Chevron and Yayasan Bina Usaha Lingkungan (YBUL): Community-Based Environmental Conservation and Micro Finance Development in West Java, Indonesia

This case study discusses “Community-Based Environmental Conservation and Micro Finance Development” (CBEC-MFD), a partnership between Chevron and Yayasan Bina Usaha Lingkungan (YBUL) to reduce deforestation by involving local communities.  The three-year partnership began in November 2009 and is scheduled to end in December 2012. 

The partnership supports a community empowerment program to reduce the rate of forest degradation in the forest of Halimun-Salak National Park in West Java where Chevron operates a geothermal power plant.  The CBEC-MFD program targets communities located near the power plant that include approximately 300,000 inhabitants (about 75,000 households). 

Chevron and YBUL believe that local communities should play a significant role in land use decision-making and benefit from managing the surrounding forest and its resources without damaging the environment.  The partners also recognize that the communities must be able to pursue sustainable livelihoods in the process. The partnership supports the following: (1) forest conservation and income generation from goat and rabbit breeding, organic farming, and creating tree nurseries; (2) protection of eagles in the target areas; (3) forest conservation communication/awareness activities; and (4) microfinance development.  YBUL coordinates all organizations involved in activities including Chevron, four NGOs specializing in each of these issues, and local governments. 

By the end of 2011 the majority of communities had stopped cutting forest trees and communities were earning more than 3,000 USD per year from the goat and tree nursery businesses. The partnership had also leveraged approximately 6,000 USD in funds from local governments to help communities. Specially trained community members were educating stu-dents on eagle preservation.  Two events were held to release eagles into the wild and materials were produced to increase awareness of the need for eagle protection and forest conservation.  A website, www.ybul.or.id and www.suakaelang.org can be accessed for project information and publications.

Chevron and YBUL continue to work on several challenges including how to:  improve their strategy on micro financing to benefit farmers; prevent community financial dependency on Chevron;  increase communities’ capacity to create  business; and jointly monitor and evaluate activities.  The partners envision more partnerships involving NGOs and local governments in the target areas to help farmers continue their businesses.

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