Forestry sector faces new issues

Forestry sector faces new issues

By Aleksius Jemadu

BANDUNG (JP): Indonesia is aspiring to move to a more
sustainable management of its forest resources. Along this line
it has been suggested that the government will manage the
remaining forest resources in a more balanced way between
production and conservation interests.

The new orientation implies that the key word is not
"production", but "management". Thus, the main challenge is how
to manage access from different stakeholders (government, private
companies, state enterprises, environmental NGOs, and local
communities) to forest resources in such a way that would
guarantee the sustainability of the resource base.

It should be noted that, over the last three decades,
Indonesian forestry policies have focused heavily on the
utilization of forest resources by private companies which have
been more concerned with profit margins than with forest
conservation. Another characteristic is the exclusion of local
communities whose traditional knowledge and expertise would
otherwise be an invaluable contribution to the conservation of
forest biodiversity.

Reform proponents M. R. de Montalembert and F. Smithusen
argue that forests today must be managed in a much more
interdependent and complex way than in the past. Forestry
policies, which emphasize policy approaches, have repeatedly
demonstrated their failures. Instead of capitalizing on
centralization of power as a mechanism of control, partnerships
among participants and the involvement of major interest groups
in forest management decisions is a must.
There is a need to reconcile the divergent interests of the
parties involved. Only through a process of reconciliation can we
solicit their commitment into a collective action which could
hinder further depletion of forest resources.

It should be noted that the forestry sector today has to
deal with new challenges and demands including biodiversity,
agroforestry, community, community forestry, environmental
protection, and ecotourism. Forest Departments in developing
countries are under increasing pressure to share their
responsibilities with other institutions. Emmanuel D'Silva and S.
Apanah even go further by saying that "in the 21st century,
forestry departments might be required to confine themselves to
policy-making, regulatory, and monitoring roles; other tasks
could possibly be performed by the private sector, community
organizations, NGO's consulting firms, and so forth, on a
contract basis".

The World Bank Country Study on Indonesia, published in
1994, underscored the importance of enhancing institutional
capacities for environmental management, especially in the
forestry sector. It is argued that three conditions should be met
in order to have an effective environmental management. First, a
clear definition of the roles of various agencies involved in
environmental management should be made. It should be mentioned,
in particular, there is a need to decentralize responsibilities
at the regional level and improve coordination between different
levels of government on one hand and between public and private
sectors on the other. Second, we need a sufficient supply of
skilled personnel who would be responsible for environmental
management. If possible and feasible, the government could
contract out services to the private sector. Third, a more
participatory approach in managing the environment should be
carried out by incorporating local communities, project
beneficiaries, and environmental NGOs in policy-making and
implementation.

Learning from the experience of the Philippines, the
Indonesian government could also establish a National
Environmental Protection Council (NEPC), an interministerial body
which would have access to the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry
of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Home
Affairs, the Ministry of Transmigration and Settlement for Forest
Dwellers, the Ministry of Public Works, the National Development
Planning Agency and the Environmental Impact Management Agency.
Through this council, dialogue and information sharing can be
conducted.

Another advantage of such an interministerial agency is to
cultivate and strengthen environmental awareness in the public
sector. Given the strategic role of the timber industry in
national development and the growing importance of environmental
protection, the Vice President, who is presently responsible for
development supervision, could lead this council. The main
function of the council is to give recommendations to the
ministers and parliament regarding the incorporation of an
environmental dimension to their decisions. The presence of this
council can also add to the prominence and urgency of the
environmental policy agenda at a central level.

Another important aspect of forestry policies, which needs to
be seriously considered, is the integration of forest resource
management into regional development.

The significant role forest resources play in increasing state
revenues on which our forestry policies have been based, has
resulted in the incongruence between central government
priorities and regional development needs.

The implementation of Joint Decree No. SKB.
147/MEN/1995/580/Kpts-II/1995/740/Kpts/KB.530/1995 by the
Ministry of Transmigration and Settlement for Forest Dwellers,
the Ministry of Forestry, and the Ministry of Agriculture,
concerning the combination of transmigration and community
forestry programs (THR), can be used as an illustration.

Given the fact that the success of the THR program will depend
on contributions by many policy makers, the use of a hierarchical
and top-down approach in the program planning process seems to be
inadequate. Therefore, mutual trust and interdependence among
different levels of government on one hand and between public and
private sectors on the other should be stressed.

Hierarchically organized implemented policies are believed to
have been contaminated by political and commercial interests
which have marginalized regional and local development. The THR
program does have the potential of integrating policy objectives
from the central government (raw materials for industry and
reforestation of degraded forest lands), local development
(employment and agroforestry expansion), and local communities
(income generation and a more stable environment). Through this
collaboration, illegal logging and encroachment into protected
forests can be reduced.

NGOs can do a lot in providing sustainable forest management
as long as the government is willing to share responsibilities
with them. Local NGOs in East Kalimantan and Irian Jaya, for
instance, have been quite active in educating and giving legal
advice to local communities, defending their rights in land
disputes with timber companies, and conducting environmental
policy advocacy.

NGOs can function as mediators between local communities and
government officials. The involvement of NGOs is particularly
essential in promoting bottom-up planning. Unfortunately, some
government officials are still suspicious over the role of NGOs.
More dialogue and communication between the two should be
encouraged in order to build mutual trust and cooperation in
solving development problems at the local level.

A solution to the problem of tropical deforestation is not
only the responsibility of timber-producing countries, but also
of developed countries which consume timber products in order to
maintain their lifestyle. Therefore, the participation of
international development agencies in promoting sustainable
forest management should be seen as a positive sign of sharing
the responsibility between developing and developed countries.

The involvement of these agencies at the implementation level
could give some advantages to the government. First, agencies
provide financial assistance and experts which are essential to
accomplish conservation programs. Second, foreign experts who
collaborate with local government authorities could make an
objective assessment of the real needs of local people and
forward them to central government policy makers. Very often
local government officials fail to articulate local interests due
to cultural barriers and a lack of sensitivity. Third,
international development agencies can help improve the quality
of our foresters in finding solutions to our environmental
problems.

We may then conclude that, in order to be able to face new
challenges and demands in the forestry sector, the government
needs to abandon the traditional reliance on its centralization
of control. The participation of those outside government
bureaucracies should be encouraged.

The writer is a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and
Political Sciences of the Catholic University of Parahyangan,
Bandung.