POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has revealed a detailed dataset showing the state forest areas for which permits were granted for palm oil, pulpwood, logging and mining concessions, as well as for social forestry development, during the 1970-2020 period.
She said that a more comprehensive understanding of this decades-long permit dataset is needed, in light of efforts being made by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration to place a much greater emphasis on social forestry schemes.
Minister Nurbaya delivered these points in a virtual discussion (Jan 25), followed by written communication (Jan 26), with FORESTHINTS.NEWS.
Palm oil
Minister Nurbaya began by divulging data on the provision of 614 palm oil permits from 1984 to 2020 through the relinquishment of state forest areas covering 5.9 million hectares.
Of the 614 permits, 533 of them - spanning an area of 5.46 million hectares, or more than 92% of the total - were issued by previous administrations before President Jokowi took office at the end of October 2014.
“Conversely,” she continued, “During President Jokowi’s current administration, palm oil permits from the release of 81 units of state forest areas – consisting of an area of around 472 thousand hectares – had been granted by the end of 2020.”
Moreover, according to the minister, 17 of these permit locations – encompassing an area of over 174 thousand hectares - had obtained principle approval in the 2012-2014 period, prior to the Jokowi presidential era.
“If we look at the licensing process as a continuum from previous administrations until the current administration, we see that a mere 5% of genuinely new palm oil permits for palm oil expansion from the release of state forest areas were granted during President Jokowi's administration,” she explained.
In other words, over the last 36 years nearly 95% of palm oil expansion permits from the release of forest areas, comprising more than 5.6 million hectares, came from previous administrations, as depicted in the following charts.
“What’s more, these figures do not include permits issued by local governments in non-state forest areas, as they are authorized to do,” she added.
Pulp and paper
Minister Nurbaya said that the area for which pulpwood plantation development permits were granted from 1992 to 2020 amounted to more than 11 million hectares, mostly for the pulp and paper industry. Of this area, 1.26 million hectares were for permits issued during the Jokowi administration, or 10.8% of the total.
“Furthermore, of the permits provided by the current administration, those which received principal approval from the previous administration from 2011 to 2014 accounted for nearly 690 thousand hectares,” she explained.
As such, the total area covered by permits for which the entire process - from the start - was carried out under President Jokowi’s administration stands at 574 thousand hectares, less than 5% of the total area for which pulpwood plantation development permits were granted over the last 28 years, as shown in the following charts.
“This means that more than 95% of pulpwood plantation development permits did not come from President Jokowi’s administration," said Minister Nurbaya.
Logging
As for logging permits, Minister Nurbaya revealed that permits covering an area of nearly 70 million hectares were issued from 1970 to 2020, of which the Jokowi administration was responsible for just 400 thousand hectares during the 2015-2020 period.
“This figure is equivalent to less than 1% of the total logging concessions granted over the past 50 years,” she pointed out.
Put differently, in excess of 99% of logging permit areas can be ascribed to previous administrations, as demonstrated in the following charts.
Over the course of the new order regime, tens of millions of hectares of logging concessions were granted to certain business groups, some of which had their permits extended by government administrations after the fall of the new order, while others had their permits revoked.
“Existing logging concession permits for an area of 18 million hectares were nearly all issued by previous administrations, not during the era of President Jokowi’s administration,” Minister Nurbaya stated.
Mining
Meanwhile, when it comes to mining permits granted in state forest areas, Minister Nurbaya explained that permits for almost 530 thousand hectares were given from the new order period until 2020. Of these, slightly more than 117 thousand hectares, around 22%, were released under the current administration.
In contrast, more than 300 thousand hectares, over 57% of the total mining permit areas, were released from 2004 to 2014, as seen in the following charts.
It's worth noting that the charts above do not include non-mining permits in state forest areas granted for infrastructure, telecommunications networks, electricity networks, and other developments not classified as mining.
Minister Nurbaya said that as of December 2020, active mining permits covered over 390 thousand hectares, equal to 74% of total mining permit areas.
