State of-the-forest-report-2009-2013

THE STATE OF THE FOREST
INDONESIA
PERIOD OF 2009 - 2013
Forest Watch Indonesia

THE STATE OF THE FOREST INDONESIA, PERIOD OF 2009-2013
1
INDONESIA
PERIOD OF 2009-2013
Jl. Sempur Kaler No. 62 Bogor INDONESIA
Tel: +62 251 8333308, Fax: +62 251 8317926
Email: fwibogor@fwi.or.id
Twitter : @fwindonesia
Facebook: Pemantau Hutan
Website: www.fwi.or.id

2
INDONESIA
PERIOD OF 2009-2013
Writer team:
Christian P.P Purba,Soelthon Gussetya Nanggara,Markus Ratriyono,Isnenti
Apriani,Linda Rosalina,Nike Arya Sari,Abu Hasan Meridian
Reviewer:
Hariadi Kartodihardjo, Belinda Arunarwati Margono, Ridzki Rinanto Sigit
Data Collector, Data Analyzer, and Cartographer:
Gamin Lampor, Isnenti Apriani, Markus Ratriyono, Soelthon Gussetya
Nanggara
Editor:
Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, Markus Ratriyono
Layout:
Wishnu Tirta Setiadi
©Forest Watch Indonesia
All rights reserved published in 2014
ISBN 978-979-96730-2-2
Published by:
fwibogor@fwi.or.id
+62 251 8333308
www.fwi.or.id
Acknowledgement:
The views in this publication are not representing the views of UK AID, the United Kingdom
Government, and The Asia Foundation

i
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Boxes
List of Appendix
Thank-You Note
Foreword
The Main Points of Findings
1. Preface
2. The State of Indonesia’ Forests
2.1. Natural Forest Cover
2.1.1. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover in Forest Function Area
2.1.2. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover in Concession Area
2.1.3. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover in Peatlands Area
2.2. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover (Deforestation)
2.2.1. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover in Forest Function Area
2.2.2. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover in Concession Area
2.2.3. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover in Peatlands Area
2.2.4. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover in Moratorium on New License
(PIPIB) Area
3. The State of Forest Governance
3.1. Land Clearing and Harvesting the Natural Forest Timber
3.2. Policies of the Government of Indonesia and Abuse of Authority
3.3. Tackling Deforestation
3.4. Impact of Deforestation
4. Save the Indonesia’s Forest
4.1. Rate and Projections of Forest Loss
4.2. Recommendation on Forest Management in the Future
Glossary
Bibliography
Appendix
Table of Contents
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ix
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xiii
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5
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105

ii
Figure 1. Map of Natural Forest Cover Distribution across Indonesia in
2013
Figure 2. Percentage of Total Area of Natural Forest Compared to Land
Area in 2013
Figure 3. Percentage of Total Area of Natural Forest in Each Island
Compared to Natural Forest in Indonesia in 2013
Figure 4. Distribution of State Forest Area Based on the Function on
2013
Figure 5. Total of Forest Cover based on the Forest Function and Forest
for Other Land Use in 2011 (thousands of hectares)
Figure 6. Total of Natural Forest Cover based on Forest Function and
Forest for Other Land Use in 2013 (millions of hectares)
Figure 7. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover in State Forest and Forest
for Other Land Use in 2013
Figure 8. Distribution of Natural Forest Cover Inside and Outside the
Concession Area
Figure 9. Total Area of Peatlands and Natural Forest Cover
Figure 10. Deforestation in Indonesia during the Period of 1990-2012
Figure 11. Total Area Comparison of Natural Forest Cover in 2009 and
2013
Figure 12. Deforestation Caused by the Development of Plantation and
Industrial Forest Plantation in East Kalimantan during the
Period of 2009-2013
Figure 13. Forest Cover in Peatlands Area with Management License
Figure 14. The Condition of Forest and Peatlands Area inside the Indicative
Area of PIPIB the Third Revision Version
Figure 15. Linkages between the Forest Governance Index and
Deforestation in Five Districts
Figure 16. Development of Total Unit and IUPHHK-HA Concession Areas
during 1999 – 2013
Figure 17. Development of Total Units and Plantation Forest Timber
Production Permit (IUPHHK-HT) Concession in 1990-2013
Figure 18. Forestry Benefit Sharing Fund Compared to Regional Income in
Three Districts Period of 2010-2013
Figure 19. Distribution Map of Industrial Plantation Forest Concession in
2013
List of Figures
10
11
12
12
13
13
14
17
19
21
22
26
29
30
32
35
38
42
43

iii
Figure 20. Development of Palm Oil Plantation Total Areas in Indonesia
during 2004-2013
Figure 21. Forest Area Release in the Period of 2010-2013 in each of the
Main Island
Figure 22. The Cause of Illegal Logging, A Study Case in Indonesia
Figure 23. Timber Smuggling Inside the Containers
Figure 24. Harbor of Nickel Ore Storage PT Gema Ripah Pratama in Tomori
Bay, inside the Morowali Conservation Areas, Central Sulawesi
Figure 25. Abandoned Mining Holes of PT Gema Ripah Pratama in
Morowali Conservation Areas
Figure 26. Permit to Borrow, Utilize and Exploitation Mining and Non-
Mining in the Period of 2008-2012
Figure 27. Change on Forest Function in the Period of 2008-2012
Figure 28. Correlation between Deforestation Rate and Corruption Year in
2006
Figure 29. Trend of Pulp and Paper Export in the Period of 2009-2013
Figure 30. Map of Moratorium Fifth Revision in Aru Archipelago District
Figure 31. Total of Agrarian Conflict in 2013
Figure 32. Total of Cases of Stakeholders Involved in Conflicts in the Period
of 1990-2010
Figure 33. Frequency of Natural Disaster Each Year in the Period of 2000-
2014
Figure 34. Frequency of Natural Disaster based on the Types From 2000 to
2013
Figure 35. Projections of Natural Forest Cover in Indonesia for the Next
Three Decades
44
46
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59
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61
65
70
78
79
82
82
87

iv
Table 1. The Condition of Indonesia’s Natural Forest Cover in 2009 and
2013
Table 2. Natural Forest Cover inside the Forest Utilization and Use Area
in 2013
Table 3. Deforestation based on Forest Function and Forest for Other
Land Use in Indonesia in 2011-2012
Table 4. Deforestation in Indonesia Period of 2009-2013
Table 5. The State of Natural Forest in Merauke District in 2013
Table 6. Changes and Loss of Natural Forest Cover in State Forest Area
and Forest for Other Land Use in 2009 -2013
Table 7. Loss of Natural Forest in Peatlands Area
Table 8. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover Inside and Outside the
Moratorium on New Licenses Area in 2013
Table 9. Total of Natural Forest Cover in 2009, Natural Forest Cover in
2013, and Deforestation in 2009-2013 inside the Concession
Area
Table 10. Plan and Realization of Industrial Plantation Forest (HTI) Harvest
in 2010-2013
Table 11. Total of HTI Working Units, Total of HTI Working Areas, and
Total of Certified HTI (SVLK) in 2012
Table 12. Recapitulation of Log Production across Indonesia based on
Production Source in 2004-2012
Table 13. Data of Timber Production Realization from Land Clearing as
Preparation of HTI Cultivation in 2010-2013
Table 14. Total of HTI Cultivation Areas and Accumulative Cultivation in
2003-2013
Table 15. Total Areas and Total Plantation Concessions inside the State
Forest in 2009
Table 16. Results of Sustainable Forest Operation in 2001-2010
List of Tables
9
16
20
21
23
24
28
29
34
37
39
40
40
41
45
48

v
Table 17. Area Release for Plantation and Transmigration during the
Period of 2010-2013
Table 18. Corruption and Forestry Crime Cases in Indonesia
Table 19. Development of Investment, and Total of Downstream Industry
of Forest Product in Indonesia during the Period of 2010-2012
Table 20. Development of Capacity, Production, and Export of Forest
Product Downstream Industry in Indonesia during the Period
of 2010-2012
Table 21. Investment Plan of Pulp Industry Development
Table 22. Percentage of Conflict based on the Type of Activities during
the Period of 1990-2010
Table 23. Frequency Comparison of Landslide, Flood, and Drought in
2009-2013 with the Natural Forest Cover in 2009-2013
Table 24. Projections of the State of Natural Forest Cover based on the
Island up until 2043
Table 25. Projections of Natural Forest Cover outside the Protected
Forest and Conservation Areas in 2028
57
62
64
64
66
78
83
87
88

vi
Box 1. Generation of Natural Forest Cover Data in 2013
Box 2. Diversity of Initiatives to Renew the Forest Cover Data
and the Difficulties Encountered
Box 3. Deforestation in Merauke District, Papua
Box 4. Encroachment and Fire that Rife in Tesso Nilo National
Park
Box 5. Exposing the Practices of the Forestry Mafia
Box 6. Moratorium on New Permits in Central Kalimantan
Province
Box 7. Linkages between the Loss of Natural Forest with the
Forestry Governance Index
Box 8. Industrial Plantation Forest in Riau
Box 9. Labora Sitorus Case
Box 10. Nickel Mining in Morowali Conservation Area
Box 11. Regulations on Fire Prevention in the Plantation
Sector
Box 12. Lease of Forest Area for Mining
Box 13. Bribe in Forest Conversion
Box 14. Pulp and Paper Industry in Indonesia
Box 15. The President Must Intervene to Protect the Forest
Ecosystem of Aru Archipelago
Box 16. Species that Heavily Affected by the Mining Activities
Box 17. The Threshold of Forest Loss
List of Boxes
6
7
23
24
26
30
32
42
50
52
56
58
63
67
70
80
89

