timber legality Archives - EU REDD Facility

Vietnam local-level integrated monitoring tool: monitoring timber legality, deforestation and ecosystem services

25 February 2022/by EU REDD Facility

The EU REDD Facility and Fauna & Flora International collaboratively developed a pilot, local-level forest monitoring platform that integrates the requirements of three initiatives that aim to protect and sustainably manage forests. These are: 1) the initiative to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of carbon stocks in developing countries, 2) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade and 3) Payment for Forest Environmental Services.

A way forward for Indonesian customary forests and timber management

6 August 2021/by EU REDD Facility

Supporting customary and indigenous groups to manage the forests they depend on helps reduce deforestation in tropical countries, recent research suggests.

*Discussion with the ninik mamak, or customary heads, of the Padang Hilalang customary community in West Sumatra, Indonesia.* *Source:* *Pandong Spenra, KARSA*.

With Indonesian civil society organisation KARSA, the EU REDD Facility has researched options for integrating customary forests into Indonesia’s national timber legality assurance system (the SVLK). The study findings highlight gaps between current timber harvesting and trading practices by customary groups, and existing regulations on timber use and administration.

In a new blog on a way forward for customary forests and timber management in Indonesia, authors Satrio A. Wicaksono and Paramita L. Iswari describe potential paths to legal and sustainable production and trade of timber from customary forests. They make the case that along with steps to safeguard against misuse of customary forests for illegal timber, equity for customary groups can be advanced.

A case in point is the Padang Hilalang customary community in Indonesia’s West Sumatra Province, which has traditionally managed some 20 000 hectares of forest near their settlement. Here, as in other customary areas, the community does not have full rights to legally harvest, sell or transport timber. For them, the opportunity to harvest timber would represent the right to manage their own forests.

Customary forests and timber management: a way forward in Indonesia

28 July 2021/by Satrio Adi Wicaksono

Customary and indigenous groups protect, manage, and use their forests in many ways, some relying on logging and the timber trade to support their livelihoods. Supporting customary groups to manage forests that they depend on helps reduce deforestation in tropical countries, recent research suggests.

In Indonesia’s West Sumatra Province, the Padang Hilalang community has traditionally managed some 20 000 hectares of forest near their settlement. Here, as in other customary areas, the community does not have full rights to legally harvest, sell or transport timber. This is because trees growing naturally in customary forests are not regulated under the country’s timber legality assurance system (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu – the SVLK), which ensures the legality of timber sourced from Indonesia’s state and private forests.

Accommodating customary forest timber in Indonesia’s timber legality assurance system

To explore options for integrating customary forests into Indonesia’s SVLK and to assess options for legal and sustainable production and trade of timber from customary forests, the EU REDD Facility undertook a study in collaboration with the Indonesian Civil Society Organisation KARSA. Padang Hilalang was one of three customary communities covered by the study. The other two were Dayak Tomun in West Kalimantan and Oktim Orya in Papua. The research highlighted gaps between current timber harvesting and trading practices by customary groups, and existing regulations on use and administration of timber.

The field research component of the study provided insights on how these communities work toward legal recognition of their status and rights over forests, how they manage their forests and timber products, and the challenges they face and their aspiration in relation to forest and timber management.

The overall study – “Potential integration of customary forests into Indonesia’s national timber legality assurance system (SVLK)” – includes an extensive legal analysis, and was conducted in support of a clause in the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between Indonesia and the European Union (EU) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT). The clause states that changes in the SVLK procedures related to customary forests shall be introduced to reflect the adoption of a landmark ruling in 2013 by Indonesia’s Constitutional Court ruling, repealing the provision in Indonesia’s Forestry Act stating that customary forests are a part of the State Forest Area. The FLEGT VPA is a legally binding bilateral trade agreement that aims to improve forest governance and promote trade in legal timber from Indonesia to the EU.

Existing practice of timber harvesting and trading

In Padang Hilalang, customary land straddles two categories of forest as defined by the Government, which are ‘production forest’ and ‘other use area’. The community customary heads, known as ninik mamak, direct the management of customary land and resources, including timber. In the past five years, they have given the rights to two local companies to harvest timber from the customary community’s land under the ‘other use area’ status. Per existing regulations on timber legality, not all timber from the private forest can be harvested, however. Only “cultivated” timber from the non-natural standing stock can be logged in this customary area.

