Third PMaP project launched in Indonesia

In May 2016, LEI finalised contract negotiations for PMaP3 – funded by MCA-I. As is the case with PMaP2, this project is part of the Participatory Land Use Planning Activity (PLUP) under the Green Prosperity Project (see http://gp.mca-indonesia.go.id/en/). PLUP implementation focuses on investments in administrative boundary setting, updating and integrating land-use inventories and enhancing spatial plans and capacity building at the district and provincial levels.

PMaP3 covers three, of a potential four, implementation tasks in eleven districts across four provinces in Indonesia; namely, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). The three tasks are:

1. Acquisition of geo-spatial data and preparation of GIS databases of land-use/land cover
2. Compilation and geo-referencing of existing and pending licenses and permits for land and natural resource use
3. Enhance district spatial plans through capacity building in spatial planning, enforcement and management of land use information in spatially-enabled databases.

The LEI-managed PMaP3 team was mobilised in late May, and commenced with a kick-off meeting in Sulawesi. The key personnel team and supporting office staff visited all eleven districts. Data acquisition, the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan, stakeholder engagement plan, spatial planning capacity building/training plan, user needs assessments, information management system (IMS) design and regulatory legal reviews have been delivered or are currently being worked on.

Project activities to date have included:
1. Inception Report preparation
2. Work plan reviews and preparation
3. Meetings with national stakeholders (e.g. BPN, BIG)
4. 13 PMaP3 kick-off meetings held in Masamba, Luwu Utara for all four PMaP3 Provinces, and Larantuka for all three Flores districts, followed by district kick-off meetings in each of the 11 districts expanded to relevant government agencies
5. User Needs Assessments competed for all three Flores districts and eight in Sulawesi, and
6. (As mentioned above) preparation of key deliverables such as the M&E Plan, Stakeholder Engagement Plan, and Spatial Planning Capacity Building/Training Plan.

Stakeholder participation is fundamental for ensuring successful PMaP3 implementation. Prior to engagement, and to understand the issues and needs at the community level, initial discussions have been held with several key persons during the kick-off meetings. The main issues identified in these discussions have mostly related to the key tasks required in PMaP3 and how the districts will contribute to and participate in the project. In the short term, initial engagement with development planning agencies in each district will be carried out in four provinces. These engagement sessions will provide an overview of the project and how each task ties in with the regional development plan, and in particular, for the districts agreeing on spatial and land use planning.

The project will provide assistance to district spatial planners for 12 months until May 2017.