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Appendix 1. Natural Forest Cover and Deforestation in Each Province
Appendix 2. Natural Forest Cover and Deforestation outside the Protected
Areas
Appendix 3. Natural Forest Cover and Deforestation in PIPIB Area
Appendix 4. Natural Forest Cover, Deforestation, Concession and Peatlands
in PIPIB Area
Appendix 5. Natural Forest Cover in Concession Area
Appendix 6. Deforestation inside the Concession Area
Appendix 7. Natural Forest Cover in Peatlands and Concession Area
Appendix 8. Natural Forest Cover in Each Forest Function Area
Appendix 9. Natural Forest with and without Management Permits
Appendix 10. Natural Forest outside the Conservation Area with and without
Management Permits
Appendix 11. Projections of Natural Forest Cover Loss in Indonesia
Appendix 12. Indicative Map of PPIB Revision and Distribution of Natural
Forest in 2013
Appendix 13. Map of Distribution of Natural Forest Loss during the Period of
2009-2013
List of Appendix
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107
109
111
113
115
117
118
119
121
123
125
126

ix
F
orest Watch Indonesia would like to thank the ladies and gentlemen, and
partners who gave much support, contributions, and inputs in the whole of the
writing processes of this The State of the Forest Indonesia: Period of 2009-2013
book. The long process of writing this book, including a series of discussions
and writing workshop, internal review, external review, expert review, and the
finalization process.
We would like to express our appreciation and gratitude for the inputs, data and
information supports given in the external review meeting to: Directorate of Inventory
and Forest Resources Monitoring: Gitri Prawidjiwuri; the Association of Indonesian
Forest Concessionaires (APHI): Herman Prayudi; Directorate General of Plantation:
Arifin Pangaribuan; Directorate General of Mineral and Coal: Antonius A.S.; National
Development Planning Agency: Basah Hernowo; and the Forest Policy and Climate
Change Center: Sudarmalik.
Our appreciation and gratitude for the article contributors, Mining Advocacy Network:
Andrie Wijaya; Faculty of Forestry Bogor Agricultural University: Bramasto Nugroho
and Gamin Gessa; Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago: Farid Wadji;
Greenpeace Indonesia: Wirendro Sumargo; Indonesian Center for Environmental
Law (ICEL): Citra Hartati; Association for Legal Reform, Community, and Ecology:
Andiko Sutan Mancayo; Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Seknas FITRA):
Hadi Prayitno; South Sumatera :Deddy Permana; and Rainforest Norway: Giorgio
Budi Indrarto.
Thank you for the active participation, thoughts, and input from Mongabay Indonesia:
Ridzki Rinanto Sigit; Greenpeace Indonesia: Yuyun Indradi; Faculty of Forestry
Bogor Agricultural University: Togu Manurung; Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the
Archipelago: Abdon Nababan; West Kalimantan Sampan Foundation: Baruni Hendri;
East Kalimantan Mining Advocacy Network: Sarah Agustio; The Asia Foundation:
Ridwan; Bambang Tetuka; Martin Hardiono; and Lisken Situmorang.
Thank you for the support from The Asia Foundation in publishing this book. In the
end, thank you to all those of you who have helped the processes of making of this
book that we could not mention one by one.
Thank You Note

xi
I
ndonesia has the largest tropical forest in the world, rich forest resources, and
biodiversity. For all of this time, the rich and diverse tropical forests have been
utilized directly and indirectly, to fulfill the human needs, society and Indonesia
as a state. Utilization of Indonesia’s forest, especially to meet the market demand,
has caused the loss of total forest cover (deforestation). During the period of 2009-
2013, the average rate of deforestation is 1, 13 million hectares per year. This high
rate of deforestation had affected the increase of greenhouse gases (GHG), prone to
disaster, extinction of endangered animals and their habitats, and conflict between
several stakeholders.
This report is a mean to get figure of state and changes on forest cover in Indonesia
during the period of 2009-2013, rate and projections of forest loss in the future, and
performance of the actors in the forestry sector in forest management and its impact
on forest loss. This report is the third State of Indonesia’s Forests after the second
edition have been published in 2011, and the first one in 2001.
We are looking forward for you, our reader’s suggestions and critics, in order to
refine this State of Indonesia’s Forest in the future.
Christian P.P. Purba
Executive Director, Forest Watch Indonesia
Foreword

xiii
1. In 2013, total of land in Indonesia that still covered by natural forest is 82
million hectares. Seventy five percent of it is located in Papua and Kalimantan.
2. In 2013, the total of natural forest cover sequentially are: Papua 29,4 million
hectares, Kalimantan 26,6 million hectares, Sumatera 11, 4 million hectares,
Sulawesi 8,9 million hectares, Maluku 4,3 million hectares, Bali and Nusa
Tenggara 1,1 million hectares, and Java 675 thousand hectares.
3. In 2013, from a total of Maluku land, 57 percent of it is still natural forest.
A total of Maluku’s forest only contribute 5 percent of total of Indonesia’s
forest. It turns out that the geographic condition and the vulnerability of the
area due to the conversion activities in one island, especially in small islands,
is not an important consideration in determining the projections on forest
management policies.
4. In 2013, around 78 million hectares or 63 percent of total of State Forest Area
still in the form of natural forest.
5. The largest forest cover is in the Protected Forest Areas, with a total of 22, 9
million hectares or 28 percent of total natural forest covers in Indonesia.
6. Up until 2013, around 44 million hectares or 25 percent of total land in
Indonesia had been have land management permits in the forms of Natural
Forest Timber Production Permit (IUPHHK-HA), Plantation Forest Timber
Production Permit (IUPHHK-HT), palm oil plantation, and also mining.
7. The condition of natural forest cover inside the concession of IUPHHK-HA is
11 million hectares, 1,5 million hectares for IUPHHK-HT, plantation concession
in total of 1,5 million hectares, and 10 million hectares for mining.
8. We found that 14, 7 million hectares of overlapping land utilization area
between IUPHHK-HA, IUPHHK-HT, palm oil plantation, and mining.
9. We found that around 7 million hectares of natural forest cover are located
in that overlapping land utilization area between IUPHHK-HA, IUPHHK-HT,
palm oil plantation, and mining.
10. In 2013, based on its function the State Forest and Forest for Other Land
Use, we found that from 51 million hectares of natural forest cover without
any permits on it, around 37 percent of it located in the Protected Area, 19
percent located in Conservation Area, 15 percent in the Production Forest
Area, 12 percent in Limited Production Forest Area, and 5 percent in Forest
for Other Land Use.
11. Up until 2013, there are 41 million hectares of natural forest cover located
in Protected Forest, Production Forest, and Forest for Other Land Use areas
that haven’t have the institutions as the responsible authorities to manage
the area at the site.
The Main Points of Findings

xiv
12. Around 73 million hectares of natural forest cover in Indonesia are threatened
by the bigger destruction in the future caused by logging activities and
planned land conversion, open access to land, and the absence of authority
as the manager in the field.
13. Based on FWI’ analyses, the loss of natural forest cover (deforestation) in
Indonesia in the period of 2009-2013 is around 4,50 million hectares and the
rate of deforestation in Indonesia is 1,13 million hectares per year.
14. The biggest loss of natural forest cover (deforestation) during the period of
2009-2013 based on the province, sequentially are as follows: Riau Province
690 thousand hectares, Central Kalimantan 619 thousand hectares, Papua
490 thousand hectares, East Kalimantan 448 thousand hectares, and West
Kalimantan 426 thousand hectares.
15 The biggest loss of natural forest cover (deforestation) during the period of
2009-2013 based on the function of State Forest Area and Forest for Other
Land Use, sequentially are as follows: Production Forest Area with total
deforestation of 1,28 million hectares, Forest for Other Land Use 1,12 million
hectares, Production Forest Area that Can Be Converted 0,78 million hectares,
Limited Production Forest Area 0,7 million hectares, Protected Forest Area
0,48 million hectares and Conservation Area 0,23 million hectares.
16 Based on FWI’s analyses on the interpretation of satellite images in Indonesia
showed that the loss of natural forest cover (deforestation) in the peatlands
during the period of 2009-2013 is 1,1 million hectares. This figure is more
than a quarter of total loss of natural forest cover throughout Indonesia.
17 The biggest loss of natural forest cover (deforestation) in peatlands during
the period of 2009-2013 is in Riau Province with a total of 500 thousand
hectares.
18 The loss of natural forest cover (deforestation) during the period of 2009-
2013 based on the area with permits on forest and land management (Forest
Management Permit/ HPH, Industrial Plantation Forest/ HTI, Plantation, and
Mining) is 2, 3 million hectares. While the deforestation that happened in the
area without permits is 2, 2 million hectares.
2013 in the HPH concession is 276, 9 thousand hectares, where 152, 8
thousand hectares among it is the loss of natural forest cover inside the HPH
concessions in Kalimantan Island.
20 Up until 2013, there are 22, 8 million hectares of Production Forest Area that
utilized by 272 management units of IUPHHK-HA or HPH that have definitive
permit. From all those IUPHHK-HA management units, only 115 that are still
active.
21 Since the Timber Legality Assurance System (SVLK) implemented in 2009,
up until June 2014, there are 112 IUPHHK-HA management units that have
submitted a request for Sustainable Production Forest Management (PHPL)
certification, and only 92 management units that managed total area of 10
million hectares already got the Certificate of Sustainable Production Forest
Management (S-PHPL). While for the certification of Timber Legality, there
are 25 IUPHHK-HA management units that submitted request, and only 22
units that already got the Timber Legality Certificate (S-LK).

xv
2013 inside the IUPHHK-HT or HTI concession is 453, 1 thousand hectares,
with the 366,2 thousand hectares of it are located inside the HTI concessions
in Sumatera Island.
23 From around 10 million hectares total of IUPHHK-HT or HTI in Indonesia, 4,
5 million hectares of it is located in Sumatera Island (110 management units)
and 4, 5 million hectares in Kalimantan Island (105 management units).
24 Up until 2012, from 234 definitive IUPHHK-HT management units, only 53
management units or only 23 percent that already got the Timber Legality
Certificate (S-LK).
25 Up until June 2013, from a total of 234 IUPHHK-HT management units, only
44 units that already PHPL certified, and 58 units already Timber Legality
certified.
26 The timber supply from the plantation forest in 2012 is 26, 12 million m3 or
around 53 percent of total national timber production in that same year.
27 The loss of natural forest cover (deforestation) during the period of 2009-2013
in the palm oil concession is 515,9 thousand hectares, with 327,5 thousand
hectares of it are located in the palm oil concessions in Kalimantan Island.
28 West Kalimantan is the province with the biggest loss of natural forest
cover (deforestation) in the palm oil concessions, with a total area of 147, 6
thousand hectares.
29 There are around 44,3 million hectares area with natural forest in the
Conservation Area, Protected Forest, Peatlands, and Primary Forests that are
included in the policy of moratorium on new license (PPIB).
30 The case of the Aru Archipelago in Maluku Province is a mirror of the
weakness of moratorium on new license policy. The permit for sugarcane
plantation with total of 67 thousand hectares area given above the area with
natural forest in Aru Archipelago that included in the PPIB area.
31 There are 14 IUPHHK-HT (HTI) companies that involved in corruption
cases, three of it is the companies that have Sustainable Production Forest
Management Certificate and the other eight are companies that have Timber
Legality Certificate.
32 During the period of 1990-2010 there are 2.585 conflict cases in 27 provinces
in Indonesia that involving indigenous/local communities. From the total of
those conflict cases, 1.065 cases are conflict cases in the forestry sector and
563 cases in the plantation sector.
33 With the same rate of loss of natural forest cover (deforestation), then it is
estimated that in 2023, the natural forest in several provinces, including in
Sumatera such as Riau, Riau Archipelago, Jambi, and South Sumatera, will be
gone.