During the stand inventory before harvesting, Padang Hilalang customary community members ensure that the companies will only log certain timber situated outside the community’s sacred area, such as the ancestors’ graves. The inventory also involves officers from nearby forest management unit established by the Government. Thus far, timber harvesting has been conducted in less than ten percent of the Padang Hilalang customary land.

The agreement between the customary community and the harvesting companies includes benefit-sharing mechanisms based on the volume and type of timber harvested. The companies also help prepare the required timber transport documents, issued by the customary community members. Together with the letter explaining the land’s customary status issued by the ninik mamak, the transport documents ensure the legality of timber harvested in Padang Hilalang’s other use area. Timber from Padang Hilalang has mainly been used as materials for the furniture industry in the province.

A path towards customary forest recognition

The Padang Hilalang customary community, like some communities in other parts of Indonesia, would like the Government to consider allowing them to harvest timber from all parts of their land. For them, the opportunity to harvest timber – cultivated and natural – would represent the right to manage their own forests. After all, they argue, logging companies have been given rights to log both natural and cultivated timber for decades.

Theoretically, as a result of the 2013 Constitutional Court repeal of the provision in the Forestry Act defining customary forests as part of the state forest area, hundreds of customary communities across Indonesia – such as the Padang Hilalang community – are now allowed to claim forest ownership through recognition by the Government.

The process administered by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry offers the most well-developed route for customary forest recognition. Even then, this path requires a two-step process. Representatives of customary communities may only submit applications for customary forests once the communities themselves have been recognised through a district-level regulation and/or a decree of the district head.

A sign showing the name and the boundary of a jorong within the Padang Hilalang customary community. In West Sumata, jorong refers to a group of households within a community’s settlement or village. Source: Pandong Spenra, KARSA

Reducing illegality and deforestation by recognising customary forests

Amending the SVLK to integrate timber from customary forests as per the mandate of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between Indonesia and the European Union on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade would open up livelihood opportunities for customary groups, while also reducing illegality, deforestation, and forest degradation.

The community in Padang Hilalang has not yet been recognised as a customary community according to the Indonesian law, and the process to recognise the customary communities can be an expensive and time-consuming undertaking on its own. They have begun to engage with academics from a university in the provincial capital to help strengthen their case for recognition, confident that they can manage timber production sustainably and meet SVLK requirements for harvesting natural timber.

Supporting customary communities to manage their forests legally and sustainably

Based on legal analyses, field research, and multi-stakeholder consultations, the EU REDD Facility and KARSA have proposed a set of timber legality verification standards and guidelines specific for customary forests. Additional preparatory steps have also been identified to support customary communities to manage their forests sustainably, and to participate in the legality assurance system, should they plan to harvest and sell timber commercially.

The study, which will inform ongoing policy revisions on SVLK and customary forests led by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in coordination with stakeholders, recommends:

Expediting the process for customary forests recognition, for example by combining the step to recognise the existence of customary communities with the step to recognise customary forests.
Having the proposed legality verification standards as a pathway for harvesting timber legally, along with the necessary assistance to serve as safeguards against overexploitation of timber and misuse of customary forests.

Together, these steps should safeguard against misuse of customary forests for illegal timber, while advancing equity for customary groups.

Paramita L. Iswari

Head

Circle for Rural and Agrarian Reform (KARSA)

Hutan adat dan pengelolaan kayu: langkah ke depan bagi Indonesia

28 July 2021/by Satrio Adi Wicaksono

Masyarakat adat melindungi, mengelola, dan memanfaatkan hutan mereka dengan berbagai cara. Misalnya, beberapa masyarakat adat menebang dan menjual kayu yang mereka peroleh sebagai sumber mata pencaharian. Penelitian terbaru menunjukkan bahwa dukungan yang diberikan kepada masyarakat adat untuk mengelola hutan yang menjadi sumber mata pencaharian mereka akan membantu mengurangi laju deforestasi di negara-negara tropis.

