[Jakarta, 23 April 2019] The newly elected President and Vice President must remain consistent in expanding community access to forests in order to strengthen forest protection, improve people’s welfare, and deliver Indonesia’s climate commitments.

Social forestry and Indonesia’s national climate commitment—its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)—are two key agendas that must be safeguarded by Indonesia’s future leaders, as they are directly linked to the safety and well-being of the Indonesian people, as well as long-term economic growth.

Under the Paris Agreement, Indonesia has a legal obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 29 to 41 percent by 2030 and to strengthen resilience against the negative impacts of climate change. Of this target, the forestry sector contributes the largest share of emission reductions.

At the same time, the government has allocated 12.7 million hectares of forest area for communities through the social forestry program, with 2,613,408 hectares already distributed as of 1 April 2019. The remaining distribution target by the end of 2019 is still substantial—around 1.77 million hectares—while the continuation of the program beyond that will depend heavily on the political leadership of the incoming President and administration.

“Sustainably managed social forestry by communities will support Indonesia’s climate commitments, both in mitigation and adaptation,” said Muhammad Teguh Surya, Executive Director of Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan.
“Therefore, amid the current political dynamics, it is crucial to maintain consistency in strengthening social forestry and achieving Indonesia’s climate commitments.”

Campaign Promises Must Be Linked to Climate Action

Both presidential candidate pairs emphasized expanding public access to forests and land. Joko Widodo–Ma’ruf Amin pledged to accelerate agrarian reform and social forestry implementation, providing opportunities for communities without land or assets to participate in economic activities, and continuing community support in managing land reform and social forestry areas more productively.

Meanwhile, Prabowo Subianto–Sandiaga Uno promised to pursue agrarian reform to improve farmers’ welfare while supporting increased production in agriculture, plantations, and forestry.

Both candidates also included climate change responses in their vision and mission documents, though without detailed strategies.

“Unfortunately, there is still no clear thread connecting these two agendas,” said Anggalia Putri, Knowledge Management Manager at Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan.
“It is therefore important to clarify how—and to what extent—social forestry can contribute to Indonesia’s climate commitments, so that forest-managing communities can also benefit from climate finance incentive schemes, such as REDD+.”

There are already valuable lessons from community-based forest management that can strengthen the contribution of social forestry toward Indonesia’s NDC achievement.

Building Collaboration Across Stakeholders

Through the Strategic Stakeholder Meeting: Strengthening the Contribution of Social Forestry to Support Indonesia’s NDC Targets, which brought together social forestry practitioners at national and local levels, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Bappenas, and the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration, Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan facilitated learning processes around climate adaptation and mitigation actions in social forestry landscapes.

The meeting also initiated communication to nurture collaboration among stakeholders.

Key issues discussed included:

• Low-carbon development planning

• The Climate Village Program (ProKlim)

• REDD+ mechanisms

• Forest and land rehabilitation

• Peatland restoration

• Climate finance

• Community empowerment in rural areas

“It is time we stop separating welfare improvement from environmental protection, or climate adaptation from mitigation, within social forestry. On the ground, in people’s daily lives, these are deeply interconnected and cannot be treated in isolation,” Teguh concluded.

Media Contacts

• Muhammad Teguh Surya
  Executive Director, Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan
  +62 819-1519-1979 | teguh@madaniberkelanjutan.id

• Anggalia Putri
  Knowledge Management Manager, Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan
  +62 856-211-8997 | anggi@madaniberkelanjutan.id

• Luluk Uliyah
  Senior Strategic Communication Officer, Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan
  +62 815-1986-8887 | luluk@madaniberkelanjutan.id