On December 8, 2022, our Sintang Groundwork Analysis consortium gathered to share their findings from their work on green budget tagging, a practice of identifying elements within the regency’s budget that are beneficial to the advancement of sustainable or “green” efforts, supporting the vision of the Green Sintang Initiatives. The presentation was well attended, with 50 participants coming from government and academic institutions, NGOs, and civil society organizations (CSOs).  

The Sintang Regency is home to more than 400,000 people and a vast array of wildlife. As climate change increases flooding risk and negatively impacts biodiversity, the beauty of Sintang’s rain forests is not all that’s at stake; the decline in natural capital impacts the economy, putting industries like ecotourism and palm oil on unsustainable trajectories. Between 2000 and 2020 alone, the regency suffered a net loss of 5.2% of its tree coverage. To safeguard the future of the communities and wildlife of Sintang, Conservation Strategy Fund has engaged in an ongoing collaboration with the Sintang Development Planning Agency (BAPPEDA) to support the government’s Green Sintang Initiatives, an effort to transition to sustainable, low-carbon development principles and the preservation of natural resources and ecosystems. 

In May 2022, we held a green budget tagging groundwork analysis program with the Sintang Government, developing a consortium with six personnel coming from various Sintang’s Civil Servants. The project aimed to align the budget with the commitment to the green program included in the Regional Mid-Term Development Plan year 2021-2026 (RPJMD). 
 

On the dissemination, the team presented the results of this project at Bappeda Hall, inciting hope in the efficacy of the Green Sintang Initiative and the progress that may come from efforts such as this green budget tagging. Among the participants, Sri Taryono from Sintang’s Citizenship and Civil Registration institutions expressed his hope for this study.

“We are aware of our low Human Development Index, due to lack of education. In my observation, this lack of education data also comes from the low participation of the people to report their changes. We hope that with this study, we could update it.” Sri Taryono from the Sintang’s Citizenship and Civil Registration.

The dissemination event was opened by the Head of Sintang’s Development Planning Agency, Kartiyus, he expresses his admiration and appreciation to CSF Indonesia and the consortium that has produced this remarkable study for Green Development in Sintang.
 

“I like this study group system because it helps to increase our Civil Servants' capacity and encourages them to contribute their work for the regency. Today’s concept is that we want to hear about how big of an influence the green budget has on Sintang's government. Sintang is grateful to CSF for facilitating this study. We hope that in the future the government will be able to arrange its own Green Budget Tagging.” said Kartiyus, the Head of Sintang’s Development Planning Agency.

This event marked the final stage of the groundwork analysis program on Sintang’s Green Budget Tagging. This is a remarkable achievement in our ongoing collaboration with the Sintang Government to support their Green Sintang Initiatives since 2018. After the last six months of work between the Sintang Government and CSF Indonesia, we are proud to have reached this milestone in our collaboration as we work toward a sustainable future for Sintang. 

We are hopeful that this collaboration will help Sintang become The Green Regency.

This collaboration was made possible by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.