Sejak zaman dahulu, masyarakat adat Padang Hilalang di Provinsi Sumatra Barat, Indonesia, mengelola 20.000 hektare hutan di dekat daerah pemukiman mereka. Di daerah ini, sama seperti di wilayah adat lainnya, masyarakat tidak memiliki hak penuh untuk secara legal menebang, menjual atau mengangkut kayu. Hal ini dikarenakan pohon yang tumbuh secara alami di kawasan hutan adat tidak diatur dalam Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu – SVLK, yang digunakan untuk memastikan legalitas kayu yang berasal dari hutan negara dan hutan hak di Indonesia.

Mengakomodir kayu dari hutan adat dalam Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu Indonesia

EU REDD Facility melakukan studi melalui kerja sama dengan Organisasi Masyarakat Sipil Indonesia (KARSA) untuk mengeksplorasi berbagai opsi dalam mengintegrasikan hutan adat ke dalam SVLK Indonesia serta melakukan penilaian terhadap berbagai opsi produksi dan perdagangan kayu yang berasal dari hutan adat secara legal dan berkelanjutan. Padang Hilalang adalah salah satu dari tiga masyarakat adat yang tercakup di dalam studi ini. Dua kelompok masyarakat lainnya adalah Dayak Tomun di Kalimantan Barat dan Oktim Orya di Papua. Studi tersebut menyoroti kesenjangan antara penebangan kayu dan penjualan kayu yang dilakukan oleh masyarakat adat saat ini, dengan peraturan yang ada tentang pemanfaatan dan penatausahaan hasil hutan.

Penelitian lapangan dalam studi ini menyediakan informasi tentang bagaimana masyarakat adat tersebut berupaya untuk mendapatkan pengakuan hukum atas status kepemilikan dan hak mereka atas hutan tersebut, cara mereka mengelola hutan dan hasil hutan kayu, serta tantangan yang mereka hadapi dan aspirasi mereka terkait pengelolaan hutan dan kayu.

Studi yang dilakukan – “Potensi untuk mengintegrasikan hutan adat ke dalam Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu (SVLK) Indonesia” – mencakup analisis hukum yang mendalam dan dilakukan untuk mendukung klausul yang ada di dalam Kesepakatan Kemitraan Sukarela (VPA) antara Indonesia dan Uni Eropa (EU) tentang Penegakan Hukum, Tata Kelola, dan Perdagangan Sektor Kehutanan (FLEGT). Klausul tersebut menyatakan bahwa harus disertakan perubahan terkait hutan adat di dalam prosedur SVLK untuk mencerminkan pengadopsian putusan penting Mahkamah Konstitusi Indonesia tahun 2013, yang membatalkan ketentuan dalam Undang-Undang tentang Kehutanan yang menyatakan bahwa hutan adat adalah bagian dari Kawasan Hutan Negara. FLEGT VPA adalah kesepakatan perdagangan bilateral yang mengikat secara hukum serta bertujuan untuk meningkatkan tata kelola hutan dan mendorong perdagangan kayu legal dari Indonesia ke EU.

*Diskusi dengan ninik mamak (ketua adat) masyarakat adat Padang Hilalang di Sumatra Barat, Indonesia. Sumber: Pandong Spenra, KARSA*

Praktik penebangan dan perdagangan kayu saat ini

Di Padang Hilalang, tanah adat masuk ke dalam dua kategori hutan yang ditetapkan oleh Pemerintah, yaitu ‘hutan produksi’ dan ‘area penggunaan lain’. Tetua adat masyarakat, yakni para ninik mamak, memberi arahan pengelolaan tanah adat dan sumber daya, yang mencakup komoditas kayu. Dalam lima tahun terakhir, masyarakat adat ini telah mengizinkan dua perusahaan setempat untuk menebang kayu dari tanah masyarakat adat yang berstatus ‘area penggunaan lain’. Peraturan yang berlaku tentang legalitas kayu menetapkan bahwa tidak semua jenis kayu dari hutan hak dapat ditebang. Hanya kayu yang “dibudidayakan” dari tegakan pohon non-alami yang dapat ditebang di wilayah adat.