1
1 PREFACE
B
ased on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report in 2008,
Indonesia ranks in 14th as highest greenhouse gases (GHG) emitter countries
in the world. In that report, it is also stated that in the forestry sector, carbon
emission released caused by deforestation reach 80%, while the rest of 20% caused
by forest degradation.
In the study by the Ministry of Environment (2009), it is also predicted that the GHG
in Indonesia will still increase from 1,72 gig tons of CO2e in 2000 to 2,95 gig tons of
CO2e in 2020.
Facing the world’s attention on GHG from the forestry sector and the geographic
position of Indonesia that is vulnerable to climate change impact, the Government
of Indonesia (GoI) issues a Presidential Regulation (Perpres) no. 61/ 2011 on National
Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gases Emission (RAN-GRK) 2010-2020. This
regulation is a follow up action from the GoI’ commitment at the G-20 meeting in
Pittsburg to reduce Indonesia’ GHG in total of 26-41 percent. In the action plan, it
is stated that 88 percent of total GHG emissions that will be decreased by the GoI is
from the forestry sector.1
The estimation of the increase of GHG emissions can be understood if we refer to
the trend of high deforestation rates. In The State of The Forest Indonesia: Period of
1996-2000, it is stated that the rates of deforestation in Indonesia reached 2 million
hectares per year (FWI & GFW, 2001). In the next ten years, the rates of deforestation
reach 1,5 million hectares per year (FWI, 2011), and in this The State of The Forest
Indonesia Period of 2009-2013, it is found that the rates of deforestation reach 1,1
million hectares per year (FWI, 2014).
The high rate of deforestation is caused by the governance that is not improving (FWI,
2014).2
Four indirect causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Indonesia
are: (a) ineffective spatial planning, (b) problems related to land tenure; (c) inefficient
and ineffective governance in the forestry sector; and (d) weak law enforcement
and rampant corruption cases in forestry and land sectors (UNDP, 2013).3
In The
State of The Forest Indonesia 2001, it is stated that the high deforestation caused by
the government’s policies, especially on national timber production. On the other
hand, the high rates of deforestation remain high because of corrupt political and
economic system. It considers the natural resources, especially forests, as an income
1 Academic Paper National Action Plan on Greenhouse Gases Emissions Reduction 2010-2020
2 FWI, Fact Sheet. Deforestation: Bad Portrait of Forest Governance in South Sumatera, West and East
Kalimantan, 2014
3 UNDP, 2013. Index of Forest, Land, and REDD+ Governance in Indonesia.

2
resource that can be exploited for the political and personal interest.4
The same
thing also presented by National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) in
2010. It is stated in the analyses that bad governance, the spatial planning between
national and local government that is not in line, uncertainty on right to tenure, and
the lack of capacity (including weak law enforcement) on forest management, is the
fundamental problems in forestry governance in Indonesia.5
Good forests governance characterized by transparency that can fulfill the public’s
needs on proper and accurate information, substantial and significant communities’
participation in planning to monitor the processes, high accountability , and
efficient and effective coordination among stakeholders in each decision making
process. Good forests governance is sustainable, inclusive, and transparent forest
management. Forests governance will determine the success of the government’s
efforts to reduce the GHG emissions from the forestry sector.
The availability of accurate forestry data and information is one of the important
factors as a prove of the government’s accountability. Information and data not only
needed by the policymakers to make decision in forest management, but also as the
link of communities’ interest in their control and monitoring function.
Forest management as a part of forest governance is dynamic and recur processes.
Through this process, every management policy and its implementation, always
must receive input if the direction of the forest management deviates from the initial
objective. Inputs and evaluation only would be received if the accurate and proper
forestry information and data are available, in order to have continuous monitoring.
FWI at A Glance and the Need for Alternative Forestry Information Package
Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) founded because there is a need to change the provision
of a system of information on forest status in Indonesia. Therefore, the communities
can be actively participating in the monitoring and management processes. Fair and
sustainable forest management could only be achieved if the communities actively
and constructively involved in the monitoring processes and forest management.
Sufficient and available information is the precondition of participation process.
Though the Law no. 14 year 2008 on Public Information Transparency already passed
and several institutions of data/information custodian already relatively open by
developing a system and division on information services, but in reality, FWI still
found that even when the data/information is available, it doesn’t meet the quality
standards and more often the communities still difficult or even impossible to access
the data/information.
As an organization that monitors forest, FWI has visions towards the inclusive
management process of forestry information and data in Indonesia that can ensure
the fair and sustainable forest resources management.
FWI as a civil society organization, has a mission to encourage the acceleration
process of democratization of forest resources management in Indonesia. This
4 FWI&GFW, The State of Indonesia’s Forest, 2000
5 Indonesian Climate Change Sectoral Roadmap (ICCSR) Summary Report Forestry Sector, page. 2
(BAPPENAS, 2010)

3
mission will be achieved through a transparent process of data/information on
recent forest condition, and independent and decentralized forest monitoring
across the areas in Indonesia. FWI provides an alternative platform for forestry data/
information exchange that useful in the planning and decision making processes.
This alternative space is expected to encourage the public, especially the civil society
organizations to be actively involved in a constructive way in political processes that
related to the forest resources management.
In order to provide this alternative platform for forestry/data information, as the
pioneer in the effort to accelerate the transparency of forestry data/information in
Indonesia, FWI published this The State of The Forest Indonesia book. The important
function of this book is as the reference and consideration materials in decision-
making processes related to the forest management in Indonesia.
The State of The Forest Indonesia Period of 2009-2013: An Alternative Forestry
Data and Information
This book contains alternative forestry data and information that was being
developed based on the comprehensive analyses and review, in relation to:
1. The State of Indonesia’s Forest, consist of review of data and analyses by FWI
related to the natural forest cover in 2013 and the change on forest cover during
the period of 2009-2013. Data and information presented based on the island,
Administrative Area, Function of Forest Area, Utilization and Usage of Forest
Area and Peatlands.
2. The State of Indonesia’s Forest, consist of more in-depth analyses related to
the cause of the loss of natural forest cover (deforestation): land clearing and
logging, inconsistency of government’s policies, and the misuse of authorities
related to the forest utilization. The effort or policies intended to face defor-
estation threat and impact of deforestation in Indonesia are presented in this
chapter..
3. Save Indonesia’s Forest, consist of review on projections of the
conditions of natural forest cover in Indonesia in the future and
recommendation on fair and sustainable forest management in Indonesia.

5
F
orest is strategic natural resources, therefore forest must be managed in a
sustainable way in order to give as much as advantages to the Indonesian, just
as stated in the 1945 Constitution. Preconditions for the green and sustainable
forest management are not apart from the needs of complete, trustworthy, and recent
data and information. One of the information needed is the condition of forest cover
and land use. This information is the foundation to plan, use, and evaluate the forest
management, which can ensure the forest sustainability and increase the people’s
welfare.
The Ministry of Forestry as the institution who provide official forestry data stated
that the weakness in governance has caused the forest cover in Indonesia decreased.
In 2004, the total forest cover is estimated around 94 million hectares or 50% of
the total land in Indonesia6
and keep decreasing into 90 million hectares in 2012.7
While in 2007, the Ministry of Environment conducted interpretation of Landsat-7
ETM+ satellite images, and showed that the forest cover in all islands in Indonesia
decreased into around 83 million hectares.8
Through mapping of forest/land cover in Indonesia started in 1990s by at that time,
the Ministry of Transmigration through the Regional Physical Planning Program for
Transmigration (RePPProT). The data that used to map the forest cover obtained from
various sources, started from the aerial photos to satellite image (Landsat MSS) the
initial recording from 1980s to 1985. This mapping product is considered as some-
thing phenomenal because for the first time, the whole islands Indonesia mapped
consistently. The next national mapping was done by at that time the Ministry of
Forestry through the National Forest Inventory (NFI) project, and were using the sat-
ellite image period of 1980 to 1990s. After that period, several stakeholders started
to develop mapping to get the figure of forest condition in Indonesia. Started from
the government institutions, international agencies, academic institution, and civil
society organization (CSO) produce analyses and calculation based on the available
data that they have, and often use the different methodology as well (Box 2).
It turns out that the availability of forest/land cover map that portray the condition
of land/forest from year to year, is not simplifying the process of data comparison.
As an individual product, the map of land/forest cover can be visually impressive.
6 Ministry of Forestry: Statistic of Indonesia’s Forestry, 2004
7 Ministry of Forestry: Statistic of Indonesia’s Forestry 2011, 2012
8 Ministry of Environment, Total of Land Cover Result of Landsat-7 ETM+ Satellite Image Interpretation
2004-2006, 2007
2 The State of The Forest Indonesia

6
However, if that series of data being juxtaposed, there are technical issues, such as
the inconsistency on boundary of land/forest cover, differences in accuracy (scale),
and the usage of basis map. This condition is the factor that makes it difficult to track
the changes on forest cover from time to time in order to get the quantitative value.
Analyses of forest cover changes needs series of data, which are several data on
forest cover condition that recorded within a different period of time. In this The
State of The Forest Indonesiabook, FWI presents series of natural forest cover data
and the changes happened during the period of 2009-2013. The natural forest cover
data obtained through the interpretation of satellite image (Landsat 7 and Landsat
8) recording year 2013. A dataset of forest cover 2009 and 2013 developed by FWI
using the method of image interpretation visually with two groups of forest cover,
“forest” and “non-forest”. This is done because though there are policies on public
information transparency, but the spatial digital data from the Ministry of Forestry
still cannot be accessed by the map user groups.9
Box 1. Generating Natural Forest Cover Data 2013
Interpretation of satellite imageries 2013
Natural forest cover data 2013 obtained from the interpretation of Landsat ETM 7
images interpretation and also Landsat 8 with coverage time between 2012 and
2013. The span of this coverage time is intended to get the image data that are net
of clouds. The satellite images were downloaded from the www.glovis.usgs.gov site.
The satellite images that have been downloaded, then extracted and composited.
The channel used for the Landsat ETM 7 images is channel 1 to 5, while for
Landsat 8, using channel 4 to 6. The image interpretation conducted with the
combination of channel 543 for Landsat 7 and combination of 654 for Landsat 8.
The image interpretation done visually on the computer screen (on screen digitizing)
to delineate the covers that are still natural forests. The interpretation results of images
covered in 2009 were used as the initial reference for interpretation of images covered
in 2013. The minimum digitizing scale used is 1:50.000.
The accuracy of the final result of forest cover interpretation tested using the method
of contingency matrix accuracy test (confusion matrix) and kappa coefficient. Total of
sampling point of field test used in the accuracy test is 6.086 points. From the resulf
ot contigency matrix, the accuracy score is 82 percent and the kappa coefficient score
is 0,614.
Analyses of natural forest cover data 2013 and the forest loss (deforestation)
Indonesia’s natural forest is assumed as the forests that grows naturally and not from
the planting process. Therefore, plantation forest is not categorized as forest. Another
9 Minutes of Information Consequency Test No.: S.410.1/PHM-2/2014 attached in the response letter
from the Ministry of Forestry related to the request of public information by FWI, dated at October 16,
2014, map data in shapefile (.shp) format including the exempt information.

