Emergent Dynamics of Migration and Their
Potential Effects on Forest and Land Use in
North Kalimantan, Indonesia
CIFOR’s Research Program on Migration and Forests
Kartika Sari Juniwatya, Bimbika Sijapati Basnetta, Benita Nathaniaa, Rilin Purwatia
I Made Sanjayaa, Paul Thungb
Worldbank Land and Poverty Conference
Washington DC, March 21st, 2018
aCenter for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia
bBrunel University London, UK

Outline
• Background & Motivation
• Research Questions
• Background of Location, Research Sites and
Methods
• Results, implications and next steps

Background and Motivation
• Migration is a livelihood, investment
and resilience strategy
• Migration might have two-way
causal relationship with forests,
however research on this is limited.
(Hecht et.al, 2014)
• Address the research gap and
support our partner, GIZ Forest and
Climate Change (FORCLIME), in
making evidence based policies

Research Questions
o What are the major drivers of migration and
mobility?
o How is migration contributing to forest and land
use change?
o What are the future prospects for forests and rural
livelihoods?
o What are the implications for forest-related
intervention and policies?

A case study from Indonesia:
Malinau District
• North Kalimantan Province
• 42,000 km2 , low population density
• Extensive forest resources, rich in
biodivesity
• History of resource exploitation
(logging, mining, cash-crop, lucrative
NTFP) but forest cover still high
• History of cross-border migration
• One of the intervention sites of GIZ
Forest and Climate Change
(FORCLIME) programme
Land Cover Map, Malinau District 2015

Research Site & Methods
First round:
Quantititave Data Collection
• Household surveys
• 141 migrants HH in 8 Villages
• 219 non-migrants HH in 8 Villages
Second round:
Qualitative Data Collection
• In-depth interviews
• Households
• Education migrants (43), non-
migrants (15), in-migrants(5),
Economic Migrant (5), Other (6),
Potential (3)
• Individual
• returnee migrants (9), migrants at
destination (16), prospective
migrants (5)
• FGD and KII
• Local Leaders (8), Women group (8),
Youth group (8), Forest User (8), Mixed
Group (5)

Research Site and Migration PatternCharacteristics
LOWER MALINAU (RURAL)
• Accessibility: Road access to
Malinau city (capital), Proximity to
market
• Livelhoods: Diverse jobs
• Forests: History of resource
exploitation (mining) and also
strong forest management (tanah
oleh)
UPPER MALINAU (REMOTE)
• Acccesibility: Hill; Access to
Malinau city (capital) by airplane;
bordering Malaysia; distance from
market.
• Livelihoods: subsistence farming,
forest-based livelihoods
• Forests: Larger primary forest
16.74
16.13
17.48
77.09
82.26
70.87
6.17
1.61
11.65
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Total
Remote Site
Rural Site
Employment Education Others

Transformation in educational background
• Dramatic increase in
proportion of youth
with higher education
background after 2000.
• Significant generational
difference in education
rates.
Proportion of Youth with higher education by Cohort
9.52 9.17
16.22
44
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
1980 1990 2000 2010
Rural Site Remote Site Total
2001

Follow up
• What explains this shift in migration patterns?
• What are the cost of youth migration?
• What are the source of livelihoods of migrant
sending household?
• How do they cope with the cost of youth
migration? Whether and to what extent is it
related to farm and forest?
• What’s next?

Reasons for shifting in
migration pattern
Less migration for employment:
• Greater hurdles in migrating to
Malaysia without permits
• More jobs opportunities in the
village
More migration for education:
• Prospective jobs in the village
• Scholarships
• Shift in mindset
• Viewed as long term strategy to
access better employment
opportunities
Decentralization

Continuous State making in forest frontiers
Prior to 1999: Subdistrict
Malinau, District Bulungan,
East Kalimantan Province
2001: District Malinau,
East Kalimantan Province
2012: District Malinau,
North Kalimantan Province
Ongoing discussion: Apau
Kayan District, North
Kalimantan Province
• Decentralization & establishment
Malinau as a new district in 1999
• District has authority to manage
administrative and budget
• More representative budget
sharing 
• Infrastructure development
provided cash for villagers
who worked for the
construction
• Opportunities to work in
public sector for villagers:
government officials,
teacher, nurse

What are the costs of youth
migration?
• Labour: Reduction of labor &
change in labor allocation?
o Not much
• Financial cost:
o Education expense is 28% of
total expenditure
▪ Non migrant: 12%
▪ Per capita monthly expenditure
24-32 USD.

What are the source of livelihoods of migrant sending
household?
3 main sources of livelihoods*:
• Lower Malinau (Rural)
1. Agriculture (for consumption)
2. Salary
3. Micro enterprise
• Upper Remote (Remote)
1. Agriculture (for consumption)
2. Government sallary
3. Sell/consume forest product
* Combined ranking by households using Borda Count Method

Coping strategies & Forest and Land Use
Distinct patterns emerging in 2 groups:
• Those who have salaried jobs are not relying on farm and
forest to pay for education.
o In addition, first generation of migrants supporting younger
siblings using their salary (from rural site- Lower Malinau).
• For those who are more dependent on farm and forests,
as expected, are intensifying existing resources
o e.g. Gaharu collection, logging increase by not a significant
spike. Cash crop production increase but no indication of
clearing new land from primary forests.

Research Questions
o What are the major drivers of migration and
mobility?
o How is migration contributing to forest and land
use change?
o What are the future prospects for forests and rural
livelihoods?
o What are the implications for forest-related
intervention and policies?

Making sense and next steps
Subsistence,
Cash from past
migration and
natural
resource
Intensification
of forest and
farm to pay for
education
Diversified
livelihood, less
dependency
on forest
No
diversification
of livelihood
t-1 t
t+n
Youth migration
for education
Success
Fail
Household level
Village level
Similar
condition
with t
Forest intact/
increase
?
? Vacum in
forest
management
Policy interventions needed follow up: FGD, Experiment

On the changing view about education across
generations
• “...there are many more young people who have been going to college since the
new district was established [decentralization]…Now that there are more
employment opportunities, parents are keen to invest in their children’s education,
and their children are also willing to study ... ”
Rani, a secretary of women group in our remote site
• “my parents’ generation did not want to invest in our education. Most of us did not
go to school because transport from the city to the village was difficult. Even if
when some of us did, there were no jobs for us, so what was the point of getting
educated? Our parents said education cannot be eaten, we can get rice from the
field. But my generation has witnessed many people have successful lives due to
education. So we ecourage our children to pursue higher studies too. ”
Melati, Women group leader in FGD remote site

“Actually, if we want to try to work as farmers,
we can do it. But we don’t want to be like our
parents who devote their lives to farming and
forest-based livelihoods only. We prefer to have a
salaried job and rely on forests and farming to
complement our livelihood.”
Amit, youth migrant returnee, teacher,
remote site
“I would like to return to the village and set up a
workshop to repair machines because there is
none in the village, but I have to find the capital
for that first. I will try to earn by finding and
selling agarwood. Once the workshop is running
smoothly, I will try to apply for a civil servant
position.”
Arif, a 7th semester student in Samarinda,
from remote site
We have to do multiple different things to
find money to pay for our children to
study outside the village. In the past, we
used to work only for food. Now, we are
growing old and the children are
migrating, we have to work really hard.”
-Roni, father of 2 youth education
migrants from rural Site
On the future after
getting educationOn the financial
burden

cifor.org
blog.cifor.org
ForestsTreesAgroforestry.org
THANK YOU
k.juniwaty@cgiar.org