Preventing future forest fires (2)

Preventing future forest fires (2)

By Aleksius Jemadu

This is the second of two articles on how we can prevent
forest fires in the future.

BANDUNG (JP): Yet the question is how can we establish
multiorganizational service networks in the forestry sector? We
have learned that networks consist of interactions among public
and private actors who are bound together by the fact that they
are interdependent.

To see how these actors might depend on each other, let us
describe their respective roles and positions. The Ministry of
Forestry holds the authority over state forest lands and is
responsible for the protection of the forest and the environment.
To perform its multiple tasks in managing forest areas the
ministry has limitations both in terms of human and financial
resources. Therefore it needs to share its responsibilities with
the local people.

The Ministry of Forestry might also need to provide soft loans
to local people which can be taken from the Reforestation Fund.
Local government authorities could be trusted to organize the
management of the credits.

Local authorities can also be responsible for supervising the
implementation of the project. The task can be carried out by the
Provincial Forestry Service (Dinas Kehutanan Propinsi) or the
Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda Propinsi). Timber
industries which might need a supply of raw materials from local
people can contribute to the financing of training and education
of the people.

The Ministry of Environment can be expected to provide
incentives to any group having the best performance in protecting
and conserving their forest area. From this scenario it can be
seen that the more the actors cooperate the more they are
encouraged to realize a common objective of sustaining forest
resources. It is the task of public administrators and
development managers to facilitate such cooperation.

There are several advantages to these multiorganizational
service networks. First, they can be proposed as an alternative
to the implementation of the forest village development program,
which seems be too hierarchical and dominated by the interests of
powerful actors.

Second, much forest area can be conserved because local people
will participate in this goal and can achieve real benefits from
doing so. In addition, the project can give a significant
contribution to local economic development.

Third, the project can also reduce the burden of forestry
authorities in controlling large forest areas, because some of
this responsibility has been transferred to the local people.
Instead of recruiting new personnel, they could improve the
skills of the existing ones.

In addition, the Ministry of Forestry can concentrate more on
the supervision of forest concessionaires. Local people's
participation in controlling forest areas is particularly
important to prevent forest fires.

Fourth, this project can reduce illegal logging since social
control in rural communities is believed to be strong. Moreover,
the participation of traditional leaders in the project can also
be used to control the behavior of local people.

The prominence of interdependence among actors in the
application of multiorganizational service networks in managing
forest resources is very much in line with the idea of Elinor
Ostrom (1994) regarding the necessity of voluntary actions
instead of a coercive state in governing common natural
resources.

Ostrom argued that the use of centralization of control and
privatization as policy prescriptions in managing natural
resources was actually based on unrealistic assumptions about the
real function of institutions. It takes for granted human
capabilities and limitations in dealing with problems of managing
common resources.

It would be a great mistake if the local population were
excluded from government efforts to sustain Indonesian forest
resources. Had the government and timber companies been more
willing to share its responsibilities with the so-called
"traditional keepers" of forests, forest fires might have been
reduced to a minimal level. It seems that the thick haze which
has obscured our vision in the governance of the forestry sector
should be removed first before we come to terms with the real
haze.

The writer is the director of the Parahyangan Center for
International Studies at UNPAR, Bandung. His research areas
include global politics and environmental problems in developing
countries.