7
assumption is that there is no forest cover from the reforestation process during the
period of 2009-2013. Based on those assumptions, the result of interpretation of forest
cover 2013 is the result of a combination between the data on forest cover 2009
and the result of interpretation of forest cover 2013. This is also intended to improve
the previous data on forest cover in 2009, which caused by the widespread of cloud
appearance and error in interpretation.
The forest loss (deforestation) in 2009-2013 is the analyses of changes in natural forest
cover during the period of 2009-2013 using the spatial data on forest area designation
with the administrative area spatial data until the district level as the baseline.
Deforestation in 2009-2013 is the condition of the area that in 2009 was still forested
and in 2013 is not forest anymore, and disjoint with the designation of administrative
areas.
The data on forest cover changes period of 2009-2013 combined with the spatial
data of Indonesia’s Forest Area Function and spatial data of provincial and district
administrative area. Both of those spatial data become the boundaries of forest
cover data, so it resulted with the information on the forest cover and its changes up
to the district level. This method is not used with the data series used in the previous
The State of The Forest Indonesiabook, and this caused differences in the total forest
cover in 2009 in this version, with the The State of The Forest Indonesia2011 version.
Moreover, in order to be more comprehensive, the data result elaborated with the
official data and report from the government and from environmental organizations
to further analyze the condition and changes happened.
Box 2. Various Initiative on Forest Cover Data Renewal and the Encountered
Difficulties
Various products of forest and land cover map mainly caused by the differences on the
boundary (definition) of land/forest cover, and the usage of basis map. Another factor
that also affecting the mapping result is the interpreter subjectivity (experience and
knowledge of the area being mapped), the aspect of geo-reference accuracy, and the
rectification processes of satelit imagery.
As an example, the difference in screen digitizer method (interpretation based on vector
data) which used by the Ministry of Forestry, with the supervised classification method
(interpretation based on raster data) which used by the Ministry of Environment, is one of
thefactorsthatalsoaffectingthecalculationoftotalforestandlandcoverareainIndonesia.
Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI), Conservation International Indonesia (CII), Forestry
Planning Agency published Papua forest cover map in 2001. The methods used were
a visual interpretation of the Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite images recording year 1999 to
2000 and field verification (ground check) in 2001. While Trees Project, produced

8
Indonesia’s forest cover map year 2000 scale 1: 5.500.000, and published in 2002. The
method used is multispectral classification using satellite images of SPOT Vegetation
(1km resolution).
In 1989, WCMC published data and categorized forests in Indonesia into 13
classifications. Later in 2000/2001, WCMC conducted forest cover calculation in
Indonesia with dividing it into three groups: forest, non forest, and no data (covered
by cloud).
Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) also published data with the classification of forest
cover and other land, which categorized into three groups: forest, other woodland,
other land. Other land with tree cover is the subgroup of the other land. Besides those
three groups, there is also what titled as inland water bodies, such as: main river, lake,
and reservoir. Based on FAO analyses in 2007, Indonesia’s forest cover in 2005 is only
around 88,5 million hectares or around 46,5 percent of the total area.
Hansen, et. al., 2013 published data on forest cover classification, which are based on
the forest definition as the tree, cover with the vegetation height more than 5 meters
and canopy cover bigger than 30 percent. The data used are landsat satellite imagery.
Margono, et. Al., 2012 published data with natural forest cover classification that
divided into primary intact forest and primary degraded forest. Based on the analyses,
the total forest in Indonesia in 2012 is around 92,4 million hectares.
Related to the various data sources and several technical constraints, Geospatial
Information Agency (BIG, previously named National Mapping and Survey Coordination
Agency/ Bakosurtanal) resolves the basis map and scale issues through the joint
agreement of several ministries. However the problem of different boundary still
difficult to be avoided because of the different sectoral needs from each ministry. It is
often encountered that the map produced sectorally and overlap, even each institution
produce map with the same theme. This situation showed the weak coordination on
mapping activity and the absence of integrated information system that supported
by all sectoral institutions in the government agencies. The impact is that the map
user community also facing difficulties to decide reference on thematic map from the
official source.
Source: The State of The Forest Indonesia, 2001; Study on Papua Land Cover Mapping, 2001; State of the
World’s Forests, 2007; Summary of Workshop on Method of Calculating Deforestation in Indonesia (UKP-
PPP 2014); Margono et al (2014) Primary Forest Cover Loss in Indonesia Over 2000-2012.

9
2.1. Natural Forest Cover
Categorization of forest cover in this report is that all natural forest appearance,
either in the lowland, hills, highland, and coastal area that yet or already showed
any logging/clearing with low intensity. There is no distinction between the primary
natural forest and secondary natural forest, because FWI considers that using the
condition of tree stands,10
and the linkages with human activities as references to
differentiate the forests, is not depriving the definition of forest cover that still natural.
Besides, the available information (blocks of observation in the field as reference to
decide the condition of the structure or composition of tree stands) and resources
to decide the level that differentiates the primary and secondary forest cover, it’s
difficult for FWI to delineate the differences between those two forest groups.
FWI found that until 2013, the natural forest cover in Indonesia is 82 million hectares
or around 46 percent of the total Indonesia’s land.
In fact, the percentage of natural forest cover to the total land can’t really show the
condition of the forest carrying capacity and the real land condition. The portrayal
of the natural forest condition in Indonesia must consider the fact that Indonesia is
an archipelago country; each large island group has different natural characteristic
while the small islands also have a typical enviromental vulnerability and need
specific forest carrying capacity.
Based on the Table 1, the total of forest cover to 2013, in sequence are as follows:
Papua with 29,4 million hectares; Kalimantan with 26,6 million hectares; Sumatera
11,4 million hectares; Sulawesi 8,9 million hectares; Maluku 4,3 million hectares; Bali
and Nusa Tenggara 1,1 million hectares; and Java 675 thousand hectares. It means
that to date, Papua is still the island with widest natural forest cover in Indonesia.
10 Ministry of Forestry, Forestry Dictionary, (Jakarta, 1989), p. 108. Stand structure is the condition of
stands composition based on the diameter distribution, regeneration rate (seedlings, saplings, poles, tree,
canopy layer, or cavity distribution.
Island Total Land Natural Forest
Cover 2009
Natural Forest
Cover 2013
Sumatera 46.616 12.610 11.344
Java 12.743 1.002 675
Bali & Nusa Tenggara 7.137 1.350 1.188
Kalimantan 53.099 28.146 26.604
Sulawesi 18.297 9.119 8.928
Maluku 7.652 4.577 4.335
Papua 34.632 30.006 29.413
Total 180.177 87.074 82.487
Table 1. The Condition Natural Forest Cover in Indonesia in 2009 and 2013
(thousand hectares)
Source: The State of Forest Condition 2000-2009; Analyses of Satellite Image ETM+7, 2014

10
Figure1.MapofNaturalForestCoverDistributionAcrossIndonesia2013

11
Based on the province, 25 percent of total natural forest in Indonesia located in
Papua Province, 15 percent in the East Kalimantan Province, 11 percent in West Papua
Province, 9 percent in Central Kalimantan Province, 7 percent in West Kalimantan, 5
percent in Central Sulawesi, 4 percent in Aceh province, and 3,2 percent in Maluku
Province (in detail in Appendix 1). This data showed that more than half of natural
forest cover across Indonesia are located in three provinces: Papua, East Kalimantan,
and West Papua.
Moreover, based on the Figure 2, the percentage of natural forest cover compared to
the land area in each island up until 2013, sequentially are Papua around 85 percent
land still in the form of natural forest, Maluku 57 percent, Kalimantan 50 percent,
Sulawesi 49 percent, Sumatera 24 percent, Bali-Nusa Tenggara 17 percent, and Java
is 5 percent. It means that up until this year, Papua also still the island with the
highest ratio of forest cover compared to the total land area in Indonesia.
Based on those two analyses, it is found that there are islands that most of the land
area are natural forests, but the proportion of the total forest area nationally is still
very small, and vice versa. As an example, the Maluku Island. The analyses result
showed that 57 percent of land in Maluku is natural forest, however the proportion
of it compared to the total forest area in Indonesia is only 5 percent (Figure 3). This
finding strengthen the argument that the assessment on the natural forest carrying
capacity in Indonesia must be based on island per island study.
This finding is interesting to be observed. When we talk in the context of forest
management, the factors of geographical condition and the vulnerability of the area
caused by forest conversion activities in one island, especially small islands, must be
an important consideration in order to decide the direction on forest management
policies. Because even the slightest conversion happened, it would directly impact
the safety of the environment and the life of the communities who live on that island.
Figure 2. Percentage of Total Area of Natural Forest Compared to Land Area in 2013
Source: Forest Watch Indonesia, 2014

