-Including customary forests in the social forestry scheme violates the Constitutional Court’s decision. Government regulations regarding customary forests need to be established.-

LAST Tuesday, May 16, exactly 10 years ago, the Constitutional Court (MK) granted the petition for testing Law Number 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry against the 1945 Constitution. The petition was filed by the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, the United Customary Law Community of Kenegerian Kuntu, and the United Customary Law Community of Kasepuhan Cisitu. In decision number 35/PUU-X/2012 read on May 16, 2013, the Constitutional Court declared that the Forestry Law which includes customary forests as part of state forests is contrary to the 1945 Constitution.

The petitioners requested a review of Article 1 paragraph 6; Article 4 paragraph 3; Article 5 paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4; and Article 67 paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of the Forestry Law. The Constitutional Court judges granted some of these requests, namely for Article 1 paragraph 6; Article 4 paragraph 3; and Article 5 paragraphs 1, 2, and 3. The MK rejected the requests for Article 5 paragraph 4 and Article 67, which among others state that the recognition of the existence of indigenous communities is determined by regional regulations.

The Director General of Social Forestry and Environmental Partnership at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Bambang Supriyanto, stated that the step taken by his institution after the decision of MK number 35/2012 was to issue Ministerial Regulation Number 32 of 2015 concerning Forest Concession Rights. “Subsequently, it undergoes improvements and refinements to be able to provide services and protection to customary law communities,” said Bambang in a written response on Sunday, May 21.

According to Bambang, regulations governing customary forests are stipulated in Government Regulations on Forestry Management and Government Regulations on Social Forestry. He mentioned that various breakthroughs have been made by the Ministry to expedite the establishment of customary forests. “One of them is through simplifying local legal products regarding the recognition and protection of customary law communities into a single regional regulation for one district/city, which is then followed up with a decision by the local government head,” he explained.

Regarding requests for the designation of customary forest status that have not been accompanied by a decision recognizing customary law communities and the designation of their customary territory maps by local governments, Bambang stated that the Ministry can facilitate the identification and mapping of customary territories through the formation of an integrated team involving local governments and relevant agencies. “So, field verifications are still carried out, and the results are designated as indicative customary forest areas by the Minister of Environment and Forestry,” he said.

In addition to making regulations, Bambang stated that the ministry has collaborated with other agencies. Regarding the formation of regional regulations, which fall under the authority of local governments, Bambang mentioned that they regularly coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is responsible for overseeing the issuance of regional regulations. “As for the Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency, we continue to coordinate on matters related to the registration of customary land and communal certificates included in the Ministry of ATR/BPN’s policy,” he said.

Since the first decree recognizing customary forests was handed over by President Joko Widodo on December 30, 2016, a total of 108 decrees recognizing customary forests have been issued, covering an area of approximately 153,322 hectares. “These decrees involve 52,167 families in 17 provinces and 36 districts/cities,” he said. “As for indicative customary forests, they span 17 provinces and 30 districts/cities with a total area of 952,862 hectares.”

Currently, Bambang added, the integrated team for customary forest designation at the Ministry is verifying customary forests in Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan. “This will continue to expedite the areas whose legal products are ready, such as Pidie Regency in Aceh, Mentawai in West Sumatra, and Kapuas Hulu Regency in West Kalimantan. In the Eastern region, there are Sorong, Tambrauw, and