Indonesia: Local control is a solution that can backfire

Mismanagement of forests, which creates conflict among local
residents, continues to reign 10 years after forest decentralization.
A seminar Friday concluded that forest decentralization, which granted
authority to local administrations to manage their own resources, had
continued to destroy forests and heighten conflict among local
communities, instead of improving the forests’ condition. The
government granted forest management to the local administrations in
1999 with the hope that they would carry out sustainable forest
management to benefit local residents.

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“There are many mistakes and weaknesses [from forest
decentralization]. Until now, we don’t have a format that can satisfy
all stakeholders,” Tachrir Fathoni, head of research and development
at the Forestry Ministry, told the seminar’s participants. The
discussion, aired by the Green Radio station, was organized by the
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in a ceremony to
launch a series of books on forest decentralization. CIFOR expert
Godwin Limber, who was also editor of the book, said that
decentralization had not succeeded in promoting sustainable forest
management and improve people’s welfare.

“There is little improvement in terms of income of the people living around the forest. Certain groups get more than others and this causes conflicts,” he said. The book was based on the group’s 10-year field study of forest
decentralization in Malinau regency, East Kalimantan. “What is
happening in Malinau depicts decentralization throughout the country,”
he said. In its study, CIFOR observed the conflicts along the Malinau
River where 10 ethic groups reside. It said that the conflicts were
often due to competition over the benefits from timber. “The problem
is the absence of a mechanism to resolve the conflict. The tribal
leaders seem powerless to end the conflict,” Limber said.

CIFOR found that only eight conflicts took place between 1967 to 1996. But during the reform era, from 1997 to 1999, conflicts jumped to 17 cases.
“About 73 percent of the conflicts (or 63 cases) took place after
forest decentralization in the period from 2000 to 2002,” the book
said. Limber said that with the decentralization, everybody talked
about their rights but forgot about their responsibility to preserve
the forests, which accelerated their destruction. “Many groups claimed
an indigenous status to get ‘exclusive’ rights to manage the forest
for their own benefit,” he said.

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