Some are local, others come from Malaysia and all offer forest-dwelling communities significant sums of cash in return for the right to exploit the forests.

Numerous villages have accepted the money, and much of the forest in the lowlands, and along the Malinau River, has now been logged.

But there has been some notable resistance. Setulang safeguarded over 5,000 hectares of forest and the village’s achievement was recognised by Indonesia’s Minister for the Environment when it received the prestigious Presidential Kalpataru award in 2003. CIFOR scientists working in the area had recommended the village for the award.

News of the award encouraged a farmers’ group in Sesuak, a settlement near Malinau, to approach CIFOR the following year. They, too, had resisted the lure of a quick buck, having turned down a substantial offer for 200 hectares of species-rich rainforest. Now they wanted to carry out an inventory to find out exactly what they had in their forest.

“We knew that we needed to retain some of our forests not just for ourselves, but for future generations,” explains Luther Tare, a retired tractor driver who spent many years working in the Far East for timber companies. “Besides providing us with rattan, medicinal plants and other products, the forest helps to absorb carbon dioxide and keep the air fresh.”

CIFOR provided a two-day training for the farmers’ group, which consists of 26 families, and the group has since made an inventory of all the tree species, mapping the key features of the forest. In March 2005, at a ceremony on the forest edge, Petrus Gunarso, CIFOR’s Malinau Research Forest coordinator, handed over a grant of 6 million rupiah to cover the time the farmers’ group spent making the inventory.

“I think initiatives like this are extremely important,” explains Gunarso. “Conservation is often seen as an outsiders’ idea, not a local idea. Frequently, when vast areas of land are set aside as national parks, local people don’t benefit, and that means they don’t buy into the idea of conservation. So when the villagers themselves decide to conserve an area of forest, they should be given as much encouragement as possible.” Gunarso hopes other villagers will follow the lead of Setulang and Sesuak. Eventually, this could lead to the creation of a network of village conservation areas.

At present, no firm decision has been made about how to use the forest — other than to ensure it is used sustainably. The villagers will continue to hunt here, and collect non-timber forest products such as rattan. But they are also looking to other uses in the future. “We are keen that the forest should be preserved as an educational resource,” explains Luther Tare. “One day, as forests round here get even rarer, we might be able to charge researchers a fee for working here.”