2023

Daulay, M. H., Susanti, F. D., Laraswati, D., Arthalina, E. C., & Maryudi, A. (2023). New land governance models and management scenarios: Fitting Forest Management Units (FMUs) for forested landscapes outside forest zones in Indonesia. Forest and Society, 7(1), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v7i1.23962

Abstract

Many parts of non-forest zones (Areal untuk Penggunaaan Lain/APL) in Indonesia are forested but are however under intense pressure from unsustainable practices and conversion. To help preserve forested APL zones, the Ministry of Environment of Forestry is envisioning the integration of forested APL areas into the operational activities of the Forest Management Units/ FMUs (Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan/KPH), a management arm of the forest administration. Under the current governance arrangements, FMUs are not tasked to manage the areas. In this paper, we developed new governance arrangements and management scenarios that permit management of forested APL by FMUs based on iterative processes and intensive consultation with related stakeholders. We developed three plausible broad scenarios: 1) the handing over forested APLs to FMUs, 2) co-management, and 3) FMUs to provide technical assistance for preserving forested APLs. We further detailed the three scenarios into five different models. Our scenarios of institutional arrangements and management models are by no means prescriptive and readily operationalized on the ground. Instead, the processes by which the scenarios and models were developed can be adopted when the FMUs intend to develop more detailed scenarios that reflect specific situations and conditions.

Kusuma, A. F., Sahide, M. A. K., Purwanto, R. H., Ismariana, E., Santoso, W. B., Wulandari, E., & Maryudi, A. (2023). Emergent Institutional Issues from New Tenure Reforms and Social-Forestry Initiatives in Indonesia: Notes from The Field. Forest and Society, 7(2), 450–466. https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v7i2.28319

Abstract

In Indonesia, land tenure reform has been approached as a policy priority by the government to address rural poverty and achieve distributive economic equity. It is instituted around allocation and consolidation of land ownership and access. Tenure reform policy promises over 21.7 million hectares (including 16.8 million hectares of forestland) to be distributed through two modes, i.e., land subject to agrarian reform and social forestry. Specifically for Java, the country’s most populated island, the government has recently allocated 1.1 million hectares of state forests to be entrusted to local communities in a scheme called Kawasan Hutan Dengan Pengelolaan Khusus/KHDPK (Forest Zones for Special Management Purposes). Approximately threequarters of the KHDPK-reserved forestland is pledged for SF licensing/permits to be completed by 2024. Currently, there is heightened activity to hand over social forestry permits. However, the KHDPK-designated forest is not an unoccupied resource that can simply be transferred/granted to local communities. From only four sites, we discovered that the forests have been guided by contrasting (often conflicting) principles, norms, and values that have shaped the existing tenure arrangements, how it is used and managed, and by whom. Such issues must be navigated prior to introducing the new policy and implementation regime. We conclude that while the policy rationales look perfect as a framework, KHDPK implementation exhibits impediments and potential failures. There is risk of altering it into a mere industry of policy rhetoric, sustaining major flaws from design to execution.

Muttaqin, T., Soraya, E., Dharmawan, B., Laraswati, D., & Maryudi, A. (2023). Asymmetric power relations in multistakeholder initiatives: Insights from the government-instituted Indonesian National Forestry Council. Trees, Forests and People, 12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2023.100406

Abstract

Waves of democratization, which occurred in Indonesia by the end of the 1990s, have provided opportunities to deepen and diversify broader civil society elements for engagement in formal public policymaking. In the forestry sector emerged a multistakeholder initiative of the National Forestry Council (Dewan Kehutanan Nasional/ DKN), which was envisioned to promote good forest governance by engaging the broader public in the formulation of strategies and policy options to foster intelligent forest management in Indonesia. The DKN was instituted to create a space for multistakeholder dialogues and learning, and was expected to become an influential body in national forest-related policy-making processes. Through the application of theories related to power relations in multistakeholder initiatives, this paper assesses whether the DKN functions as a deliberative and inclusive platform. The hope and expectation placed upon the DKN were sky- high. The DKN initially provided opportunities for the spectrum of public/governments, private sector organizations, and civil society groups to come together on the same table. It also drew support from many institutions at the national level and donor agencies. However, the DKN has later shown the unequal resources of participants and eventual asymmetric power relations. As a result, it fully facilitated deliberative processes due to the asymmetric power that subtly manifested through the stakeholders’ interaction patterns, which were heavily driven by the government.