She emphasized that mining permits in state forest areas comprise an area much smaller than that for permits issued by local authorities in non-state forest areas, including illegal mining operations that had been underway for years before President Jokowi took office.
“I presented all the relevant data to President Jokowi during our recent consultation. After reviewing it, the President re-emphasized the direction and importance of environmental recovery policies, including law enforcement, particularly for mining concessions in terms of the reclamation and rehabilitation of watersheds," she said.
Social forestry
Minister Nurbaya said that what really distinguishes presidential administrations, from the new order regime to the present administration, is the extent to which they have granted access to state forest areas for local community groups, most notably through social forestry development.
Social forestry licensing began in 2007, but the granting of access - in the form of permits - to community groups was quite limited at this time, such that by October 2014, only 453 thousand hectares had been granted to just over 105 thousand heads of families.
In light of this, President Jokowi took the initiative of ramping up the issuance of permits for social forestry development as soon as he took office in late October 2014. As a result, by the end of December 2020, social forestry permits encompassing nearly 4 million hectares had been given to nearly 790 thousand heads of families.
Overall, from 2007 to the end of 2020, a total of 4.42 million hectares – outsizing Switzerland - were granted for social forestry permits, close to 90% of which took place under President Jokowi's administration.
The following charts indicate the degree to which President Jokowi has placed social forestry in his mainstream agenda. Under the current administration, social forestry licensing schemes extend to village forests, community forests, community plantation forests, forestry partnerships, and customary forests.
Social forestry now falls under the auspices of President Jokowi's recently signed job creation law, giving it a robust legal status unprecedented in Indonesian history.
“The acceleration of the provision of access to state forest areas for local community groups through social forestry schemes. This is one of the policy moves that specifically differentiates President Jokowi's leadership from that of previous administrations, as proven by the fact that nearly 90% of existing social forestry permits were granted by the current administration,” Minister Nurbaya asserted in closing.
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POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has revealed a detailed dataset showing the state forest areas for which permits were granted for palm oil, pulpwood, logging and mining concessions, as well as for social forestry development, during the 1970-2020 period.
She said that a more comprehensive understanding of this decades-long permit dataset is needed, in light of efforts being made by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration to place a much greater emphasis on social forestry schemes.
Minister Nurbaya delivered these points in a virtual discussion (Jan 25), followed by written communication (Jan 26), with FORESTHINTS.NEWS.
Palm oil
Minister Nurbaya began by divulging data on the provision of 614 palm oil permits from 1984 to 2020 through the relinquishment of state forest areas covering 5.9 million hectares.
Of the 614 permits, 533 of them - spanning an area of 5.46 million hectares, or more than 92% of the total - were issued by previous administrations before President Jokowi took office at the end of October 2014.
“Conversely,” she continued, “During President Jokowi’s current administration, palm oil permits from the release of 81 units of state forest areas – consisting of an area of around 472 thousand hectares – had been granted by the end of 2020.”
Moreover, according to the minister, 17 of these permit locations – encompassing an area of over 174 thousand hectares - had obtained principle approval in the 2012-2014 period, prior to the Jokowi presidential era.
“If we look at the licensing process as a continuum from previous administrations until the current administration, we see that a mere 5% of genuinely new palm oil permits for palm oil expansion from the release of state forest areas were granted during President Jokowi's administration,” she explained.
In other words, over the last 36 years nearly 95% of palm oil expansion permits from the release of forest areas, comprising more than 5.6 million hectares, came from previous administrations, as depicted in the following charts.
“What’s more, these figures do not include permits issued by local governments in non-state forest areas, as they are authorized to do,” she added.
Pulp and paper
Minister Nurbaya said that the area for which pulpwood plantation development permits were granted from 1992 to 2020 amounted to more than 11 million hectares, mostly for the pulp and paper industry. Of this area, 1.26 million hectares were for permits issued during the Jokowi administration, or 10.8% of the total.
