Contradictory Customary Forests Protection

Tempo reports on the surprising and rapid advancement of the Indigenous Peoples Bill in Indonesia, a piece of legislation that has languished for 16 years. The sudden focus by both the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government suggests a potential breakthrough, with optimism that the bill could be finalized this year. However, this renewed urgency is met with significant skepticism due to inherent contradictions.

A primary concern is the government's insistence that the new law must conform to existing agrarian, forestry, and agricultural regulations. These very sectors are identified as the entrenched roots of conflict and land disputes affecting indigenous communities. If the new bill is bound by these problematic older laws, its intended corrective function is undermined before it can even be enacted, raising doubts about its efficacy in truly protecting indigenous rights.

Furthermore, the circulating draft of the bill appears to reframe indigenous peoples not as rights holders but as subjects of state regulation. This shift could transform a recognition process meant to empower these communities into a tool for enhanced state control. This contradiction is starkly illustrated by ongoing land grabs, such as the case in Boven Digoel, South Papua, where the Wambon tribe's recognized customary forest rights were abruptly revoked by central government decisions, paving the way for corporate land use. This rapid revocation contrasts sharply with the years-long, multi-stage process typically required for recognizing customary forests, highlighting a concerning disparity in governmental speed and intent. Despite a Constitutional Court ruling affirming that customary forests are no longer state forests, millions of hectares of indigenous lands remain contested, suggesting that even judicial decisions are often disregarded in practice.