12
2.1.1. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover in Forest Function Area
Portraying the forest resources in Indonesia can’t be separated from the policies on
forest spatial planning or forest function area. Ministry of Forestry in 2013 stated that
the State Forest Area covers around 127 million hectares or 66,9 percent from the
total of land area in Indonesia. This total of State Forest Area needs to be checked
and corrected, considering the discrepancy of the recent numbers with the total
of forest cover, and considering the recent update related to the derivation and
Figure 3. Percentage of Total Area of Natural Forest in Each Island Compared to Natu-
ral Forest in Indonesia in 2013
Figure 4. Distribution of State Forest Area Based on the Function on 2013 in Million
Hectares
Source: Directorate of Forest Area Gazettement, Management, Stewardship, and Tenure, data updated Sep-
tember 24, 2013, in “Information and Data Directorate General of Forestry Planning 2013”

13
implementation of Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/2012 on judicial review of
Forestry Law no. 41/1999 that excluding the indigenous forest from the State Forest
Area.
The Ministry of Forestry then categorizes the State Forest Area based on its function,
which are: Conservation Area with a total of 17,2 percent; Protected Forest Area with
a total of 23,6 percent; Limited Production Forest Area with a total of 22,3 percent;
Permanent Production Forest Area with a total of 22,7 percent; and Convertible
Production Forest Area in total of 14,2 percent (Figure 4).
State Forest with those forest functions not always have forest cover above it. Though
it is understandable that the forest area is the reflection of the government’s effort
to preserve the forest cover through spatial planning policies on the forestry sector.
Figure 5. Total of Forest Cover based on the Forest Function and Forest for Other Land
Use in 2011 (thousands of hectares)
Source: Forestry Statistics, 2012
Figure 6. Total of Natural Forest Cover based on Forest Function and Forest for Other
Land Use in 2013 (millions of hectares)

14
On the contrary, Forest for Other Land Use (APL) does not always mean that the area
does not have the forest cover.
Refers to the Ministry of Forestry publication published in 2012, the non-forested
condition besides on the forests with function as Production Forest Area, also
happened in the protected area, such as in Conservation Areas where 4,16 million
hectares or 3,1 percent and in Protected Forest around 6,78 million hectares or 51,
percent from the total of forest area are reported as non-forest.
Merujuk pada publikasi Kementerian Kehutanan tahun 2012, kondisi tidak berhutan
selain terjadi pada kawasan hutan yang berfungsi sebagai Kawasan Hutan Produksi,
juga terjadi pada kawasan perlindungan, seperti di Kawasan Konservasi dimana
sekitar 4,16 juta hektare atau 3,1 persen dan pada Hutan Lindung sekitar 6,78 juta
hektare atau 5,1 persen dari total luas kawasan hutan dilaporkan sebagai bukan
hutan.
FWI presents alternative information on natural forest cover condition up until 2013
in five groups forest function areas that already appointed as State Forest and Forest
for Other Land Use. It showed that around 78 million hectares or around 63 percent
state forest areas are areas with forest cover above it. Distribution and comparison
between the area that covered with natural forest cover and the areas without natural
forest cover in each forest function area presented in the Figure 6. FWI showed that
the percentage of natural forest cover in the Protected Forest function compared
with the total of of state forest area is 6,2 percent, and the natural forest cover in the
Conservation Area function is 2,7 percent.
Figure 7 showed the portrait of State Forest Area and the Forest for Other Land Use
related to the condition of natural forest cover in each forest function area in 2013.
Currently, the widest natural forest cover in the State Forest Area is in Protected Forest
Area, around 28 percent. Followed by the natural forest cover in the Production
Forest Area and Limited Production Forest, each around 21 percent, and 13 percent
Figure 7. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover in State Forest and Forest for Other
Land Use in 2013

15
forest cover in the Conservation Area. While there are around 6 percent of natural
forest cover in the Convertible Forest Function Area.
2.1.2. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover in Concession Area
Total of Indonesia’s land with concession permits based on the spatial analyses
conducted by FWI, up until 2013 is around 44 million hectares or around 25 percent
of total land.11
The conditions of land and forest management related to the existence
of natural forest cover in 2013 based on FWI’s analyses are as follows:
1. Total Natural Forest Timber Production Permit (IUPHHK-HA) concessions in
Indonesia up until 2013 is 20.5 million hectares.12
While the condition is that
the natural forest cover in those IUPHHK-HA concessions only around 11
million hectares.
2. Total of Production Forest Timber Production Permit (IUPHHK-HT)
concessions in Indonesia up until 2013 is around 10 million hectares.13
While the condition is that the natural forest cover in 2013 in IUPHHK-HT
concession is 7 million hectares.
3. Total of palm oil plantation concession in Indonesia up until 2013 is around
10 million hectares.14
While, the condition is that the natural forest cover
inside the palm oil plantation concession is 1,5 million hectares.
4. Total of mining concessions in Indonesia up to 2013 is around 22 million
hectares.15
While the condition is that the natural forest cover inside the
mining concession is 10 million hectares.
5. Total of overlapping area between land use concessions (IUPHHK-HA,
IUPHHK-HT, palm oil plantation and mining) is around 14, 7 million hectares.16
From those overlapping areas, 7 million hectares of it is area with natural
forest cover.
Based on those analyses, the figure of natural forest cover in the land with permits up
until 2013 is around 32 million hectares. If we look at the forest management system
by each type of permits and its practices in the field, the natural forest cover in the
permit area are potentially to decrease both in quality and quantity in drastically and
systematic ways.
While the total area with natural forest cover without any permits for land use is
around 51 million hectares or 62 percent from the total of natural forest cover
in Indonesia (Table 2). Further analysis based on the allocation of natural forest
11 Data on distribution of IUPHHK-HA and IUPHHK-HT concessions distribution, FWI compilation 2014.
Data on distribution of plantation concessions, WRI 2010. Data on distribution of the mining concession
include the exploration permits, JATAM database 2014.
12 Forestry Strategic Data 2013. The Development of Total Units and Area of IUPHHK-HA per Province
Year of 2013, page 81. Ministry of Forestry Republic of Indonesia.
13 Forestry Strategic Data 2013. The Development of total IUPHHK HT period of 1991-2013, page 82.
Ministry of Forestry Republic of Indonesia.
14 Based on FWI’s spatial analyses, 2014.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.

16
functions without permits in 2013, around 37 percent located in the Protected Area,
19 percent in Conservation Area, 15 percent in Production Forest Area, 12 percent
in Limited Production Forest Area, 12 percent in Conversion Production Forest Area,
and 5 percent in Forest for Other Land Use.
By authority, each function in State Forest Area is the national and local government’s
scope of work. However, the government (and local government) tends to only work
on the administration for forest utilization permits. From the total of 120, 3 million
hectares of State Forest Area in the land, almost half of it (55,93 million hectares
or 46,5 percent) is not properly managed. Between those State Forest Area, 30
million hectares located under the local government authority. The State Forest Area
that managed intensively is 64, 37 million hectares (53,5 percent). Those forests
that intensively managed mostly are Production Forest Area in the form of Timber
Production Business Permit (IUPHHK) in natural forest and plantation forest and
groups of conservation forest. On the contrary, though already mandated in the
Forestry Law no. 41/1999, there is no strong and directed policy yet to establish
government institutions with function to manage the forest in the field. The effort
that already existed to strengthen the forest management at the field level is for
example, with developing the Forest Management Unit/FMU as the forest managers
at the field level. The absence of government unit to manage forest at the field level
causing no proper information available in the forest utilization practices. Therefore,
as de facto the forest owned by the permit holder. If the permits ending or ineffective,
the forest in the open access condition and it’s easy for anyone to use it without any
control and then massive forest degradation would happen.17
From 51 million hectares of natural forest cover without any utilization permits,
around 12 percent have managed intensively as conservation areas by the Natural
Resources Conservation Bureau (BKSDA). While the rest of it, around 41 million
hectares located in the Protected Forest Area, Production Forest, and APL that haven’t
managed yet and no management unit or institutions who responsible to manage
those areas18
. With this condition the potential for forest degradation is very large.
17 FMU Development Book 2011. page 19, 20.
18 Spatial analyses that were conducted haven’t put FMU area as institutions at the field level, therefore
there’s possibility that half or the whole areas already managed through FMU nowadays.
Table 2. Natural Forest Cover inside The Forest Utilization and Use Area in 2013

17

18
Based on that condition, it can be concluded that around 73 million hectares of
natural forest in Indonesia potentially to have bigger damage in the future, both
caused by the logging activities and planned land conversion or because the absence
of forest managers at the field level.
2.1.3. The Condition of Natural Forest Cover in Peatlands Area
Peatlands got special attention from the government. It isn’t half-heartedly, the
utilization of this type of land specially ruled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry
of Forestry and Ministry of Environment.19
Moreover, for the regulation, it has
Government Regulation on Peatlands Management. Apart from whether those
regulations are contradictory, overlapping, or even nullifies each other, the fact is
affirming that the peatlands have an important role in environmental management
in Indonesia.
In 1994, Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) responsible for 63% of
CO2 emission sources (Pelangi 2001), a significant increase compared to the similar
condition back in 1990, 48% (Pelangi, 2000). One of the main reasons of the carbon
emissions in that sector is that the forest clearing (including peat forest) for various
needs, mainly for agriculture and plantation. Peatlands and peat forests were cleared
and drained, then would experience subsidence (ground level decreasing) and
drought, and then would be very vulnerable to land and forest fires. Another impact,
the carbon released to the atmosphere and causing what’s called as greenhouse
effect which trigger global climate change.20
Peat has unique physical character. Its ability to bind water can reach 13 times of its
weight, so that it can become the terrific hydrology regulator for the surrounding
environment. On the other side, the burning peat would be very difficult to be
extinguished even in the humid condition and would cause smog. In 1997/1998,
peat were suspected as the contributor of 60 percent of smokes in land and forest
fire cases in Southeast Asia.
In the natural forest condition, peatlands serves as barricade or resistor of carbon,
so it contributes to reduce the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, though the
deceleration process runs very slow, 0-3 mm of peat per year (Parish et al, 2007) or
equals with deceleration 0-5,4 t CO2 per hectare per year (Agus, 2009). If the peat
forests cleared and drained, then the carbon saved in the peat would easily oxidize
into CO2 (one of the most important greenhouse gasses). Besides, the peatlands
also very easy to subside if the peat forests were cleared.21
Total area of peatlands in Indonesia is around 19,3 million hectares or more than 10
percent of the total land. Those peatlands mainly spread across three big islands,
Sumatera, Papua, and Kalimantan. In Sumatera, the widest peatlands located in Riau
Province with around 4 million hectares, and 1,1 million hectares of it are still covered
by natural forests.
19 Since October 2014 Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Forestry merged into one ministry, Minis-
try of Environment and Forestry.
20 Yus Rusila Noor and Jill J. Heyde, Community-based Peatlands Management in Indonesia, Wetlands
International – Indonesia Program and Wildlife Habitat Canada, Bogor, 2007, page. 11.
21 Fahmuddin Agus. and I.G. M. Subiksa, Peatlands: Potential for Agriculture and Environmental Aspect,
Land Research Center and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Bogor, 2008, page. 1.

