Indonesia
Indonesia
* Mha = million hectares
In Indonesia, Indigenous Peoples and local communities have secure ownership and designation rights to 1.36 million hectares of forestland as of February 2018; over 500,000 of these hectares were recognized between March 2017 and February 2018. This is still significantly less than the over 40 million hectares to which communities have customary rights. [Source: RRI 2018 (At a Crossroads)]
350,000 hectares of land was formally recognized as designated for Indigenous Peoples and local communities in Indonesia as of 2015—or only .19% of total country area—despite the fact that Indigenous Peoples have customary ownership rights to at least 40 million hectares. [Source: RRI 2015 (A Global Baseline)]
Indonesia has adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Secure community land rights are an intrinsic component of poverty alleviation goals and the achievement of national and global economic development goals.
Almost a third of the world’s population manages and depends on community-held lands. Land use by rural communities is more sustainable, benefits more people, and generates better environmental outcomes than large-scale plantations and extractive projects. Secure community rights are therefore vital to poverty reduction and sustainable development. [Source: RRI 2017 (Securing Community Land Rights)]
Where Indigenous Peoples and local communities have secure rights, climate outcomes improve: deforestation rates are lower and carbon storage higher.
Globally, Indigenous Peoples and local communities manage at least 17 percent (nearly 300 billion metric tons) of the total carbon stored in the forestlands of assessed countries—a global estimate that is 5 times greater than shown in a previous analysis of aboveground tropical forest carbon, and equivalent to 33 times the global energy emissions of 2017. [Source: RRI et al. 2018 (A Global Baseline of Carbon Storage in Collective Lands)]
In Indonesia, 5.4 billion metric tons of aboveground, belowground, and soil carbon is stored in forestlands that are collectively held by Indigenous Peoples and local communities but not legally recognized. [Source: RRI et al. 2018 (A Global Baseline of Carbon Storage in Collective Lands)]
Indigenous and community women’s land and forest rights are crucial for the achievement of global development goals.
Indonesia’s Constitution is 1 of 2 assessed that does not explicitly protect women from gender-based discrimination and/or expressly guarantee women equal protection under the law. [Source: RRI 2017 (Power and Potential)]
The Civil Code of Indonesia does not recognize consensual unions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as legally valid. Indonesia has also reportedly considered criminalizing consensual unions. [Source: RRI 2017 (Power and Potential)]
0 of 6 legal frameworks identified in Indonesia adequately protect women’s rights to community-level inheritance, membership, governance, or dispute resolution. [Source: RRI 2017 (Power and Potential)]
5 of 6 legal frameworks analyzed do not address community-level decision making processes in any respect. [Source: RRI 2017 (Power and Potential)]
Insecure land rights can result in conflicts that threaten sustainable + inclusive economic development as well as corporate profits.
More than 30% of Indonesia’s land has been allocated by the government for timber, mining, and oil & gas drilling operations. [Source: TMP Systems 2014 (Communities as Counterparties)]
In an examination of 1,845 palm oil concessions covering 155,245.18 square kilometers, people were already living in 98-99% of them. [Source: TMP Systems 2014 (Communities as Counterparties)]
In an examination of 557 logging concessions covering 302,505.81square kilometers, people were already living in 96-98% of them. [Source: TMP Systems 2014 (Communities as Counterparties)]
In an examination of 570 wood fiber concessions covering 128,829.03 square kilometers, people were already living in 98-100% of them. [Source: TMP Systems 2014 (Communities as Counterparties)]
In Indonesia, palm oil corporations have engulfed over 59% of community forests in West Kalimantan, yet the industry contributes less than two percent to Indonesia’s GDP and has not increased rural employment. Inequality has risen, and Indigenous Peoples’ land rights were largely transferred to corporations. [Source: RRI 2015 (Industrial Oil Palm Development)]
Insecure land rights are driving conflict, insecurity, and a human rights crisis.
In Indonesia, at least 262 members of indigenous communities in 13 provinces have been victims of criminalization and violence in recent years. [Source: AMAN 2018]
In 2016, AMAN, the largest Indigenous Peoples’ organization in Indonesia, reported that 271 indigenous leaders and activists in the country had criminal convictions, including nine who were still in prison. [Source: AMAN 2016]