Dalam inventarisasi tegakan sebelum penebangan, masyarakat adat Padang Hilalang memastikan bahwa perusahaan hanya akan menebang jenis kayu tertentu yang berada di luar daerah keramat bagi masyarakat, seperti makam leluhur. Inventarisasi juga melibatkan petugas dari Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan terdekat yang dibentuk oleh Pemerintah. Selama ini, penebangan kayu telah dilakukan di kurang dari sepuluh persen tanah adat Padang Hilalang.

Kesepakatan antara masyarakat adat dan perusahaan yang melakukan penebangan mencakup mekanisme pembagian keuntungan berdasarkan volume dan jenis kayu yang ditebang. Perusahaan juga membantu menyiapkan dokumen angkutan kayu yang diperlukan, yang akan diterbitkan oleh anggota masyarakat adat. Nota Angkutan yang dilengkapi dengan surat yang menjelaskan status tanah adat yang dikeluarkan oleh ninik mamak akan memastikan legalitas kayu yang dipanen di areal penggunaan lain Padang Hilalang. Kayu yang berasal dari Padang Hilalang umumnya digunakan sebagai material untuk industri mebel di provinsi Sumatra Barat.

Jalur untuk mendapatkan pengakuan hutan adat

Masyarakat adat Padang Hilalang, seperti sebagian masyarakat adat di daerah-daerah lain di Indonesia, berharap agar Pemerintah mengizinkan mereka menebang kayu dari seluruh bagian tanah mereka. Bagi mereka, kesempatan untuk menebang kayu – kayu budidaya dan kayu alam – merepresentasikan pengakuan atas hak mereka dalam mengelola hutan mereka sendiri. Apalagi, menurut mereka, perusahaan penebangan kayu telah diberikan hak untuk menebang kayu alam dan kayu budidaya selama beberapa dekade.

Secara teoritis, setelah dicabutnya ketentuan dalam UU Kehutanan yang menetapkan bahwa hutan adat merupakan bagian dari kawasan hutan negara, ratusan masyarakat adat di seluruh Indonesia – seperti masyarakat Padang Hilalang – kini dapat mengklaim kepemilikan atas hutan setelah klaim mereka diakui Pemerintah.

Proses yang dijalankan oleh Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan Indonesia menawarkan jalur persetujuan yang paling progresif dalam proses pengakuan hutan adat. Walaupun demikian, jalur ini membutuhkan proses yang terdiri dari dua langkah. Perwakilan masyarakat adat hanya dapat mengajukan permohonan pengakuan hutan adat setelah masyarakat adat tersebut telah diakui melalui peraturan tingkat kabupaten dan/atau keputusan bupati.

Tanda yang menunjukkan nama dan batas jorong masyarakat adat Padang Hilalang. Di Sumatra Barat, jorong mengacu pada sekelompok rumah tangga dalam pemukiman masyarakat atau desa. Sumber: Pandong Spenra, KARSA

Mengurangi ilegalitas dan deforestasi dengan mengakui hutan adat

Amendemen SVLK untuk mengintegrasikan kayu dari hutan adat sesuai dengan mandat Kesepakatan Kemitraan Sukarela antara Indonesia dan Uni Eropa tentang Penegakan Hukum, Tata Kelola dan Perdagangan Sektor Kehutanan akan menyediakan sumber mata pencaharian bagi masyarakat adat, sekaligus mengurangi ilegalitas, deforestasi, dan degradasi hutan.

Masyarakat adat di Padang Hilalang belum diakui sebagai masyarakat adat berdasarkan hukum Indonesia dan proses untuk mendapatkan pengakuan sebagai sebuah masyarakat adat membutuhkan banyak biaya dan memakan waktu. Mereka sudah mulai melibatkan akademisi dari universitas di ibu kota provinsi untuk meningkatkan peluang mendapatkan pengakuan tersebut, serta merasa yakin bahwa ke depan mereka dapat mengelola produksi kayu secara berkelanjutan dan memenuhi persyaratan SVLK untuk melakukan penebangan kayu alam.

Mendukung masyarakat adat untuk mengelola hutan secara legal dan lestari

Dari hasil analisis hukum, penelitian lapangan, dan konsultasi multi-pihak, EU REDD Facility dan KARSA telah mengusulkan serangkaian standar dan pedoman verifikasi legalitas kayu khusus untuk hutan adat. Langkah-langkah persiapan tambahan juga telah diidentifikasi untuk mendukung masyarakat adat dalam mengelola hutan mereka secara lestari, serta untuk berpartisipasi dalam sistem verifikasi legalitas kayu, jika mereka berencana untuk menebang dan menjual hasil hutan secara komersial.

