Forest tenure in Indonesia : the socio-legal challenges of securing communities' rights

Abstract

The concepts, policies, laws and practices regarding community-based forest management have changed over time. However, their objective is constant, namely to fight forest destruction and poverty and to resolve conflicts regarding forest tenure. Securing community forest tenure is a way for achieving this objective. Forest tenure security, however, requires more than legalisation of community property rights by state law. It results from an interplay between state and/or community normative systems, actual practices and actors’ perceptions. Legalisation of rights by state institutions is only one facet of security, more specifically legal security of forest tenure that will be determined by the rights’ robustness, proper duration and strong legal protection. The security of community forest tenure will be also achieved through the ability of social norms to secure the rights of ordinary people. In addition, the consistent enforcement of the rules or norms by the officials or local authorities is necessary and the behaviour of these officials and local authorities must be in line with the interests and perception of the majority of community members. Last but not least, efforts of securing communities’ rights must take into consideration the specific history of land tenure and conflicts.