Indonesian Indigenous Peoples' Statement on New Forestry Law
5/27/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Indonesian Indigenous Peoples' Statement on New Forestry
Law
Source: Down to Earth
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: May 27, 1999
Byline: M Basrin (AMAN Co-ordinator), Den Upa' Rombelayuk & M Nasir
Datuk (AMAN Deputy Co-ordinators)
NOTE:
As part of the 'reform movement' since President Suharto was ousted
last May, the interim Indonesian government has introduced several
important pieces of new legislation on natural resources
exploitation. One of these is a controversial new Forestry Law.
One of the major problems has been that there are two drafting
committees working on this legislation - both sanctioned by the
Indonesian Minister for Forestry and Plantations, Muslimin Nasution:
the Department of Forestry's internal committee and the Community
Forestry Communication Forum (FKKM), comprising academics and NGOs as
well as representatives of the government and forestry industry.
Neither committee included representatives of indigenous peoples
groups. The Government Draft has now been submitted to the Indonesian
parliament, but we have received unofficial reports that approval
will not be given before the elections (June 7th).
The term 'customary land/forest' is a translation of the Indonesian
term 'hutan/wilayah adat' - the 'tribal lands' which have been passed
on through generations of indigenous peoples and are traditionally
managed according to indigenous cultural practices and regulations.
Down to Earth
GOVERNMENT'S NEW DRAFT FORESTRY LAW DOES NOT RESPECT AND PROTECT
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
STATEMENT BY THE ALLIANCE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE ARCHIPELEGO
(AMAN) Jakarta, 25th May1999 (original in Bahasa Indonesia)
"We will not acknowledge the State, if the State does not acknowledge
us!" (extract from decision taken at the Indigenous People's
Congress, Jakarta, March 1999)
We indigenous peoples are the sector of society which has suffered
most from the Indonesian government's development of forestry for
over 30 years.
Through various pieces of forestry legislation based on the 1967
Basic Forestry Law, the government has unilaterally seized control of
tens of millions of hectares of customary forest lands which have
been handed down from generation to generation, owned, controlled and
managed by tens of millions of Indonesia's indigenous peoples. It
changed the status of these forests from customary lands (hutan adat)
to State forests without any discussion with or consent from the
relevant indigenous communities.
Through corruption, collusion and nepotism, some of this 'State
forest' was divided up to be logged by private timber companies,
converted to plantations and industrial timber estates or cleared by
mining companies.
This centralised, exploitative pattern of development makes
indigenous people its victims.
For these reasons - and in keeping with the mandate given by the
Congress of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago in Jakarta in March
1999 - the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples considers it right and
proper to observe and comment on the various policy reforms currently
in progress which affect indigenous peoples throughout the country.
One of these is the reform of forestry legislation in the form of the
government's draft of the new Forestry Law presented to the
Indonesian parliament on April 12th 1999. We have also followed the
process and outcomes of the Community Forestry Communication Forum
(FKKM* - see above), which has produced an alternative draft on
Forest Resources Management.
We (AMAN) would like to make the following statement about these two
versions of the draft legislation.
We reject the Government Draft because it does not in any way
acknowledge or give legal protection to indigenous peoples' rights
over the forests which are part of their customary lands. In our
view, this Draft has been drawn up with no consideration of the
principles of justice for indigenous peoples.
We reject the processes of formulating and discussing the Government
Draft which have not been accessible and have completely excluded
indigenous peoples, who are the component of Indonesian society most
directly concerned with forest issues. We conclude that President
Hobby's transitional government is incapable of generating openness
and participation in the reform of development policy.
We order the Indonesian parliament to postpone discussion of the
Draft Forestry Law until after the elections and the formation of a
new government.
We value and support the Community Forestry Communication Forum's
initiative in drawing up an Alternative Draft Law on Forest Resource
Management which promotes democracy, justice, sustainability and
forest conservation.
We also demand that the Community Forestry Communication Forum
ensures that its Alternative Draft will: a) get rid of the concept of
State forest which the government has always used to legitimise its
take-over of customary forest lands; b) limit and redefine the
authority and role of the government in forest resource management so
that it is not possible for the political elite and bureaucracy to
use forests as a source of political power as was the case during
the New Order (Suharto years) œ We call on the government and
parliament immediately to put on the agenda the formulation of
legislation specifically intended to provide a legal basis for
respecting and protecting indigenous peoples' rights over natural
resources in their customary lands.
We demand that the formulation of all legislation which bears
directly or indirectly on the lives of indigenous peoples must
involve indigenous peoples from all parts of the country.
Signed by M Basrin (AMAN Co-ordinator), Den Upa' Rombelayuk & M Nasir
Datuk (AMAN Deputy Co-ordinators)