Conflicting Ecologies in a "Failed" Gaharu Nursery Programme in Central Kalimantan

A gaharu (Agarwood) nursery programme in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, failed mainly because the multiple ecologies of members of an environmental organization and indigenous people conflicted. The former believed that the trees that produced gaharu should be protected for their role in storing carbon emissions, and that the nursery programme should provide a "cultivated" income opportunity. In contrast, for Punan Murung, searching for and trading in heartwood embedded with resin offers the possibility of economic gain and of autonomy, while also serving as a marker for an indigenous semi-nomadic identity. Consideration of the varied relationships of actors with the environment, as these relations are intertwined with multifocal power structures, can further understanding of failures in participatory forest management programmes.