Studi tersebut, yang akan memberikan informasi bagi proses revisi kebijakan tentang SVLK dan hutan adat yang tengah dilakukan oleh Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan berkoordinasi dengan para pemangku kepentingan, merekomendasikan hal-hal berikut:

Mempercepat proses pengakuan hutan adat, misalnya dengan menggabungkan proses pengakuan masyarakat adat dengan proses pengakuan hutan adat.
Menjadikan proses standar verifikasi legalitas kayu yang tengah diajukan ini sebagai jalur untuk melakukan penebangan kayu secara legal, serta menyediakan bantuan yang dibutuhkan untuk melindungi dari penebangan kayu yang berlebihan dan penyalahgunaan hutan adat.

Secara bersama-sama, upaya-upaya ini seharusnya dapat melindungi hutan adat dari penyalahgunaan dalam bentuk penebangan kayu secara ilegal, sembari meningkatkan kesetaraan bagi kelompok adat.

Paramita L. Iswari

Head

Circle for Rural and Agrarian Reform (KARSA)

Bringing our voices to the land-use governance dialogue

11 August 2020/by Christophe Van Orshoven

A key contributor to climate change, species loss, and threat to the livelihoods of the 1.6 billion people who depend on forests for food and livelihoods: deforestation ranks among the great challenges of this century.

Since our inception in 2010, the EU REDD Facility has learnt that combining climate, aid and trade-related interventions has great potential to address drivers of deforestation. We’ve also found that protecting forests and incentivising sustainable land use are only possible if governments, private sectors, and civil societies of tropical forest regions partner to generate change.

Momentum for sustainable land use and supply chains

As a Facility, we’re focused on finding opportunities for contributing to progress in climate change mitigation and sustainable land use and supply chains. There’s good momentum for us to build on.

Countries are starting to act on their commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change. More companies are committing to eliminating deforestation from supply chains. And the EU has set out a new plan to protect and restore the world’s forests and is exploring options to strengthen implementation of its action plan on illegal logging.

*Aerial views of Buluq Sen village, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Source: Nanang Sujana, CIFOR*

What we’ll be blogging

I’m pleased to introduce this new EU REDD Facility blog, where our experts will share their thoughts about and experiences with working with our partners in tropical forest countries in Africa, Asia and South America on:

This will be a space for free thought, where we’ll push the boundaries of our institutional agenda. But always within sight will be our mission to support tropical forest countries find innovative approaches and solutions to their land-use governance and sustainable development goals.

In all of our work and through the tools and approaches we develop, we promote dialogue among people with varied interests in forests – from policy-makers and business leaders to civil society and community representatives. This blog will complement and further that ongoing discourse. We hope it will also bring additional knowledge and understanding to policy-makers in Europe as they move ahead with new policies to promote sustainable land use and investment.

The challenges ahead can sometimes seem insurmountable. But with joint, creative action, we can affect real and lasting change. We look forward to sharing our ideas and collaborating with you to find creative solutions to the complex drivers of deforestation.

Integrating customary forests in Indonesia’s legality assurance system

15 July 2020/by EU REDD Facility

The EU REDD Facility is conducting in collaboration with the Indonesian Civil Society Organisation KARSA a study to assess options for legal and sustainable production and trade of timber from customary forests. The focus will be on integration of customary forests into Indonesia’s timber legality assurance system (SVLK). The study will inform subnational multi-stakeholder dialogues and national-level policy process on customary forests and legal timber production.

Exploring synergies between the FLEGT VPA legality definition and REDD+ safeguards in Vietnam

10 February 2015/by EU REDD Facility

The project explored synergies between processes to develop a FLEGT Voluntary Partner Agreement (VPA) timber legality definition and REDD+ safeguards in Vietnam. The development of a VPA timber legality definition and REDD+ safeguards in countries involved in both FLEGT VPA and REDD+ processes, such as Vietnam, creates opportunities for complementarities.