Security of tenure in Indonesia is constrained by the dual nature of land administration. Land designated as forest is controlled by the Ministry of Forestry, which does not recognize the customary rights of communities. We will analyze local perceptions of tenure where customary and state authorities interface and where varying but increasing levels of development interventions exert considerable pressures on forests and people. CIFOR Scientist Esther Mwangi alongside Helen Markelova, Moira Moeliono, Nining Liswanti and Bayuni Shantiko presented on 8 June 2013 at a panel a panel discussion "Spatial Planning in Indonesia: Insights and research from and action in West Kalimantan and Moluccas Provinces" at the 2013 IASC conference held on Mount Fuji in Japan. For more information, please click here: http://www.cifor.org/events/upcoming-events/iasc.html

1. A view from the inside: Forest communities’
perceptions of tenure security, Indonesia
Helen Markelova, Esther Mwangi, Moira Moeliono, Nining Liswanti,
Bayuni Shantiko
IASC 2013, June 3-7, Mt. Fuji

2. Outline
 Objectives
 Study setting
 Methods
 Findings: forest use and
management; tenure; perceptions of
tenure security
 Conclusions: Disconnect between
people’s perceptions and broader
realities—or is there?

3. Introduction (2)
 Identify local level forest resource tenure and resource
management systems
 Local perceptions of tenure security and key threats to current
and future access
Objectives

4. THINKING beyond the canopy
The setting: West Kalimantan and Central Moluccas

5. Seram Island: Central Moluccas
 Rich biodiversity
(117 birds, 38
mammals)
 Manusela NP
(covers 11% of
Seram)
 10 sub-districts &
108 villages
 175,500 people
living on Seram
 Lower population
density (15.2
inhabitants/km2)
 Central Maluku
covers 7,700 km2
 Main district
revenue:
agriculture &
fishery

6. • lack of
opportunity as
logging ban
• lack of resources,
conflict with NP
• gold mining:
opportunity vs env
risks
•Highly depend on
NTFP
• Concession
threat (PT Toras at
Mendalam
watershed)
• gold mining:
opportunity vs env
risks
• palm oil
plantation will
continue
• dryland
converted by
rubber
• Palm oil
plantations are
established
• lack of
opportunity,
conflict among
villagers related to
land for palm oil
allocation
Kapuas Hulu (West Kalimantan)
Hill dipterocarp forests,
sub-montane and montane
forests
2National Park & Forest
reserves = 50%
 Human population:
208,915; 94% rural;
7 persons/km2
 Main district revenue:
agriculture, fishing, timber
and NTFPs

7. Methods
 Stratified random selection of 20 villages each
in Seram Island and Kapuas Hulu
 Household surveys
 Key informant interviews
 Focused group discussions
 Dissaggregated by gender and age (35yrs cut off)
 120 ; average 6 individuals
 Analysis
 Responses categorized according to key issues of
interest based on questions in the FGD instrument
 Used nVIVO to organize data and identify patterns in
the responses

8. Findings:Forest use
 Daily subsistence : food crops and
perennials, NTFPs, firewood, herbs
 Income: timber and non-timber forest
products, hunting, fruit trees
 Cultural: sacred groves, burial sites
 Services: clean water, prevention of
floods, erosion, and landslides,

9. THINKING beyond the canopy
Products Subsistence Sale
Wood-based products Firewood Firewood
Timber (lengua, ironwood,
mangrove tree)
Timber (lengua, ironwood,
bamboo, Samama,
mangrove)
Leaves for roofing/household
items
Rattan
Non-timber forest products Medicinal plants Durian
Honey Sugar palm trees
Sago Sago
Bamboo sprouts Cloves
Gaharu
Resin
Rubber
Honey
Crops coconut, cocoa, cassava,
bananas, sweet potato, taro
coconut, cocoa, nutmeg,
cassava, taro, sweet potatoes,
bananas, oranges, beans,
chilly, peanuts, green peas
Forest vegetables bamboo sprouts, ganemo
leave, mushrooms, fern
bamboo sprouts, ganemo
leaves
Game animals boar, cassowary boar, deer, cockatoo,
cassowary
Birds finch, Cucak Hijau, cockatoo
Other Cattle feed Bats
Butterflies

10. Findings: forest management
• Participation in various forest management
functions (see table)
• NOT: externally initiated projects
– Preferred species for income (rattan, rubber);
improved market access for forest products

11. THINKING beyond the canopy
Management Functions Actors (internal and external)
involved, across sites---Seram
Actors (internal and external)
involved, across sites---Kapuas Hulu
Defining/protecting borders
(SDA)
villagers, village government, resource
owner, village police, village
staff/officials, King, sub-district
government, Agrarian Office, Forestry
Office, National Park officers,
customary leaders, clan, regional
government
customary leaders, village head,
villagers, village officials, Tuai Rumah
Developing/Enforcing
rules/regulations
king, sub-district government, village
government, villagers, village head,
customary head, Forestry office,
regional government
customary head, village head, village
officials, Tuai Rumah, villagers
Monitoring compliance village staff, government, villagers,
king, village police, Forestry Office,
Kewang, head of development affairs
office, forest rangers, customary head,
neighboring villagers, village head
customary head, village head, village
officials, Tuai Rumah, villagers,
Resolving conflicts village government, king, police,
Forestry Office, village head, Babinsa
(non-commissioned officers for village
control), customary leaders,
government, village officials, religious
leaders, the police
customary head, tumenggung, village
head, sub-district head, Tuai Rumah
Providing
leadership/organization
Sub-village head, customary
institutions, village government,
villagers, King, members of the village
youth organization, village head,
Forestry officers, village officials, farm
groups, government
village head, hamlet head, customary
head, Tuai Rumah
Assessing fines/sanctions sub-village head, customary
institutions, King, villagers, police,
Forestry Office, government, forest
rangers, village government
No responses recorded

12. Findings: rights and access
Shared village forests
• Cultivate, harvest, manage
• Responsibility to protect
• Withdrawal and management rights
(making them “claimants” according to
Schlager’s and Ostrom’s bundle of
rights, 1992).
Land parcels for cultivation
Inheritance through families across generations
Customary rules
Seram: land rights are allocated by the clan
and authorized by the village government (men);
land certificates

13. THINKING beyond the canopy
Rights and access (contd)
Source of rights
-customary nature of rights to forests
-geographical proximity
-members of the clan
-generally unaware of state laws regarding the use of non-state forests (save
for concessions)
-villagers in close proximity to National Parks or protected forests
knowledgeable

14. Findings: tenure security
Perceptions of tenure security
 Will continue to have access to land and forest resources in
the following 5 years
 Enjoy easy access to forests under functioning customary
rights
 Families have their own plots for cultivation
 Forests in their areas still vast and customary restrictions on
opening up forest
 Threats : oil palm plantations; mining; national park/PAs;
illegal logging;
 Opportunities: stricter rules on use and who can use;
reforestation; delineating borders between household land
and forests; infrastructure and market access; involve more
stakeholders

15. Concluding remarks
 Multiple uses: subsistence, income, environmental
 Customary authority and some interaction with officials in Seram
 Overall secure per villagers’ perceptions
 Disconnect between perceptions & realities around them.
Does it matter, really?

16. Thank you!
www.colupsia.org