By Sapariah Saturi, November 21, 2012 7:43 pm

The third revision of the Indicative Map of Postponement of New Permit Grants (PIPIB III) resulted in a reduction of 485,655 hectares, leaving the total area within PIPIB III at 64,796,237 hectares.

The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) stated that the reduction in PIPIB III occurred due to a decrease in the allocation of paddy field stabilization areas, the results of peatland surveys, primary forest surveys, and confirmation by regents and location permit holders. Additionally, data updates on permits (forest utilization and land use, updates on released forest areas, updates on land fields by the National Land Agency (BPN), changes in peat data from the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as changes in spatial planning data.

Tjokorda Nirarta Samadhi, Chairman of the Monitoring Task Force Working Group for Moratorium on REDD+ Institutional Preparation (Satgas), added that these changes occurred due to several factors. “Among them, the validation results of forest area utilization permits issued before May 20, 2011 (issuance of Presidential Instruction 10/2011) and land still in the process of registering land titles at BPN,” he said in a press statement to the media in Jakarta on Tuesday (20/11/12).

The results of PIPIB III show that Indonesia is getting closer to having unified data and maps that serve as references for ministries and institutions in better governance.

According to Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, Head of UKP4 and Chairman of REDD+ Task Force, the revised PIPIB map per semester is essential input for the movement towards a unified map of Indonesia. “All relevant ministries and institutions must participate in this One Map,” he said.

Synergistic-collaborative cooperation between ministries and institutions, multilateral institutions, and civil society organizations in improving forest and peatland governance is crucial. “Such cooperative spirit is necessary to achieve transparent, accountable, and sustainable licensing and utilization of forest areas that align with sustainable development, justice, and economic stability.”

According to Kuntoro, the positive effects of this moratorium are starting to be seen with progress in the registration of permits from local agencies to central agencies. Now, as part of the movement to improve natural forest and peatland governance according to the Moratorium Data Presidential Instruction, permits must be consolidated into a single database and map.

Division of Tasks

As an action under this Presidential Instruction Moratorium, Kuntoro said the government is improving the permit registration system for forest and peatland areas. Each ministry has its own tasks. The Ministry of Home Affairs is tasked with inventorying location permits or recommendations from provincial and district or city governments throughout Indonesia.

The Ministry of Environment is integrating environmental permit application with electronic land use permits or certificates. Meanwhile, BPN is mandated to build an integrated database for business usage rights certificates, land management rights, and lists of land claims by indigenous or local communities.

For the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut), the task is to develop and update an integrated database regarding permits for utilization, usage, and changes in forest areas. This includes lists of land claims by indigenous or local communities.

The Minister of Forestry established the third revision of PIPIB on November 19, 2012. This is a follow-up to Presidential Instruction No. 10 of 2011 dated May 20, 2011, regarding Postponement of New Permit Grants and Improvement of Natural Forest and Peatland Governance.

According to the Presidential Instruction, PIPIB is revised every six months based on the discussions of the combined technical team for the preparation of the Indicative Map of Postponement of New Permits consisting of the Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture, National Land Agency, Geospatial Information Agency, and UKP-PPP, as well as inputs from other parties.

In this map revision, the team has included paddy field stabilization areas, latest field survey results, spatial planning developments, current land cover data and information from the community.

With this decision letter, governors, regents, and mayors are required to base their recommendations