Indonesian government's concession policy prioritizes companies over
forest communities
By: Robert S. Eshelman
Industrial timber concession in Riau, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett Butler.
“It is a changed place,” she says.
But as much as the land was transformed, so, too, was Setra. She became active politically
and is now Deputy Secretary-General of Indonesia’s Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the
Archipelago (AMAN), an organization founded to give voice to people like Setra displaced
because of extractive industries.
Situations like Setra’s continue to play out across Indonesia and are bringing about
sometimes violent conflicts between indigenous groups, on one hand, and companies and
the government, on the other hand.
A report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) analyzes 100 of these conflicts around
the world in the mining, oil and gas, logging and agricultural sectors and examines how and
why they come about. The report focuses on several emerging economies, including Brazil,
Colombia, Liberia, Peru, and Indonesia.
In Indonesia, the report says, 30 percent of the country has been handed over by the
government to some type of extractive industry. Often permits are granted without the
knowledge or approval of local communities, raising “grave” human rights concerns.
“It’s crazy that local communities are not often seen as equal partners in the decisions
regarding their land,” says Bryson Ogden, Private Sector Analyst at RRI.
The Initiative’s figures bear out the scale of Indonesia’s land tenure problem. Palm oil
plantations cover 155,245 square kilometers of land. As much as 99 percent of the
country’s 1,845 palm oil concession are for land that is inhabited. Government agencies
have permitted 557 logging permits, covering another 302,505 square kilometers and, says
the report, people live within perhaps 98 percent of these concessions. Wood fiber
plantations extend over 128,829 square kilometers. RRI says people might live on every
one of the country’s 570 fiber plantations.
Concessions allocated across 31 percent of Indonesia's land mass. Click image to enlarge
The RRI report spotlights four land tenure conflicts in Indonesia, including West Kalimantan,
Sumatra, and Papua. Violence, coercion, failure to adequately compensate displaced people,
and endemic poverty, says the report, occurred during these cases.
“For indigenous peoples, losing the forests mean, not only losing our culture but our
economic livelihoods,” says Setra. “Our equity is in the forests, the wood for houses, the
meat for their meals, and it is our spiritual way of life. Everywhere in Indonesia you see this
problem. Indigenous peoples are losing their forests, and losing their culture.”
AMAN has recorded 153 land tenure conflicts in the last year, none of which have been
resolved, says Setra.
Oil palm concession in Aceh, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett Butler.
The conversion of often biologically diverse forests into monoculture plantations forces local
and indigenous communities into dependency on the plantation economy. Setra says
residents are forced either to work on the plantations or fall into economically precarity
because the local economy has been subsumed by that of the plantation.
Others might flee for the promise of economic opportunities in urban areas but there’s no
guarantee that their situation will improve.
“We lack the education and upbringing to find work in the cities and fall into gambling,
prostitution, and crime,” says Setra. “School in Indonesia is very expensive and very few
indigenous people can afford it. It’s hard to find different options for jobs in the cities.”
Setra emphasizes that communities often resist but protests can result in violence. Just a
few weeks ago, she says, hired police officers and security shot and killed one man and
wounded 11 others when they protested the granting of a concession in South Kalimantan.
“The Indonesian government — like any government — must understand that granting
natural resource concessions cannot be considered economic development when they fail to
account for the rights of the indigenous peoples and local communities who live and rely on
these lands,” says Ogden.
“Only by clarifying and securing the customary rights of Indonesia’s people to their land can
the government ensure that they, too, will be equal participants in the wealth and
prosperity resulting from the development of their natural resources,” says Ogden.
Acacia plantation in Sumatra. Photo by Rhett Butler.
By recognizing customary rights to land Ogden believes the government can ensure
economic benefits for all parties. Fewer conflicts mean fewer work stoppages and payouts to
security. Giving local communities a piece of the economic pie means that a rising tide
might lift all boats.
“We know that respecting the rights of local communities delivers numerous benefits to the
country in which they live — ranging from poverty reduction to climate change mitigation,”
says Ogden. “But what’s relatively new is that respecting local rights also reduces risks to
companies and can benefit their bottom lines. Doing the ‘right’ thing, is truly the right thing
for all involved.”
Ogden sees potential in the growing number of companies committing themselves to
sourcing their products in ways that respect local communities and environmental
concerns.
“Some companies, like Nestle and Unilever, have earned positive ratings for cleaning up
their supply chains and supporting small-scale farmers,” he says. “This is an important step,
as responsible investors can help propel governments to ensure local peoples’ rights are
fully protected before a concession is granted.”
Palm plantation in Borneo. Photo by Rhett Butler.
Setra views the role of Indonesia’s new government as central to resolving land tenure
conflicts but remains mindful of the long history of conflict over government permitting of
extractive industries.
She points out that Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights is conducting an
inquiry into land tenure conflicts and holding public hearings in seven regions.
But government bureaucracy, she says, remains an obstacle. Government maps need to be
consolidated and reflect indigenous peoples’ rights to the land. Often maps from different
ministries overlap with each other or do not accurately reflect concession boundaries.
“We offered to overlay all the maps in West Kalimantan and found that there is more land
granted to concessions then there is in the province,” Setra says.
Like many in Indonesia, though, Setra sees a potential turning point emerging from the
recent presidential elections.
“If the Minister of Environment appointed by Jokowi is strong, than there is hope that it can
be better,” says Setra, “but there are so many challenges.”