“Furthermore, of the permits provided by the current administration, those which received principal approval from the previous administration from 2011 to 2014 accounted for nearly 690 thousand hectares,” she explained.
As such, the total area covered by permits for which the entire process - from the start - was carried out under President Jokowi’s administration stands at 574 thousand hectares, less than 5% of the total area for which pulpwood plantation development permits were granted over the last 28 years, as shown in the following charts.
“This means that more than 95% of pulpwood plantation development permits did not come from President Jokowi’s administration," said Minister Nurbaya.
Logging
As for logging permits, Minister Nurbaya revealed that permits covering an area of nearly 70 million hectares were issued from 1970 to 2020, of which the Jokowi administration was responsible for just 400 thousand hectares during the 2015-2020 period.
“This figure is equivalent to less than 1% of the total logging concessions granted over the past 50 years,” she pointed out.
Put differently, in excess of 99% of logging permit areas can be ascribed to previous administrations, as demonstrated in the following charts.
Over the course of the new order regime, tens of millions of hectares of logging concessions were granted to certain business groups, some of which had their permits extended by government administrations after the fall of the new order, while others had their permits revoked.
“Existing logging concession permits for an area of 18 million hectares were nearly all issued by previous administrations, not during the era of President Jokowi’s administration,” Minister Nurbaya stated.
Mining
Meanwhile, when it comes to mining permits granted in state forest areas, Minister Nurbaya explained that permits for almost 530 thousand hectares were given from the new order period until 2020. Of these, slightly more than 117 thousand hectares, around 22%, were released under the current administration.
In contrast, more than 300 thousand hectares, over 57% of the total mining permit areas, were released from 2004 to 2014, as seen in the following charts.
It's worth noting that the charts above do not include non-mining permits in state forest areas granted for infrastructure, telecommunications networks, electricity networks, and other developments not classified as mining.
Minister Nurbaya said that as of December 2020, active mining permits covered over 390 thousand hectares, equal to 74% of total mining permit areas.
She emphasized that mining permits in state forest areas comprise an area much smaller than that for permits issued by local authorities in non-state forest areas, including illegal mining operations that had been underway for years before President Jokowi took office.
“I presented all the relevant data to President Jokowi during our recent consultation. After reviewing it, the President re-emphasized the direction and importance of environmental recovery policies, including law enforcement, particularly for mining concessions in terms of the reclamation and rehabilitation of watersheds," she said.
Social forestry
Minister Nurbaya said that what really distinguishes presidential administrations, from the new order regime to the present administration, is the extent to which they have granted access to state forest areas for local community groups, most notably through social forestry development.
Social forestry licensing began in 2007, but the granting of access - in the form of permits - to community groups was quite limited at this time, such that by October 2014, only 453 thousand hectares had been granted to just over 105 thousand heads of families.
In light of this, President Jokowi took the initiative of ramping up the issuance of permits for social forestry development as soon as he took office in late October 2014. As a result, by the end of December 2020, social forestry permits encompassing nearly 4 million hectares had been given to nearly 790 thousand heads of families.
Overall, from 2007 to the end of 2020, a total of 4.42 million hectares – outsizing Switzerland - were granted for social forestry permits, close to 90% of which took place under President Jokowi's administration.
The following charts indicate the degree to which President Jokowi has placed social forestry in his mainstream agenda. Under the current administration, social forestry licensing schemes extend to village forests, community forests, community plantation forests, forestry partnerships, and customary forests.
Social forestry now falls under the auspices of President Jokowi's recently signed job creation law, giving it a robust legal status unprecedented in Indonesian history.
“The acceleration of the provision of access to state forest areas for local community groups through social forestry schemes. This is one of the policy moves that specifically differentiates President Jokowi's leadership from that of previous administrations, as proven by the fact that nearly 90% of existing social forestry permits were granted by the current administration,” Minister Nurbaya asserted in closing.
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