This presentation, delivered at the Inception Workshop in Jakarta, describes the state of forest tenure reform in Indonesia. Topics include forest tenure categorization, the gender dimension, and the various legal structures that forest tenure can take in Indonesia.

1. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF
FOREST TENURE REFORM IN INDONESIA
Mia Siscawati, Ph.D.
University of Indonesia
Inception Workshop
GCS-Tenure Security and forest-dependent communities: A Global comparative study
Hotel Menara Peninsula, Jakarta, 3 Juli 2014

2. CATEGORIES OF FOREST TENURE (RRI 2014)
 Category 1: Forest land administered by governments
 This category includes all forest land that is legally claimed as exclusively belonging
to the state.
 Category 2: Forest land designated by governments for Indigenous Peoples and local
communities
 Ownership of forest land under this category remains claimed by the state but
some rights have been recognized by governments on a conditional basis for
Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
 Category 3: Forest land owned by Indigenous Peoples and local communities:
 Forests are considered to be “owned” where communities have full legal rights to
secure their claims to forests, defined in this analysis as areas where community
tenure is unlimited in duration, they have the legal right to exclude outsiders from
using their resources,2 and they are entitled to due process and compensation in the
face of potential extinguishment by the state of some or all of their rights.
 Category 4:Forest land owned by individuals and firms:
 In these areas, individuals and firms have full legal rights of ownership of forest
land. Concessionaires are not included in this category.

3.  All lands in Indonesia fall into one of two categories:
 (i) forest zone (kawasan hutan); around 70 % of the land mass,
under the administration of the Ministry of Forestry
 Around 31,957 villages located within and around this forest
zone (36,17 % of total villages in Indonesia)
 (ii) non-forest area also known as the area for other purposes
(Areal Penggunaan Lain, APL), under the administration of the
National Land Agency
 Around 30 % of this non-forest area is formally titled
BRIEF OVERVIEW ON LAND AND FOREST TENURE
IN INDONESIA

4. GENDER DIMENSION IN FOREST TENURE
 In many forest areas in
Indonesia, women of different
community groups, social status
and classes have certain forms of
relationship with forest lands and
resources while performing
critical roles in managing forest
lands and resources.
 One woman may have a variety
of access to different plots of
forest lands, started from her
own land(s), her husband’s
land(s), her conjugal land(s), her
relative’s or neighbor’s land(s),
communal lands, as well as other
lands including state lands

5.  Adat women and local
women gain and maintain
access to lands and forest
resources through those
who have control via
various mechanisms,
processes, and social
relations.
 In many cases, those with
control are mostly male
actors (male customary
leaders, male members of
the family, male neighbors,
male state forest guards,
etc.) that occupy different
positions in relation to the
lands at certain periods.

6. FORESTRY LAW NO. 41 1999
 In defining “forest zone” (kawasan hutan), Article 1 of Forestry Law No. 41 of 1999
refers to “any particular area determined or designated by the government to
be permanent forest.
 Based on the status of the forest, Article 5 of Forestry Law No. 41 of 1999 asserts
two categories of the forest: state forest (hutan negara) and forest subject to
rights (hutan hak).
 State forest refers to any forest on a land not charged with land title. The
other category, known as hutan hak refer to any forest situated on land
charged with land title. This category commonly translated as privately-
owned forest (hutan milik).
 This law recognizes the existence of customary forest (hutan adat), however it
categorizes customary forest as state forest. Article 1 of this law mentions that
“adat forest is a state forest that is located in the territory of masyarakat hukum
adat.”

7.  The forestry law No. 41 of 1999 serves as the legal basis for
Government Regulation (PP) No 6/2007 on “Forest Allocation, Forest
Management Plan and Land Utilization,” later revised and replaced
by government regulation namely PP No. 3/2008.
 This regulation provides a legal basis for managing conservation
forest, protected forest, and production forest through the
integrated forest management system, known as Kesatuan
Pengelolaan Hutan (KPH or Forest Management Unit).
 At the same time, this regulation provides a legal basis for state-
sponsored community forestry, such as village forest (hutan desa),
community-based forestry (hutan kemasyarakatan/HKm),
community-based timber plantation (hutan tanaman rakyat/HTR),
and partnership (kemitraan).

