Recent research suggests that supporting forest management by indigenous peoples or customary groups helps reduce deforestation in tropical countries. The first step toward customary group-led sustainable forest management is often recognising customary groups’ forest tenure rights. In Indonesia, a landmark 2013 ruling of the Indonesian Constitutional Court allows customary groups to claim forest ownership. One estimate suggests that customary groups have a claim to more than 7 million hectares currently classified as state forestland.
A preliminary analysis by the EU REDD Facility indicates several legal pathways to achieve the objectives of the ruling. However, they result in different forms of recognition, with land either staying within state forestland or being excised. The process set out under Forestry Law and administered by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry currently offers the most well developed route for customary forest recognition.
The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has formulated several policies to accommodate the customary forest recognition process. However, further institutional and/or financial support, as well as regulatory clarifications, are needed to accelerate the process and ensure that the policies are beneficial for customary groups.
There are many ways in which customary groups protect, manage, and utilise their forests. For example, some rely on logging and the timber trade to support their livelihoods. Developing specific legality and sustainability definitions for timber production in customary forests could therefore help enhance social, economic, and environmental benefits from customary forest management.
Without an operational scheme for customary forests under SVLK, customary groups in Indonesia cannot legally sell or transport timber. The SVLK is a mandatory legality and sustainability certification system built on a national multi-stakeholder consensus that is also accepted under the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between Indonesia and the European Union (EU) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). In fact, the VPA text explicitly states that “changes in the procedures for utilisation and/or administration of timber from Customary Forests, to address implementation of Constitutional Court Decision (MK) No 35/PUU-X/2012, shall be introduced after the adoption of related implementing legislation”. Amending the SVLK to potentially integrate timber from customary forests as per the VPA’s mandate would advance equity by opening livelihood opportunities for customary groups, while also reducing illegality, deforestation, and forest degradation.