Muttaqin, T., Soraya, E., Dharmawan, B., & Maryudi, A. (2023). Stakeholder Salience in a Multistakeholder Initiative of the National Forestry Council of Indonesia. Jurnal Manajemen Hutan Tropika, 29(3), 178–186. https://doi.org/10.7226/jtfm.29.3.178

Abstract

This study analyzes the roles and positions of stakeholders in decision-making processes within the National Forestry Council (Dewan Kehutanan Nasional, DKN), a forest-related multistakeholder platform in Indonesia. It considers stakeholders’ power, legitimacy, and urgency. The research employed a qualitative case study, centered around in-depth interviews with 27 key informants with diverse backgrounds involved in the DKN. The study found that despite being designed to facilitate democratic and inclusive decision-making, the engagement of stakeholders in the DKN is heavily dominated by powerful government actors. Several stakeholder groups, such as NGOs and academics, may actively participate in decision-making processes, but they do not meaningfully influence and capacity to determine the organizational policy directions. This is related to an imbalance in the distribution of power among stakeholders in DKN. Even though this organization promotes the principle of inclusivity, the reality is that the presence and influence of the government are still the dominant factors in determining policy directions. This study confirms the importance of the stakeholder salience analysis approach in the context of multistakeholder initiative organizations such as the DKN, which allows recognition of power dynamics and domination among stakeholders within the DKN so that decisions made truly reflect the common interests of all parties involved.

Rahayu, S., Laraswati, D., Permadi, D. B., Sahide, M. A. K., & Maryudi, A. (2023). Only a Noise? The Role of Non-governmental Organizations in the Policy Processes of a New Social Forestry Model in Indonesia. Small-Scale Forestry, 22(2), 253–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-022-09525-9

Abstract

Social forestry has been widely promoted as a policy strategy to improve the livelihoods of rural communities by granting them rights or permits to manage forests. How it is mainstreamed and how the related policy options are exercised and implemented have become vibrant areas of scientific inquiries. This study analyzes the formal policy formulation processes of a new social forestry scheme in Indonesia called Izin Pemanfaatan Hutan Perhutanan Sosial (IPHPS) (Permits for Social Forestry Concession). Granted to local farmers, IPHPS is a long-term utilization permit for forestland that is currently managed by the state-owned Perhutani enterprise. It is unique in Indonesia, as no permit-based social forestry has been implemented in forests under another right (overlapping permits). This research analyzes why and how IPHPS was formulated and explains why the permit-based social forestry was preferred to land distribution. Through interviews with diverse policy actors combined with literature, policy document, and regulation reviews, the degree to which nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were involved in the policymaking is specifically assessed. Two major findings are obtained. First, although NGOs sustained a decade-long policy advocacy and played a substantial part in promoting forest tenure reforms, their direct involvement in designing the IPHPS model was limited. Former NGO activists who worked within government circles did not push substantive policy outputs, whereas others were prevented from coming to negotiation tables. Second, the new social forestry model was instead shaped by the strong interest of maintaining forest control by the state enterprise held by few individuals within and with connections to government institutions. The policy outcome itself, i.e., IPHPS social forestry, appears to represent a compromise between two extremes, i.e., the status quo of joint forest management and land distribution to local communities.

Sahide, M. A. K., Fisher, M. R., Hasfi, N., Mas’ud, E. I., Yunus, A., Faturachmat, F., Larekeng, S. H., & Maryudi, A. (2023). Navigating the Hidden Politics of Water Resource Bureaucracies in Indonesia: Mapping Issue-Elements and Alliances. Hasanuddin Law Review, 9(1), 57–87. https://doi.org/10.20956/halrev.v9i1.4304

Abstract

Water resource politics are often overlooked for jurisdictional perspectives, or difficult to comprehend for the politics unfolding behind the scenes. Using Indonesia as a case study, we synthesized all water-related bureaucracies to generate a list of “Water resource Issue-Elements,†which served as a framework for translating actor-centered power dynamics. The data is based on policies reviewed from 2014 to 2017, coinciding with the beginning of a new presidential administration with heightened interests in water resource management. The study found that while the central coordinating and planning bureaucracies wield the strongest network power, two sectoral bureaucracies hold tremendous influence in guiding water resource management, which unfold under conditions of highly fragmented politics. On the one hand, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry influences water resources through its land management mandate and seeks to enlarge its bureaucratic power beyond state forest boundaries through the concept of watersheds. On the other hand, The Ministry of Public Works and Housing maintains its traditional mandate for managing river basins, wielding large budgets and networks to control information and determine project-related disbursements. As these two bureaucracies shape alliances administering water resources, their delegating responsibilities also refract to regional bureaucracies, shaping a new set of subnational contestations.