19
2.2. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover (Deforestation) 22
Big scale degradation and loss of natural forest cover started to happen in Indonesia
since early 1970s, when the concession companies started to operate. Based on the
Ministry of Forestry data, in the period of 1985-1997 the decreased total forest areas
in Indonesia is 22,46 million hectares or 1,87 million hectares per year. However, in
the period of 1997-2000 the deforestation highly increased to 2,84 million hectares
per year. Another data source, Vegetation SPOT, showed the decreasing number of
forest cover around 1,08 million hectares per year during the period of 2000-2005.
The calculation of deforestation in Indonesia during the period of 2003-2006 use the
Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite images resulted on the figure 1,17 million hectares per year.
Current data on deforestation calculation in Indonesia for the period of 2006-2009
resulted in the number 0,83 million hectares per year.23
The Ministry of Forestry in the document of Work Plan 2014 stated that the rate of
deforestation and forest degradation for the period of 2009-2011 is 450 thousand
hectares compared to the period of 1998-2002 that reached around 3,5 million
hectares.24
Currently through a press conference, Ministry of Forestry stated the
deforestation rate in Indonesia in the figure of 613 thousand hectares in the period
of 2011-201225
(Table 3).
Deforestation that happened in Indonesia in the period of 1996-2012 based on the
data from the Ministry of Forestry can be seen in Figure 10.
Beside official data from the Ministry of Forestry, there are several data versions
that also stated the estimation of degradation and loss of forest cover in Indonesia.
Forest mapping conducted by the Government of Indonesia with the support from
22 Forest loss or deforestation definition by FWI is all types of condition changes on the land coverage
from forests to non-forests that caused by the natural condition and or deforestation actors, both legal or
illegal in certain period of time which are temporary or permanent.
23 Indonesia’ deforestation calculation 2009 - 2011
24 Minister of Forestry Decree No.44/Menhut-II/2013 on Work Plan of Ministry of Forestry Year of 2014
25 PRESS RELEASE Nomor: S. 409 /PHM-1/2014 on DEFORESTATION IN INDONESIA IN 2011-2012 IS ONLY
24 THOUSAND HECTARES, Public Relation Center, Ministry of Forestry .
Figure 9. Total Area of Peatlands and Natural Forest Cover
Source: FWI analyses (2014); Peatlands map processed from the Wetlands Indonesia data (2005, 2006)

20
the World Bank during the period of 1986-1997 showed that the rate of forest
degradation during that period is around 1,7 million hectares per year, and there
were significant increase up to more than 2 million hectares per year (FWI/GFW,
2001).
In 2007, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through the report State of The
World’s Forests stated that the forest degradation rate in Indonesia has reached 1,87
million hectares in the period of 2000-2005. This condition puts Indonesia ranked
in the second out of ten countries with the highest rate of forest degradation in the
world year of 2005.
In 2011, FWI through a report The State of The Forest Indonesia Period of 2000-2009
explained that the forest degradation rates remains high, around 1,5 million hectares
in the period of 2000-2009.26
Matt Hansen from the University of Maryland stated that Indonesia loss the forest
cover in total of 15, 8 million hectares between the year of 2000 and 2012, in the fifth
orders after Russia, Brazil, United States of America, and Canada for the forest loss.27
During the same period, Margono et al in the report titled Primary Forest Cover Loss
in Indonesia over 2000-2012 stated that on average the deforestation in Indonesia in
the period of 2000-2012 is around 0,8 million hectares per year.28
With various versions of deforestation rates as mentioned above, this report The
State of The Forest IndonesiaPeriod of 2009-2013 stated that the deforestation rates
remain high, not drastically decreased as mentioned by the Ministry of Forestry29
who reasoned that since 2011 they already applied the moratorium policies on new
permits.30
26 FWI: The State of Indonesia’s Forests 2000-2009, 2011
27 http://www.mongabay.co.id/2013/11/15/temuan-peta-hutan-google-laju-deforestation-mening-
kat-di-indonesia/
28 Margono et al, 2014. Primary forest cover loss in Indonesia over 2000-2012. http://www.nature.com/
nclimate/journal/v4/n8/full/nclimate2277.html#author-information
29 The rate of deforestation and forest degradation for the period of 2009-2011 is only 450 thousand
hectares, while in period of 1998-2002 reached 3,5 million hectares (Work Plan Document of Ministry of
Forestry 2014); PRESS RELEASE Nomor: S. 409 /PHM-1/2014 on DEFORESTATION IN INDONESIA IN 2011-
2012 IS ONLY 24 THOUSAND HECTARES, Public Relation Center, Ministry of Forestry.
30 Presidential Instruction no. 10/2011 on Moratorium for New Permits and Improvement of Primary

21
Figure 10. Deforestation in Indonesia during the Period of 1990-2012
Source: Ministry of Forestry 2014. The State of Indonesia’s Forest, Presentation from the Planning Agency
of Ministry of Forestry in external review of The State of Indonesia’s Forest 2014 book.
Analyses by FWI based on the interpretation of satellite images in Indonesia showed
that the deforestation in the period of 2009-2013 are estimated to reach the figure
more or less 4,50 million hectares or around 1,13 million hectares per year.
Sumatera and Kalimantan Island are the islands with the most severe deforestation
compared to other islands (Table 4). This condition is not surprising if we look at
the tendency of land expansion for the development of plantation forest, palm oil
plantation, and new concessions for mining.
Riau, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and Papua are five provinces with the most
severe deforestation in Indonesia. Between those five provinces, Riau ranks first with
Forest and Peatlands Governance. The extension of policy on moratorium on new permits, through Presi-
dential Instruction no.6/2013

22
the deforestation reach 690 thousand hectares, followed by Central Kalimantan with
619 thousand hectares, Papua 490 thousand hectares, East Kalimantan 448 thousand
hectares, and West Kalimantan 426 thousand hectares.
The finding that is quite surprising is the deforestation in Central Kalimantan. At
the end of 2010, Central Kalimantan elected as the pilot province for the Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project in Indonesia.
However, in the period of 2009-2013, Central Kalimantan ranks as the second
province with the highest natural forest loss (Appendix 2). The REDD+ project and
the moratorium policy that applied from mid-2011 seems to fail to prevent or reduce
the degradation and deforestation in Central Kalimantan.
2.2.1. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover in Forest Function Area
The forest loss or deforestation doesn’t only happen in the Convertible Production
Forest Area and Forest for Other Land Use (APL). Deforestation also happens in the
State Forest Area which supposed to be preserved or selectively utilized, such as
the Limited Production Forest, Protected Forest or Conservation Area. Based on its
function, then those forest areas are places where the deforestation not supposed to
happen and have to be maintained as forested areas.
Total deforestation in those three forest areas reached 1,4 million hectares of the
total of deforestation (4,58 million hectares) during the period of 2009-2013. This
figure is equal to 31 percent of the total forest loss that happened across Indonesia.
It means that the area that’s supposed to be preserved as forest and have good
forest cover, in fact are experiencing severe deforestation.
By its function, in the four year period the biggest loss of forest takes place in
Production Forest, totalling 1.28 million hectares, followed by Non Forest Area with
1.12 million hectares, and Convertible Production Forest Area with 781 thousand
hectares.

23
Box 3. Deforestation in Merauke District, Papua
In August 2010, the Government of Indonesia launched Merauke Integrated Food
and Energy Estate or also known as MIFEE. The Government provides 2,5 million
hectares of land in Merauke District, Papua Province, to support that mega project
of national food and energy development.
Up until 2013, there were 36 companies that would invest and get the location
permits with a total of 1,5 million hectare area. Those companies consist of: 9 palm
oil plantation companies with a total of 280 thousand hectares, 9 Industrial Forest
with 760 thousand hectares total area, 15 companies of sugar cane plantations
with 450 thousand hectares total area, and 3 crops plantation companies such as
cassava, paddy, soybean, and corn with total area of 82 thousand hectares.
After three years operating, instead of giving benefit to the Malind and Yeinan
communities, MIFEE become the cause of loss of forest, a place where the community
went hunting, took sago, gambier and resin. MIFEE also caused conflicts between
villages, between tribes or between individuals.
Kabupaten Luas
Daratan
(Ha)
Tutupan
Hutan
Alam 2013
(Ha)
Deforestasi
(Ha)
Lahan
Gambut
(Ha)
Tutupan
Hutan
Alam di
Lahan
Gambut
(Ha)
Deforestasi
di Lahan
Gambut
(Ha)
Merauke 4.362.004,89 2.101.745,22 85.982,64 1.486.010,71 667.849,47 50.202,63
Source: Forest Watch Indonesia 2014
The government is not learning from the mistakes in 1995 when they developed the
Mega Projects of Peatlands Development (PPLG) with total area of 1 million hectares
in Central Kalimantan. The objective of PPLG was for sustainable agriculture of
rice. PPLG project can be considered as a failure and caused destruction of thick
peat, eviction of rattan plantation, destruction of traditional fishpond (beje)/river,
loss of the communities’s livelihood, extinction of endemic protected, and caused
forest fires. Recently, several government and non-government initiatives are
being implemented to fix the damaged land of former PPLG areas. .
Source: Civil Society Coalition to Save Global Climate and Forest: Briefing Paper Evaluation of
Three Years Moratorium Policy and Protection of Peatlands Ecosystem in Indonesia, Main Tasks
of New Leader of Indonesia, Jakarta, 2012
Source: Forest Watch Indonesia 2014

24
2.2.2. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover in Concession Area
In practice, the licensing schemes for timber harvesting from natural forest (IUPHHK-
HA) and plantation forest (IUPHHK-HT), mining leases, and release of forest area for
palm oil plantations serve as the opening for systematic conversion of natural forest.
This is a by design loss of forest cover planned by the government, in the interest of
big scale land-based businesses.
Box 4. Rampant Encroachments and Fire in Tesso Nilo National Park
The 167,618 hectares Tesso Nilo State Forest Area is the remaining lowland forest in
Riau. It has one of the highest biodiversity forests in the world. Part of that forest area,
a total of 83.068 hectares, is designated as national park by the Ministry of Forestry in
2004. The national park area was later expanded in 2009.
The previous status of the area of Tesso Nilo National Park was Limited Production
Forest, so the area is logged-over forest. Encroachment happens often in this forest,
including for conversion into oil palm plantations before the national park designation
and even after it, by exploiting the road access built by the logging companies.
Forest degradation in this national park area caused by encroachment has reached
more than 43 thousand hectares (based on the Landsat satellite images of April 2013).
The remaining is 24 thousand hectares relatively good forest, and 15 thousand hect-
ares of land covered with shrubs. Most of the degraded forest is already illegally con-
verted into palm oil plantations, very often by big capital farmers who are able to own
in average more than 50 hectares of plantation area.
In total, more than 50 percent of natural forest inside Tesso Nilo National Park has
been illegally converted into other uses, mostly palm oil plantation. One of the primary
causes of those encroachments was the lack of protection by forest utilization license
holders that operated on the Production Forest and Plantation Forest; the existence
of two corridors owned by the plantation forest company, RAPP, in the middle of the
forests provides easy access to the Tesso Nilo areas.

