Jakarta, October 4, 2013. The Chamber of Community of the National Forestry Council (KM DKN) held a meeting at the end of September to discuss the latest forestry policy developments related to the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities that have been marginalized in the control, management, and enjoyment of forest benefits in Indonesia. Three main issues discussed were the acceleration of forest area designation (implementation of Constitutional Court Decision No. 45/2011 and Joint Agreement Note of 12 Ministries and Institutions), recognition and release of customary forests from state forest areas (implementation of Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/2012), and resolution of forestry conflicts.

The Chamber of Community expressed concern over the chronic injustice that has become more acute as Indonesia enters the era of decentralization and free markets. People’s lives are overshadowed by uncertainty due to arbitrary state control over forests, disregarding human rights.

Recently, the government has added to the turmoil through the MP3EI (Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development) which has sparked massive rejection from indigenous peoples and local communities, such as the rejection of the MIFEE project by indigenous communities in Merauke, the Urumuka and Memberamo hydropower projects in Papua, and the rejection of communities in Central Kalimantan against the designation of Kalimantan as a center for large-scale mining exploitation. This has led to heightened conflicts between indigenous peoples and villages with companies and the government. As of 2012, HuMa has recorded 72 ongoing forestry conflicts, covering an area of more than 2 million hectares and resulting in many casualties.

The Chamber of Community welcomes Constitutional Court Decision 45/2011 which annuls the state’s arbitrary authority in designating forest areas and “asal tunjuk” (designation without clear basis). The Chamber of Community also supports the Joint Agreement Note among 12 Ministries and Institutions to expedite forest area designation, prevent corruption, resolve conflicts, as well as Constitutional Court Decision 35/2012 affirming the existence of customary forests. With these policy developments, communities see an opportunity to reclaim their rights over forest areas in their villages and/or customary territories.

Munadi Kilkoda, a representative of the Chamber of Community from the Lesser Sunda Region and Maluku, stated, “Following Decision 35/2012, indigenous communities in various regions have begun mapping and claiming their respective customary forests, even starting to rehabilitate damaged customary forests.” Additionally, village communities and local communities in various regions have engaged in discussions on forest boundary processes at the village level.

However, amid increasing hopes and political aspirations of the people towards 2014, the Chamber of Community DKN assesses that the government is still too slow in following up on Decision 45/2011 and Decision 35/2012. The Chamber of Community has not seen significant positive impacts on the ground regarding these policies and demands that the fulfillment of constitutional rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in these processes be expedited, not only at the central level but also down to the local level. Therefore, the Chamber of Community DKN demands the government to immediately socialize the results of Constitutional Court Decisions 35, 45, and Joint Agreement Note 12 M/I to all stakeholders down to the village level and promptly establish a team to expedite forest area designation and release of customary forests from state forests at various levels down to the site level, supported by adequate funding.

“The government must promptly restore the rights of indigenous communities over their territories and other natural resources, including customary forests,” said Hadi Irawan, Chamber Representative from the Kalimantan Region. “This can begin by immediately integrating maps of indigenous community territories and participatory maps produced by villages submitted to the National Geospatial Information Agency into the national map,” he added.

“Furthermore, the government must review policies on natural resource management and utilization such as MP3EI which have the potential to harm the environment and create new conflicts,” said George Weyasu, Chamber Representative from the Papua Region, “including renegotiating various contracts for the exploitation of natural resources like Freeport and British Petroleum contracts in Papua and West Papua by involving indigenous communities and upholding the principles of FPIC.”

“The government must also consider the varying vulnerabilities of different regions, such as small islands in the Lesser Sunda, Maluku, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara regions, which are more susceptible, especially with the threat of climate change,” said Kamardi, Chamber Representative from the Bali-Nusa Region. Regarding forest management on Java Island, Andrianto, a Chamber Representative from the Java Region, stated that the government must audit the control and management of forests in Java as it has triggered endless conflicts and impoverished communities. “The Forestry Law should apply nationally, including for forest areas in Java. {{PLACEHOLDER