Directorate General of PSKL Visits HKm Partnership Area between SSMS and KTH Karya Masoraian

Director General of Social Forestry and Environmental Partnership (PSKL) of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) of the Republic of Indonesia, Bambang Supriyanto visited the partnership area between PT Sawit Sumbermas Sarana Tbk. (SSMS) and the Karya Masoraian Forest Farmer Group (KTH), located in Kotawaringin Hilir Village, Kowaringin Lama District, on Monday (30/10).

The visit located in Astana Al-Nursari was attended by the Directorate General of PSKL Bambang Supriyanto, Head of the Central Kalimantan PSKL Center Eko Nopriadi, Head of Kobar Bappeda Juni Gultom, representatives of KPHP Kobar, USAID Segar Ian Hilman along with the sub-districts of Kotawaringin Lama, Babinsa and Bhabinkabtibmas, representatives of several KTHs in the Kobar region, and teams from SSMS.

Directorate General of PSKL, Bambang Supriyanto during his visit expressed his appreciation to SSMS for initiating partnerships with 4 KTHs in the Kobar area, one of which is KTH Karya Masoraian. HKm Masoraian has tremendous potential, in terms of biodiversity and cultural tourism. This certainly has the potential to increase economies of scale and added value of products in the area.

Bambang Supriyanto emphasized that the cooperation between the parties in the HKm area is good and hopes that this partnership will allow KTH to participate in sustainable forest management and use actively. For this reason, support from SSMS is needed to help market forest products so that they can be more competitive and have a broad market, both domestically and internationally.

This visit was also coupled with the signing of a cooperation agreement between SSMS and KTH Karya Masoraian in the 3rd year. In 2024, the partnership program will focus on area protection and community empowerment as well as strengthening aspects of ecotourism development by providing facilities and empowerment facilities needed by the community such as fish caramba, kelulut honey stop, guard posts, and fire sarpras.

This partnership has been initiated since 2019. Several programs have been carried out such as protecting forest areas and biodiversity, forming a Fire Care Farmer Group (KTPA) team, increasing community capacity through forest and land fire training, procuring fire extinguishers, and improving community welfare through community empowerment programs.

On the same occasion, the SSMS Group Head of Sustainability said that this partnership is not only for forest conservation but also to advance the community and maintain environmental sustainability. Through this partnership, Henky hopes that the Company can become an example for palm oil industry players to participate in contributing positively to the protection and preservation of forest areas.