Presented by Herry Purnomo, David Gaveau, Rachel Carmenta, Bayuni Shantiko and Budy Kristanty to the British Embassy in Jakarta 26 October, 2015.

1. THINKING beyond the canopy
Political Economy of Fire and Haze
Herry Purnomo, David Gaveau, Rachel Carmenta, Bayuni Shantiko and
Budhy Kristanty
British Embassy, Jakarta, 26 October 2015

2. THINKING beyond the canopyLAPAN, 2015

3. THINKING beyond the canopy
Political Economy Study
 Funded by DfID-UK (January-December
2015) – Extended to 2017
 Aims to better inform decision makers with
an understanding of the on-the-ground
dynamics (economic, social, and political)
that are resulting in fire.

4. THINKING beyond the canopy
Sites and Methods
 Riau Province
 11 sites represent clearly
identifiable fire ignition points
 Part of the largest fire events in
2013, 2014 and 2015
 Methods
• Mapping, surveys, policy
reviews, FGDs, CBA and
network analysis.

5. THINKING beyond the canopy

6. No Site name District Characteristic
1 Ayu Junaidi Dumai Fire occurred in community land (2014)
2 Giam Siak Bengkalis Fire occurred in state land (2013, 2014)
3 Pulau Rupat Bengkalis Fire occurred in village proliferation area
(2013, 2014).
4 Rokan Adi Karya Rokan hulu Fire occurred in APL (area penggunaan
lain/land for other land use) and private HGU
(hak guna usaha/land cultivation right) (2013)
5 Satria Perkasa
Agung (SPA)
Dumai Fire in state land and far from
village/settlement area (2014)
6 Sumatra Lestari (SL) Rokan Hilir Fire in community land (2013)
7 Suntara Gaja Pati
(SGP)
Dumai Fire in private HGU land (2013, 2014)
8 Torganda Rokan Hilir Fire occurred in village proliferation area
9 Tumpuan Bengkalis Fire in private HGU land (2010)
10 Buruk Bakul Bengkalis Fire in land ex-managed by cooperative
(2014, 2015)
11 Kampung Jawa Bengkalis Fire in community land (2015)

7. THINKING beyond the canopy
Findings
 The situation on the ground is really complex
 Caused by multiple actors
• Government, private actors, local community and
non-state actors
 Multiple land types
• State forest area, corporation concession,
private/community lands
• Peat and mineral soil
 Multiple drivers
• Economy, politic, social and climate/weather

8. Who gets what: Slash
and clearing cut
Village head & officers
$88 (13%)
Land claimant,
$29 (4%)
Farmers group member, tree
cutting $77(12%)
Farmers group member,
slashing $96 (14%)
Marketing team
$38 (6%)
Total Benefit
Slash & cut
$665/ha
Farmers group organizer $338 (51%)
Economy of Fire

9. Who gets what:
Burning land
(ready to plant)
Village head & officers $88
(10%)
Land claimant,
$38 (4%)
Farmer group member, tree
cutting $77 (9%)
Farmer group member,
slashing $96 (11%)
Marketing team,
$54 (6%)
Total Benefit
$856/ha
Farmer group organizer $486 (57%)
Farmer group member,
burning $15 (2%)
Farmer group member, cheap/free
land $2 (0.2%)

10. Village head & officers
$88 (3%)
Land claimant,
$38 (1%)
Farmer group member, tree cutting
$77 (3%)
Farmer group member, slashing
$96 (3%)
Marketing team,
$54 (2%)
Total Benefit
$3,077/ha
Farmer group organizer
$1567 (51%)
Farmer group
member, burning
$15 (1%)
Farmer Group
member, cheap/free
land $2 (0.1%)
OP development
$992 (32%)
Farmer group member, OP
maintenance wage
$147 (5%)
Who gets what:
Three-year oil
palm

11. THINKING beyond the canopy
Between-ness centrality: The most influential actors in
brokering land transaction

12. Law and regulations
Law Article About Controversy
41/1999:
Forestry
 50: 3d
 78: 2
Prohibit to burn
and sanction
39 /2014:
Agricultural
plantation
 56
 108
Prohibit to burn
and sanction
AND further
detail on fire uses
Agricultural
Minister regulation
No. 47/2014
UU 32/2009:
Protection and
management of
environment
 69:1.h; 2
and
explanatio
n of 2
 116
Prohibit to burn
with exception
for traditional
uses AND
Sanction
Govt. Regulation: -
Central
Kalimantan: No
15/2010
- Riau: No 11/2014

13. THINKING beyond the canopy
FIRMS NASA, 2015
Bigger picture

14. THINKING beyond the canopy
Land uses
Timber
logging
3%
Oil palm in forest area
7%
Oil pam in APL
13%
Planted forest
20%
Overlapped
2%
APL outside oil palm
23%
Forest area outside
concession
32%

15. Fire Spots
Timber logging
4%
Wood
plantation
23%
Oil palm - APL
11%
Oil palm- forest area
5%
Overalpped
2%
Non-OP - APL
34%
Non-
concession -
forest area
21%

16. Fire intensity (fire spots/million ha area)
-
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500

17. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Fire spots District election National election
Fire Spots and District election

18. THINKING beyond the canopy
Fire Fighting VS Fire Prevention
 Many government agencies prioritize fire fighting
(e.g. water bombing, rain-making) over fire
prevention (e.g. canal blocking, community-
based water management, conflict resolution,
spatial planning)
• Visible and creates many new income streams
through jobs, equipment and other payments
• Budget politic
 Needs to shift to fire prevention for long-term solution

19. THINKING beyond the canopy
Key points
 Many players benefit enormously from fire.
 The scale of these financial benefits means
livelihoods alternatives need to be significant.
 These players (elites or cukong) wear multiple
hats e.g. farmers, politicians, businessmen,
government officers and academician.
 These elites form protective patronage network
that hinder the government’s capacity.
 Actors who get benefit are not those who suffer
from fire

20. THINKING beyond the canopy
Efforts to Overall Goals
 Reconciling agriculture development and forest
conservation
 Moving to Inclusive Green Growth

21. THINKING beyond the canopy
Proposal for the future (1)
 Public investment (fiscal policies to address the
needs of rural people, such as schooling,
healthcare, job creation, incentives for non-fire
agriculture);
 Engagement by banks and financial institutions
to curb inappropriate investments (in Indonesia
and abroad) by conditioning financial services;
 Deeper engagement with corporations active in
large-scale land use;

22. THINKING beyond the canopy
Proposal for the future (2)
 Easing bureaucracy and raising the
accountability of public institutions and
government;
 Reforms of land-use and land tenure policies
and spatial planning to reduce commercial use
of peatlands;
 Targeted public awareness campaigns
(education, TV, media, social networks) to
promote sustainable development, alternative
technologies/investments in agriculture and
enforcement reforms.

23. THINKING beyond the canopy
Thanks