25
The bad performance of Natural Forest Timber Production Business License (IUPHHK-
HA) has contributed significantly to deforestation. This condition is worsened by the
fact that almost every year there are always several IUPHHK-HA companies that stop
operating and thus creating forest areas without on site manager. Data in 2013 shows
that 179 IUPHHK-HA companies and 139 IUPHHK-HT companies were heading
towards bankruptcy (APHI, 2013).31
When that happens, there will be around 39
million hectares production forest without on site manager. De facto, those lands
will be in open access situation.32
This is in addition to around 8 million hectares
production forests currently free from any utilization or management licenses, which
therefore have never been sufficiently monitored (Figure 5).
The development of Industrial Plantation Forest or HTI (IUPHHK-HT) to meet the
demand of raw material for pulp and paper industries is also a factor that causes
deforestation. The total area and number of IUPHHK-HT licenses have significantly
increased but have not been followed with plantation productivity increase in those
plantation forest areas.
The conjecture that IUPHHK-HT business owners are only looking for the timber from
the Timber Utilization Permit during clear cutting/land clearing is not unreasonable.33
And the fact is that natural forest conversion to palm oil plantation is one of the
determinants factors of the high rate of deforestation in Indonesia. Figure 12 shows
the deforestation in Industrial Plantation Forest concessions and palm oil plantations
in East Kalimantan.
Other observation related to forest conversion that causes deforestation is the
stipulation of forest areas in accordance to regional spatial plans, which, although
according to the Spatial Planning Act this is not done as an annulment on the
mistakes in land use planning, in practice it almost always accommodates those
“mistake”.
31 Presentation material of Indonesian Forestry Business Association (APHI) at the discussion on forestry
permits problems by the Directorat General of Forestry Bussiness Management in Surabaya, October
2013.
32 Hariadi Kartodihardjo, State Forest Degradation and Conversion: Empirical and Structural Problems,
2014
33 FWI/GFW: The State of the Forest, Indonesia, 2001
The damage of Tesso Nilo National Park is also caused by forest fires that happen
every year. Three hot spots appeared in Tesso Nilo National Park area in early 2013.
The hot spots were detected from January 3 to 7, 2013 through the NASA-MODIS
satellite monitoring. The hot spots detected show that forest fires still happen inside
the national park area, made worse by the encroachments for palm oil plantation
and settlement areas.
Source: Mongabay, 2013

26
Box 5. Exposing Forestry Mafia Practices
Indonesia’s forests are destructed in systematic and organized ways by crooked officials
and investors. Corrupt practices in forestry sector happen across Indonesia. This is not
only illegal logging, but also corruption in licensing processes, which eventually caused
deforestation. Deforestation is mainly the result of forest conversion into plantation and
mining area that is violates the regulation (therefore, illegal). In Central Kalimantan,
7.8 million hectares of forest have been converted into palm oil plantations, mining
areas, and other non-forest landscape (Report of Central Kalimantan Spatial Planning
Revision Integrated Team, 2009)
There are a number of problems with policies and law enforcement so that forest crimes
and changes of forest function are still taking place. This includes: the power to enforce
policies that is still weak (law and law enforcer), the commitment from the government
and business sectors is still weak, imbalance of interest in policies implementation, the
government’s interest in releasing forest area for big scale plantation development,
and the domination of business actors’ interest in implementation of policies on forest
area release.
In addition to that, there’s overlapping authorities related to forest conversion. This
is proven by the inharmonious and unsynchronized of laws and policies. Disharmony
of laws (plantation, forestry, environment, spatial, regional autonomy) leads to
overlapping authorities. It causes difficulties for the government to do protection,
planning, management, monitoring, law enforcement, and restoration.

27
2.2.3. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover in Peatlands Area
Indonesia has around 19.3 million hectares of peatlands. In 2013, around 9 million
hectares of it is still covered with natural forest. Peatlands area tends to be large and
relatively flat. It makes it vulnerable to large scale land clearing activities. It is noted
that during the period of 2009-2013 around 1.1 million hectares of natural forests in
peatlands vanished. That is more than one fourth of total natural forest loss across
Indonesia.
The largest deforestation in peatlands area is in Riau Province with approximately
450 thousand hectares, followed by West Kalimantan 185 thousand hectares, Papua
149 thousand hectares, and Central Kalimantan 104 thousand hectares.
Peatland is essentially destroyed when the forest above it is cleared, all the more with
intensive cultivation through canalization and drying processes. To date, a total 2.4
million hectares of concession area have been issued the licenses of, including around
295 thousand hectares for mineral and coal mining. Due to its intensity of utilization,
plantation forest and oil palm plantation have big potential to destroy massive areas
of peatlands, through the deforestation and the canalization and drying process.
The total of peatlands area under this two types of concessions are around 984
thousand hectares. On the other hand logging concessions (HPH), which in total is
the biggest concession in peatlands, are considered to have lower destructive force
because of the supposedly selective logging system when harvesting timber. Mining
concessions are also considered to be causing lower deforestation although it is
because up until 2013 most of them is still in exploration phase. However, for the
long term, mining especially for mineral and coal, will need to be closely observed
because the exploitation phase will be done continuously in the concession areas.
The euphoria of regional autonomy is causing local governments excessively issue
plantation and mining permits, way beyond limit if there is any. Data from Save Our
Borneo and Silvagama shows that there is a violation on plantation permits and or
mining permits issued by all Head of Districts in Central Kalimantan. For example,
within and on top of one logging concession area of Austral Byna in North Barito
District, Central Kalimantan, there are 23 plantation permits and 47 mining licenses
issued by the Head of District/Bupati. In Riau 4 Heads of District issued 37 natural
forest timber utilization business license (formerly Industrial Plantation Forest) which
violate the law.
Source: Press Release from Coalition of Forestry Mafia Monitoring: Forest Watch
Indonesia (FWI), WALHI, JIKALAHARI, JATAM, Save Our Borneo (SOB), Indonesia
Corruption Watch (ICW), Sawit Watch, Kontak Rakyat Borneo, SILVAGAMA, 2010

28
2.2.4. The Loss of Natural Forest Cover in the Moratorium on New Licenses
(PPIB) Areas
The Moratorium on New Licenses (PPIB), also known as the Permits (Utilization)
Moratorium, based on the available national spatial data, covers a total 58.2 million
hectares or around 32 percent of total land area of Indonesia. A total of 44.3 million
hectares of natural forest cover is covered in this PPIB policy.
The total of PPIB areas and natural forest cover in each of the main islands of Indonesia
is presented in Table 8 and the detail for each province is provided in Appendix 3.
Papua, Kalimantan, and Sumatera Islands have the biggest PPIB areas in terms of land
size. In terms of ratio of PPIB areas to total land area of the island, both Kalimantan
and Sumatera have less than 30 percent. The highest ratio of PPIB areas are in Papua
and Sulawesi Islands.
The ratio of PPIB area to total land are is used to look at how big natural forest
and peatlands areas are protected inside Conservation Areas, Protection Forest Area,
Peatlands, and Primary Forest through the PPIB policy. In provincial scale, the five
provinces with biggest ratio are Papua, which has the highest ratio, followed by West
Papua, West Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi.
The establishment of PPIB through the Presidential Instruction took place in the
middle of our study on changes on natural forest cover, between 2009 and 2013.
During that period, the deforestation within PPIB areas is 1.1 million hectares. Of
that figure of deforestation, we do not differentiate deforestation prior to or after
the PPIB policy in 2011.
In reference to the Presidential Instruction no. 10 year 2011 on PPIB, although it
puts moratorium on new licenses but the potential of loss of forest inside areas put
under PPIB still exists. This is because if the land is needed for development projects,
such as geothermal, oil and natural gas, electricity, rice fields, and sugar cane, it is
exempted from the moratorium policy.

29
Figure 13. Forest Cover in Peatlands Area under Utilization Licenses
Alongside the protection of areas with natural forest, PPIB is also intended for the
protection of peatlands. It is recorded that around 9.5 million hectares of peatlands
is located inside the PPIB areas, and almost 5.8 million hectares of it is still covered
with natural forest. At the same time, there are 9.8 million hectares peatlands outside
the PPIB area, of which around 3.3 million hectares is covered with natural forest.

