Jakarta, Ekuatorial – More benefit would come from customary forests establishment in Indonesia, said an activist in Jakarta on Thursday (2/10).
“First, [it is] to settle the constitutional debt made by the state. The right over customary right is a constitutional right which has been denied by the state for more than 47 years,” said Chalid Muhammad, chairman of the Association for Community and Ecologically-based Law Reform (HuMa).
Second benefit, Muhammad said, was to correct forest mismanagement in the country which had led to more conflicts. “By assigning customary forests, then agrarian justice will be achieved and will resolve all those conflicts,” he said.
He said that assigning customary forests were already stipulated through the 2012 Constitutional Court decision (MK35) which must be complied by the government.
Assigning customary forests, he added will also contribute to forest rehabilitation efforts as companies have failed to do so.
Furthermore, he criticized the government for being too dependent on corporations to reach economic development which only benefiting a certain party. “If 33,000 villages are given capital and permits for sustainable [forest] management then they will be able to optimize forest products and to promote them so that their lives will be better,” he said.
The last benefit, he added, was tackling climate change and ecological disasters. “With customary forests, not only to protect the forest, increase people’s welfare but also making this country more developed,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sam Apri Awang, head of research and development, Ministry of Forestry, said that the government had encouraged for more customary forests establishment through the Constitutional Court decision. But, he said that local governments have yet to act upon it. “The [central] government had already complied to the decision. So, it is now depending on the local governments to issue its regional regulations and report customary forests in their areas to us,” Awang said. Januar Hakam.