8. HUTAN KEMASYARAKATAN (HKM)
 Policy references of HKm are PP No. 6/2007 which was revised into PP
No. 3/2008.
 Tenurial status of the forest that can be given HKm permit is state
forest.
 HKm permits can be issued for certain areas located within the
boundaries two zones of state forest lands, which are production forest
and protected forest. Main purposes of HKm: 1)rehabilitation of state
forestland; 2)state sponsored community empowerment through
community groups.
 Government Agency (within Ministry of Forestry) that is in charge is the
Directore General of Land Rehabilitation and Social Forestry (Ditjen
RLPS).
 Duration of permit: 35 years

9. COMMUNITY-BASED TIMBER PLANTATION
(HUTAN TANAMAN RAKYAT/HTR)
 Purposes of HTR are: 1)establishment of community-based forest
estate/timber plantation in order to provide materials for timber-based
industries (including pulp and paper industries); 2)development of welfare
of community groups.
 Policy base for this program is PP No. 6/2007, which was revised by PP No.
3/2008.
 Tenurial Status: State Forest, zone: production forest.
 Government agency that is in charge is Directorate General of forestry
production (Ditjen BPK) at the Ministry of Forestry.
 Duration of permit: 35 years.
 Forest product: timber. Community Groups can apply for HTR license.

10. PARTNERSHIP (KEMITRAAN)
 This program is a partnership form is between company (both state-owned and
private ones) and local community.
 Purposes:1)facilitation of collaboration between forest-based companies and
community groups in the management of forest resources 2)state-sponsored
community empowerment in state forest areas in which government has issued
forestry licenses for companies
 Policy base: PP No. 6/2007; PP No. 3/2008. It was revised again in 2013.
 Status: state forest, zone: production forest.
 Government agency that is in charge is Directorate General of forestry production
(Ditjen BPK) at the Ministry of Forestry.
 State-owned and private companies are now obliged to implement this program.

11. VILLAGE FOREST (HUTAN DESA)
 Policy references of Village Forest are PP No. 6/2007, which was revised by PP No.
3/2008.
 Main purposes: 1)management and protection of state forestlands which have not
been managed by logging companies (in terms of production forests) or government
agencies (in terms of protection forest); 2)state-sponsored community empowerment
through village-based institutions.
 Status of the forest that can be given Village forest permit is state forest. Village
forest permits can be issued for areas located within the boundaries of production
forest and protected Forest.
 Government agency that is in charge is Directorate General of Land Rehabilitation
and Social Forestry at the Ministry of Forestry (Ditjen RLPS). Duration of permit: 35
years. Forest products that can be accessed within the village forest permit is non-
timber forest products and environmental services.
 Those who can apply are village government or other village-based institution (could
be customary institution).

12. REVIEW PROCESS OF APPLICATIONS OF HKM
AND HUTAN DESA
1. Pre verification:
a. Review of the documents (5 tables)
b. Establishment of verification team (6 tables)
2. Verification (0 table)
3. Post Verification
a. Preparation of the map and related documents (8 tables)
b. SK penetapan (7 meja)
Overall, the establishment of HKM and Hutan Desa must go
through 26 tables located in Dirjen RLPS, Planologi, Sekjen,
Biro Hukum and the office of the Ministry of Forestry

13. KEY BOTTLE NECKS
(WORKING GROUP PEMBERDAYAAN, 2010)
 Number of processing “tables” (26 table + 3 table)
 Review process of the documents submited with the
application
 Coordination among units within Ministry of Forestry
 Limited resources
 Limited knowledge on HKM and Hutan Desa in
provincial and disrict levels
 Limited government budget
 Limited availability of digital basic maps

14. IMBALANCE ACCESS TO FOREST LAND AND
FOREST RESOURCES
 The Ministry of Forestry control state forest lands of around 136 million
hectares, allocated for production forests, protected forests, and
conservation areas.
 Fixed production forests (hutan produksi tetap) cover around 34 million
hectares, managed by 537 companies, mostly dominated by private
companies that have different types of forestry concessions (logging,
industrial timber plantations, and ecosystem restoration).
 Production forests that can be converted for other purposes (hutan
produksi yang dapat dikonversi) cover around 20 million hectares. Oil
palm and mining companies are the ones who mostly access these areas.
 Less than 1 million hectares are currently managed by community groups
through different schemes of government-sponsored community forestry

15.  Constitutional Court Ruling No. 35/PUU-X/2012 on Customary Forests
 Village Law No. 6 of 2014
 Draft bill of the Recognition and the Protection of the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples
 Memorandum of understanding of 12 government agencies and
state Institutions on forest-related reform hosted by the National
Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK)
 One map policy (developed under REDD+ related process)
OTHER LEGAL AND POLICY REFORMS
IN FOREST TENURE AND FOREST MANAGEMENT