This presentation by Ahmad Dhiaulhaq from RECOFTC given during the Forests Asia Summit in the learning event "Fire and haze in Southeast Asian landscapes" focuses on the fires in Riau. It discusses the community-outside conflict in Riau, the conflict and the fires and mediation as a tool for conflict transformation.

1. Conflicts and Fires in Riau:
How mediation can be a tool for transformation
Ahmad Dhiaulhaq
RECOFTC-The Center for People and Forests

2. Outline
• Community-outsider conflict in Riau
• Conflict and fires
• Mediation as a tool for conflict transformation

3. RECOFTC-The Center for People and Forests
RECOFTC’s mission is to enhance capacities
for stronger rights, improved governance and
fairer benefits for local people in sustainable
forested landscapes in the Asia and the Pacific
region.
RECOFTC has more than 26 years of
international experience and a dynamic
approach to capacity development
www.recoftc.org

4. Community-outsider conflict in Riau

5. Natural Resource Conflict in Riau
262,877
329,763
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
2008 2009 2010 2011
Extentofconflict(hectares)
Year
Timber plantations
Palm oil plantations
Others (incuding Mining
Conservation forest)
Total
Source : Scale Up (2012)

6. Distribution of indigenous communities in Riau
Source RTRWP Konsep Laporan Akhir, 2000

7. How serious is the issue?
Source : Scale Up database
2011 30 cases; 4 people died
2012 29 cases; 37 injured; 1 died
2013 62 cases; 27 injured; 5 died

8. Conflict and fires
Fire as a
weapon and
tool to express
dissatisfaction
Fire as a tool
for claiming
land and
excluding
others
Conflicts
undermine
incentives to
control fires
Conflict of
ownership =
unclear
responsibility
(e.g. Tomich et al. 1998; Suyanto 2007)

9. RECOFTC mediation research

10. a process whereby an acceptable third party
assists conflicting parties in solving their
conflict problems with no authority to
impose a solution
Mediation

11. A story from Lubuk Jering Village, Riau

12. Severity and duration of conflict
Blockade
1994
Some fire incidences
Concession
granted
1997
Latent
phase
Escalation
phase
Peak
Large scale
land clearing
by company
Compensation
Agreement (KKPA)
Settlement
phase
Delay in realization of
compensation
Realization of
compensation (KKPA)
Intensitylevel
Series of
Mediation
MoU / agreement
1940s 1998 1999 2000 2005 2006 2008

13. Roles of mediation in conflict
• The mediation played a crucial role in
transforming plantation conflicts in the
study sites
• Mediation has:
Provided a platform for multi-
stakeholder dialogue and achieve
mutually acceptable solution
Built trust among conflicting parties
Created a conducive environment for
problem solving processes
Source: Dhiaulhaq et al. (2014)

14. Outcomes of mediation
 Achievement of agreement
 Significant reduction of tension
and intensity of conflict
 Relationship between company
and community is greatly
improved
 Smoother operation for company
(= higher profits?)
 Additional income for
communities
Picture courtesy of Scale Up

15. Challenges in the field
 Local socio-political climate is not
always supportive
 The agreement is not legally
binding
 Mediation sometimes requires
long time
 There are limited number of
skilled mediators available to
mediate conflicts
 Mediation alone is not enough
without changes in Policy
Dhiaulhaq et al. (2014)

16. For further information:
Ahmad Dhiaulhaq
ahmad.dhiaulhaq@recoftc.org
www.recoftc.org
Take home message
• Firefighting alone will not be enough, without
addressing land tenure conflicts
• Recognize long-standing land claims and rights of local
people
• Promote mediation as tool for transforming conflict and
building a long-term collaboration in managing fire

17. References
Dhiaulhaq, A., Gritten, D., De Bruyn, T., Yasmi, Y., Zazali, A., & Silalahi, M. (2014). Transforming
conflict in plantations through mediation: Lessons and experiences from
Sumatera, Indonesia. Forest Policy and Economics, 41(0), p 22-30
Dhiaulhaq, A., Gritten, D., & De Bruyn, T. (2014). Mediating Forest Conflict in Southeast Asia:
Getting the positives out of conflict over forests and land. RECOFTC Issue Paper No.2.
RECOFTC - The Center for People and Forests, Bangkok, Thailand.
Scale up, 2012. Laporan Tahunan Konflik Sumberdaya Alam di Riau Tahun 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.
Available at http://www.scaleup.or.id/Buku/LAP_KONFLIK_SDA_2008-2011.pdf
Suyanto, S. (2007). Underlying cause of fire: different form of land tenure conflicts in
Sumatra. Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change,12(1), 67-74.
Tomich TP, Fagi AM, de Foresta H, Michon G, Murdiyarso D, Stolle F, Van Noorwijk M (1998)
Indonesias fires: smoke as a problem, smoke as a symptom. Agroforestry today 10(1):4–7