30
Box 6. Moratorium on New Licenses in Central Kalimantan Province
In the end of 2010, Central Kalimantan Province was elected as a pilot province for
the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project
in Indonesia. By mid-2011, this effort to reduce emissions was strengthened by the
issuance of the policy on Moratorium on New Licenses (PPIB), which was applied in
Conservation Areas, Primary Forest and Peatlands across Indonesia.
In October 2012, Forest Watch in collaboration with Greenpeace Indonesia conducted
a field check and assessed the effectiveness of the implementation of PPIB policy. This
field check is based on the finding of Forest Watch Indonesia’s analyses during the
period 2002-2009 that Central Kalimantan Province had lost in total 2 million hectares
of natural forest cover, which was the highest in Indonesia.
The field check found inside the PPIB areas in Central Kalimantan plantation
concessionaires were in active operation and engaging land clearing practices.
This finding indicated that deforestation is still happening despite the fact that the
moratorium is already applied by the government. In several spots in Kapuas and
Sampit Districts, the peatland and forest clearing were identified to be inside palm oil
plantation concessions. This condition shows that the moratorium policy is not effective
to prevent forest degradation and deforestation, therefore undermining Indonesia’s
commitment to the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: Press Release Greenpeace-FWI: Greenpeace Urge President Yudhoyono to Focus on Forest Protection
by Strengthening the Moratorium, Jakarta, 2012
Figure 14. The Condition of Forest and Peatlands Areas inside the Indicative Area of PPIB the
Third Revision Version

31
T
here are a lot of researches and case studies which show that right now
Indonesia is facing big problems related to unsustainable forest management,
causing forest loss or deforestation. One of the causes is the bad forest
governance at all level of governments. Moreover, the expansion of district
areas into new autonomy regions makes the problems at government level more
complex. 34
In 2010 the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) conducted regional
consultations and analyses of the fundamental forestry problems in Indonesia. The
result of that analyses shows that bad governance, unsynchronized spatial plans
between national and regional level, uncertainty in tenure rights, and weakness in
forest management capacity (including in law enforcement) are the fundamental
problems of forest management in Indonesia.35
Those many problems eventually
cause the destruction on the remaining forest resources.
Furthermore, other literature stated that the direct causes of forest degradation and
deforestation in Indonesia are: (1) conversion of natural forests into annual crops,
(2) conversion of natural forest into agriculture and plantation areas, (3) exploration
and exploitation of extractive industries in forest areas (mineral, coal, oil and gas,
geothermal), (4) land and forest fires, and (5) conversion for transmigration and
other infrastructures.36
The Ministry of Forestry also stated that the weakness of
forest governance is the factor that caused the forest cover in Indonesia keeps
decreasing.37
All those causes have complex relations and are linked to deforestation.
Geist and Lambin, 2001 stated that the direct causes of deforestation are factors
directly related to the activities of logging or land degradation. The direct causes
can be categorized into different groups such as agriculture expansion, expansion of
infrastructure, and wood extraction. Agriculture expansion is considered as the main
driver of deforestation in tropical areas (Gibbs et al., 2010)38
and industrial activity is
34 Indonesian Climate Change Sectoral Roadmap (ICCSR) Summary Report Forestry Sector, (BAPPENAS,
2010); ICEL and SEKNAS FITRA: Regional Land and Forest Governance Index, the Performance of Regional
Governments in Forest and Land Management in Indonesia (Case Study of 9 districts), 2013
35 Indonesian Climate Change Sectoral Roadmap (ICCSR) Summary Report Forestry Sector, hal 2 (BAPPE-
NAS, 2010)
36 FWI/GFW: The State of the Forest, Indonesia, 2001
37 Ministry of Forestry:Forestry Statistics, 2004
38 In the report“An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries”
http://iopscience.iop.org/ accessed on March 24, 2014
3 THE STATE OF FOREST
GOVERNANCE

32
Box 7. Linkages between the Loss of Natural Forest with the Forest Governance Index
Good forest governance is the determinant factor of sustainable, inclusive, and
transparent forest management, thus also determines the success of the government’s
efforts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the forestry sector. Therefore,
the effort to improve forest governance to reduce deforestation rates is urgently and
seriously needed.
FWI’s analyses and the result of study by ICEL-FITRA show the potential linkages
between loss of forest cover with the governance index of the area. The obvious trend
is the lower the governance index in the district, the higher deforestation.
As can be seen in Figure 15, Berau District has the lowest governance index, scoring
just 7.6, compared to four other districts. Berau also shows the highest rates of
deforestation. For the last three years, Berau District lost 111 thousand hectares of
forest, more than two times of Bulungan District. Different situation is seen in Paser
and Sintang District which have higher governance index compared to other district,
and lower deforestation rates.
Figures 15. Linkages between the Forest Governance and Deforestation in Five Districts
Source: ICEL-FITRA 2013 ; FWI 2014

33
the main driver of deforestation and forest degradation around the world.39
According to the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)’s recent
assessment report of 100 developing countries several factors and the contribution
of each to the direct cause of deforestation and forest degradation are: agriculture
73 percent, mining 7 percent, infrastructure 10 percent, and city expansion 10
percent. It further finds that extraction and timber logging contributes as much as
52 percent of the cause of forest degradation (especially in Latin America and Asia),
while firewood collection and charcoal production (especially in Africa) contributes
31 percent, accidental fires 9 percent, and cattle pasturing 7 percent.40
Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) divides the cause of deforestation into two groups:
direct causes and indirect/underlying causes. The direct causes are activities that
directly resulted in changes of forest cover. They are land clearing activity and
harvesting of natural forest timber. The indirect/underlying causes are the national/
regional power that can trigger forest loss. They are especially causes at policy
levels, made by the government and its misuse of authorities.
3.1. Land Clearing and Harvesting Natural Forest Timber
Beginning in late 1970s, Indonesia relied on natural forest as the foundation of
national economic development. At that time, the government developed the
Forest Concession (HPH) scheme as a form of natural forest area management.
Unfortunately, the control system in harvesting under Forest Concession scheme
never worked. It will be safe to say that the degradation of natural forest in Indonesia
started in massive manner during this boom of Forest Concession (HPH) era.
Forest degradation expanded in 1990 when the government developed the
Industrial Plantation Forest (HTI) scheme and invited private investors and luring
them with various kinds of incentive. Unlike the HPH, HTI schemes allow companies
to clear forest land for plantation preparation. In effect this is similar to (agriculture)
plantation but the commodity is wood species, with an objective of meeting the
demand of raw material for timber industry.
In essence, forest clearing directly causes destruction and is a the biggest threat
to natural forest in Indonesia. This is in the context of both legal and illegal forest
resources exploitation. The most dominant deforestation takes place in areas with
licenses for HPH, HTI, Plantation, and Mining. (Table 9).
The Natural Forest Timber Production License
In recent years, the total number of Forest Concession (HPH) or the Timber Production
License on Natural Forest (IUPHHK-HA) keeps decreasing. By 2013 only a total of
22.8 million hectares of production forest is still utilized by 272 HPH companies. It
is far less than the year 1993/1994 when there were 575 licenses with a total area of
61.7 million hectares.
39 http://www.mongabay.co.id/2012/09/29/sektor-pertanian-sebabkan-80-deforestasi-di-kawasan-tro-
pis/ diakses tanggal 24 Maret 2014
40 http://blog.cifor.org/19816/penyebab-deforestasi-menghilang-dalam-retorika-redd-analisis#.Uy-vd_
mSw9Q di akses 22 Maret 2014

34
This decrease is caused by several factors, such as the high production costs
because of payments (official and un-official) that have to be made in the process of
management and transportation of timber products.41
This is while the potentials of
forest have been continuously declining both in quantity and quality.
The declining potential of forest as timber producer can also be observed in the
government policy that regulates smaller standard of diameter of tree allowed to
be harvested. In 1999, the smallest diameter of tree allowed to be harvested in
Permanent Production Forest and Conversion Production Forest is 50 cms, and 60
cms for Limited Production Forest.42
In 2009, it is 40 cms and 50 cms, respectively.43
This policy also strengthens the conjecture that the government still wants to boost
the national timber production even when the forests quality and quantity have
declined. In 2013, although the total area of HPH concessions was much less but
the volume of log production was still relatively stable for the last three years, at
5.1 million m3 per year on average. When the policy was issued, the volume of log
production from natural forest is recorded at 4.8 million m3
for the year. The year
after recorded an increased production at 5.2 million m3
.
In theory, forest utilization by HPH companies will supposedly not massively clear the
forest. In reality, up until 2013, more than half of HPH concession areas in Indonesia
has become not forested, and only 11 million hectares remains as natural forest. It has
been generally perceived that the performances of HPH or IUPHHK-HA concessions
trigger forest conversion. Of the 272 HPH companies that have definitive license,
less than 50 percent, only 115 units, that is still in active operation. The reasons of
this are the low realization of natural forest timber production, fragmented former
logged area (logged over area), uncompetitive timber price, high production costs,
41 Presentation by Hariadi Kartodihardjo and Grahat, “Study on Vulnerability of Corruption on Permits in
Forestry Sector, A Case Study on IUPHHK-HA and IUPHHK-HT”. Bandung 2014
42 Ministry of Forestry and Plantation Regulation 309/Kpts – II/1999 on Silviculture System and Main
Plants Cycle in the management of production forest.
43 Ministry of Forestry Decree no 11/Menhut-II/2009, on Silviculture System in the Timber Production
Pemits in Production Forest.

35
Figure 16. The Growth of Total Numbers of IUPHHK-HA Concession Units and Areas
during 1999 – 2013
Source: Directorate General Forestry Business Unit 2012, Department of Forestry, 2009. “Strategic Executive
Forestry Data 2009”
and social conflicts.44
In relation to the performances of natural forest utilization, APHI stated that HPH
companies often get their licenses on secondary forest areas, or even on non-
forested areas. In several cases, there are also new HPH licenses on areas where the
old license has been revoked.45
As a business, too high production costs discourage the HPH from actively operating
although the license is still valid. This eventually effects the forest becoming an open
access are, that is open to land grabbing and conversion for other, even illegal,
activities. The fact is that of the 398 members of the Association of Indonesian Forest
Concessionaires (APHI), 50 percent of them have confessed that their areas have
been encroached for plantation and mining.46
From year 2009 until June 2014, only 112 IUPHHK-HA units applied for certification
process, and only 91 units -totalling around 10 million hectares concessions areas-
obtained the Certificate of Sustainable Production Forest Management (S-PHPL).
During the same period, 2009, which was the beginning of implementation of
Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK), to 2014, 25 IUPHHK-HA units applied for
44 http://rri.co.id/post/berita/77854/ekonomi/aphi_bisnis_hph_turun_terus.html accessed on November
14, 2014 “APHI: Bisnis HPH Turun Terus” and http://www.beritasatu.com/ekonomi/54103-aphi-industri-
kayu-dalam-negeri-lesu.html “ APHI: Industri dalam negeri lesu” and APHI Presentation: Development
of Concession and Performance of Forest Utilization and Forestry Industry and Its Implication on the
Changes of the Forest Cover, during the event “External Review the Formulation of The State of The Forest
IndonesiaIII Period of 2009-2013 Book” October 23, 2014 in Bogor
45 APHI presented in the External Review of Formulation The State of The Forest IndonesiaIII Period of
2009-2013, October 23, 2014 in Bogor
46 http://cfta.or.id/2013/02/10/pengusaha-kehutanan-harus-berubah-paradigmanya/

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