main role in protecting the forest. According to him, the allocation to indigenous communities is only 10%, while the East Kalimantan Provincial Government receives 65%, and the remaining 25% for project management costs. “This proportion is problematic because the indigenous communities who protect the forest receive the smallest share,” he said. The World Bank and the Indonesian Government also wanted to allocate the funds to corporations. However, in the end, the World Bank designated a company as the recipient of the funds. If the money is still disbursed, Julio said, the World Bank could be seen as facilitating money laundering or greenwashing for corporations that damage the forest. Julio also questioned the target recipients of the carbon project funds. He gave the example of the api-conscious farmers in urban areas who received benefits from the carbon fund. According to him, the money is more beneficial for those who actually protect the forest. “In reality, Long Isun contributes a lot to the change in the carbon financing scheme in Indonesia and perhaps globally,” he said. The experience of the Long Isun community, according to Julio, should be a lesson so that the next carbon fund projects do not repeat similar problems. Especially when dealing with indigenous communities who have not yet received recognition. The media collaboration team requested clarification from the World Bank via email on July 1, 2026. The World Bank provided a written answer two weeks later, on July 15, 2026. This global financial institution rejected the answer, which was quoted as confirmation material. The Government of East Kalimantan admitted that there were many shortcomings during the absorption and disbursement of the first phase. However, Iwan Darmawan, Head of the Economic Bureau of the Regional Secretariat of East Kalimantan, ensured that all fund disbursements followed the rules and standards of the World Bank. Namely, the emission reductions payment agreement and benefit sharing plan (BSP). On the other hand, the East Kalimantan Government said that they will fully follow the FPIC principle for communities at the ground level. Regarding the rejection of the FCPF fund by the Long Isun community, he said there was no problem. “If someone rejects, it's okay. That is why there is the FPIC principle for potential beneficiaries, whether they want it or not. If they reject, then, the money is still kept and remains in the BPDLH (Environmental Fund Management Agency),” said Iwan. Regarding the recognition of customary forests of the Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling, Iwan said that the process of establishing boundaries and resources is still hindered. The recognition of customary territory for the Long Isun Village community is only 80,429 hectares. “This facilitates the unfinished (MHA establishment) this, for example, if they want to process their permits to the regency capital, it needs money. Hopefully, by receiving the FCPF fund, obstacles like transportation shortages or boundary markers can be facilitated.” The Partnership, as the intermediary institution for fund disbursement in the project in East Kalimantan, admitted that they are not active in Long Isun Village. The institution admitted that their task is only to accompany the community without being able to determine the beneficiaries. “We are not directed to enter Long Isun by the provincial government. So, we do not enter there at all,” said Hasbi Berliani, Director of Partnership Program. The Penabulu Foundation also became an intermediary institution for fund disbursement in this project and was reluctant to respond to interview requests when the collaboration team sought confirmation. Ngayang requested that the government and international donor institutions respect the decisions of the indigenous communities. “We have been protecting this forest green for hundreds of years without anyone paying. Let us protect our customary forest in our own ways and traditions for the children and grandchildren of Long Isun,” said Ngayang. *This report is a collaboration of Mongabay Indonesia, Kaltim Post, Intuisi.co, and Prolog.co.id with the support of the Business Climate and Media Initiative (BCMI) Informed Earth program. ***** The Dayak Bahau Umaq Suling Indigenous Community Urges Recognition of Customary Forests