Health & Well-being of Communities in West Kalimantan
Doctor shortage in communities: "one doctor for every 2,700 people" (p. 140)
Lack of proper and affordable medical care!
Proper medical care is expensive. Many people have to travel around 80 kilometers (p. 142) from the main city of Sukadana for more advanced and expensive medical care.
Role of Government: Government health-clinics, while populous, only offered "sub-par primary care and lacked a general practitioner" (p. 142).
Issue: Families turning to illegal logging to pay for medical expenses and procedures.
Role of Government: Governmental Insurance Program: Indonesia's social security administration covers about 85% of the country's total population for medical financial burdens.
Trees are important in preventing diarrheal disease, "displacing human activities that pollute watershed" and limiting flooding (p. 137).
Issue: Communities living in the area experienced higher levels of bacterial skin infections & cases of diarrhea (p. 137).
Communities living in rural areas depended on surface water: watershed degradation disproportionately affected these populations.
Role of Government: Indonesia's government has over 1,000 bodies & individuals that hold the ability to create new forestry laws.
Issue: Complicates governmental ability to implement national change to limit deforestation
Consequence: Individuals experience lowered quality of life!
Solution: Health in Harmony, in partnership with Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI), opened a hospital clinic to provide accessible care.
Solution: Implementation of ASRI's "Chainsaw Buyback Program", non-cash medical payments, and village-wide incentives help community members find environmentally-friendly alternatives to logging as means of financial support.
Impact: Movement towards conservation practices & conscious health choices among the community!
Solution: The ASRI's brainstorming process included listening to the concerns of numerous disproportionately affected communities.
History/culture: Logging began when the Dutch East India Company colonized Indonesia and unsustainably cleared forests (p. 142).
Role of Government: In 2002 and 2011, the government sanctioned parts of forest for protection and prohibited new logging concessions. (p. 143).
Former loggers act as "forest guardians" (p. 161) that advocate for change & help other loggers with the transition away from logging towards sustainable practices (such as opening businesses).
Dutch colonial & post-Independence Indonesian governments favored exploitation of Indonesia's natural resources over conservation (p. 142).
Issue: General lack of emphasis/care for deforestation & immediate impacts.
Impact: Improved access to higher quality and affordable healthcare for individuals in Indonesia!