Abstract
Tenurial conflicts occur on the plantation and forestry lands in Indonesia.
It is due to overlapping ownership claims. Based on this background, this research was conducted to explain tenure conflicts in plantation and forestry lands, the causes of conflicts, and how to resolve conflicts.
This research was conducted using a qualitative descriptive method by taking case examples at two locations in West Java and West Kalimantan.
The research results show differences in the causes of conflict in West Java and West Kalimantan. It is related to the historical aspect of land ownership. Conflict resolution in the two regions is also different, influenced by the state of belief of the indigenous peoples who live in the region. The conclusion is that tenure conflicts occur because there is overlapping ownership and because there are overlapping regulations to understand land ownership.
Introduction
Land is a crucial factor for human life. Besides being a food source, the land is also a symbol of power. Who owns the land? He is in power and whoever can own the land. Some communities even associate land ownership with the realization of well-being (K. D. Astawa, 2015).
The importance of the function of land for human welfare causes the land to become a source of conflict between the parties. Land use for constructing government facilities, public facilities, and improving people’s welfare through the transmigration program or other development programs mainly contains tenure conflicts—land conflicts due to the struggle over land ownership.
Most tenure conflicts occur on forestry land and plantation land.
Forestry conflicts occur in almost every forest area in Indonesia, especially forests that involve local communities in their management.
It happens because ownership claims from two or three parties involve the utilization of the forest—for example, claims of ownership by indigenous peoples, the government, and entrepreneurs.
Determination of the status of state forest areas was only carried out in 1970 since the official promulgation of Law (UU) Number 5 concerning Forestry in 1967. This condition led to tenure conflicts between the state and indigenous peoples (local communities), considering that these forests had already been managed and used by indigenous peoples for generations before being designated state forests. “In general, indigenous peoples in Indonesia face the problem of fighting over land and other natural resources” (AMAN, 2010).
This condition occurs because indigenous peoples do not formally own land and forest resources. Meanwhile, the state only recognizes land ownership if there is a legality aspect.
Tenurial conflicts have occurred in forest areas so far due to the dualism of the land system, namely the land system regulated in the Agrarian Law and the Forestry Law, as well as the land tenure system according to the Government and the Community. In de jure, forest areas are under the control of the state, but de facto, they are controlled by communities that have lived and depended on forests and forest products for generations. “The Pulo Panggung land conflict in Lampung which caused people to be displaced because their land was declared a protected forest and wildlife sanctuary, the removal of the Katu indigenous people from within the Lore Lindu National Park through the CSIADCP project, but was rejected by the Katu Community” (Fuad and Maskanah, 2000).
Since the issuance of the Decision of the Constitutional Court (MK) Number 35/PUU-X/2012 regarding customary forests, which annulled
several paragraphs and articles governing the existence of customary forests in Law Number 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry. Customary forests now belong to indigenous communities. However, the existence of MK 35 does not automatically give legal aspects to customary forest ownership. The Constitutional Court’s acknowledgment is not constitutional but declaratory. Consequently, all concessions over customary forests must be reviewed for approval from the entitled customary law communities. Despite being strengthened as a legal subject, referring to the Basic Agrarian Law, when customary law communities wish to determine the function of customary forests (protection, production, or conservation), they still need to seek state approval.
An example of an indigenous community having complete control over their traditional territory, including customary forest, is the Baduy community, which was strengthened by “Lebak Regency Regional Gazette Number 65 of 2001 Series C Lebak Regency Regional Regulation Number 32 of 2001 concerning Protection of the Ulayat Rights of the Baduy Community”. Unlike the Baduy people, the Kasepuhan indigenous people in Sukabumi Regency do not receive the same treatment. Until now, they are still fighting for access rights to customary forests, which are partly located adjacent to the forests of Mount Halimun Salak National Park.
Conflicts over plantation land in Indonesia have occurred since the New Order era. It is related to the massive development carried out by the state in various places involving land use, the term “land hunger”, for example, the development of oil palm plantations which involves conflicts between local communities, entrepreneurs, and local governments. The original aim of developing various plantations was to improve people’s welfare, for example, through the plasma nucleus pattern, which involved entrepreneurs as the core and local communities as the plasma. However, in practice, not all of these plantation locations were successfully developed without conflict. Several locations caused conflict, mainly because the community claimed the land that was to be used as plantation land as their land. Some examples of conflicts in the plantation sector include the Kalibakar Plantation. “Farmers are protesting against the issuance of permits for the extension of the HGU for the Kalibakar Plantation by the government, which until now has
not been completed. The conflict emerged in the form of resistance and protest movements” (K. D. Astawa, 2015).
Based on the above background, this research was conducted to describe how tenure conflicts in the forestry and plantation sectors occur in Indonesia, as well as what factors are the source of the conflict, by taking examples from conservation forests and production forests in Indonesia, which involve the local community.
Methods
This study used a qualitative descriptive method, with locations in the Mount Halimun Salak National Park Forest in West Java and the Dayak Iban Sungai Utik customary forest in West Kalimantan. Data collection was carried out in-depth interviews with the traditional heads of Kasepuhan and Tuai Rumah Dayak Iban Sungai Utik, as well as forestry officials at Mount Halimun Salak National Park, West Java and forestry officials in West Kalimantan during the research period from 2013 to 2018. In addition to research data, data from the literature review results were used on several other people’s research results.