Sahide, M. A. K., Fisher, M. R., Sirimorok, N., Faturachmat, F., Dhiaulhaq, A., Maryudi, A., Batiran, K. B., & Supratman, S. (2023). Blind spots and spotlights in bureaucratic politics: An analysis of policy co-production in environmental governance dynamics in Indonesia. Development Policy Review, 41(5). https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12693

Abstract

Motivation: There has been growing interest in recent years in a better understanding of knowledge/science and policy co-production in environmental governance. Purpose: We aim to shed more light on the politics among the numerous actors shaping ideas that drive environmental policy in Indonesia. We focus our theoretical engagement on a framing of bureaucratic politics, which is a research tradition that has made various strides in explaining the formal and non-formal processes that influence environmental governance outcomes. Methods and approach: Building from a wide range of case studies drawn from deep engagement of participatory research in policy-making in Indonesia, we established a simple typology that helps explain eight categories that emerge when bureaucracies, knowledge institutions, and publics come together to shape environmental governance outcomes. Findings: The bureaucratic politics specifically clarified the features of cases that have clear fragmentation of bureaucracy but clear explanation variables from the formal and informal interest of bureaucracy. Potential uncovered by bureaucratic politics framing means that, if the metapolitical works alter, the bureaucracy works smoothly or makes it impossible for bureaucracy to operationalize their formal and informal interest in capturing the dynamics of macro and micro politics. In terms of form of knowledge, knowledge produced “from below” can also be used in policy co-production. It can be produced by non-expert actors, or from dialogue among them and sympathetic experts that occur below the bureaucracy’s radar (people-driven). Policy implications: Our ideal policy co-production implication is where the three actors have a strong foundation of “common consciousness” and interact equally to address a particular environmental policy agenda, with enough working space to jointly commit to creating the knowledge base to shape policy.

Sopaheluwakan, W. R. I., Fatem, S. M., Kutanegara, P. M., & Maryudi, A. (2023). Two-decade decentralization and recognition of customary forest rights: Cases from special autonomy policy in West Papua, Indonesia. Forest Policy and Economics, 151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2023.102951

Abstract

Formally framed as Special Autonomy, the local governments in Papua Provinces have since 2001 been granted substantial authorities, greater than other provinces in Indonesia, to determine the direction of local development. The Special Autonomy was trusted to serve the interests and rights of native Papuans in using their rich natural resources, including forests. For the native Papuans, claims over forests are framed within the context of Tanah Adat or Ulayat (customary land). Analyzing the case of West Papua, this paper asks why hasn’t decentralization facilitated formal recognition of customary forests in the province. To answer the question, we conducted reviews of policies and regulations, interviews with government officials (at central, provincial, and regency levels), non-government organizations, leaders & members of customary groups, and direct observation. We found the interplay of explaining factors through our research. First, at the national level, the decentralization policy had not been followed with forest regulatory frameworks supporting it. Forest laws and regulations continued to emphasize the unified legal framework for maintaining (central) state control over forest resources. Second, in implementing the Special Autonomy policy, the local governments at the provincial and regency levels were more focused on other development agendas. They limitedly made recognition of customary forest claims as a policy priority. Drawing from three pilot projects of the recognition of customary forests, support from the local governments for the recognition of customary forests were limited despite normative promises. The Special Autonomy ended in 2021 and it is clear that it has not been used optimally as an avenue to facilitate customary forest claims. Hence, our research raises a question about the future trajectory of customary forests in the province.

Suprapto, S., Awang, S. A., Fisher, M. R., Sahide, M. A. K., & Maryudi, A. (2023). PULP FICTION: NATIONAL INTEREST, REGIONAL POLITICS, AND THE AGGLOMERATION OF INDUSTRIAL TREE PLANTATIONS IN INDONESIA. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 35, 27–41. https://doi.org/10.26525/jtfs2023.35S.SI.27

Abstract

Industrial pulp and paper plantations have expanded substantially in Indonesia over the past three decades. This paper analyses how plantations were established and changed over time, focusing on the ways owners have asserted control over massive forestland areas. The study centres on two major companies which control 95% of plantations in Riau, a province with the largest industrial tree plantations in Indonesia. The current analytical framework combines national and subnational interests alongside theories of bureaucratic politics. We found that large-scale forestland controlled by a few private players was made possible through meeting national development targets and carried out by the national forest bureaucracy. Under this constellation, a few conglomerates closely tied to central power holders secured mandates to pursue forestry goals. Our findings explain emergent subnational patterns among local bureaucracies, whose growing interests coincide with large-scale plantations agglomerating land to supply shortfalls in mega-processing plants. The mechanisms of formal and informal interests at play among bureaucracies at both national and sub-national levels enrich our current understanding about forestland acquisitions, which is often simplistically interpreted as a centralised state obsessed with economic opportunities presented by a global commodity.