[ Jakarta, September 20, 2020 ] September 2020, Presidential Instruction Policy No. 8 of 2018 concerning the Postponement and Evaluation of Oil Palm Plantation Licensing and Increasing Oil Palm Plantation Productivity, or known as the palm oil moratorium presidential instruction has entered its second year since its issuance. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the government needs to 'step on the gas' to complete the various mandates of the palm oil moratorium presidential instruction in improving Indonesian palm oil governance in order to resolve 1053 conflicts in palm oil plantations and contribute optimally to national economic recovery.
In the current context, the COVID-19 pandemic we are currently facing has become an external factor influencing the policy implementation process. With the central and regional governments focused on handling the pandemic, the implementation of this policy has been slightly delayed. Hopefully, the government can find a more adaptive implementation mechanism to address the pandemic so that this situation does not become a significant obstacle.
Over the past two years, the dynamics of development and achievements made by Ministries and/or Institutions in the central government to regional governments have not been satisfactory due to the lack of significant achievements. At the national level, the central government, led by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, has formed a palm oil moratorium working team consisting of inter-ministerial representatives. This team is known to have completed the coverage of palm oil areas in Indonesia as stipulated in the Decree of the Minister of Agriculture No. 833/KPTS/SR.020/M/12/2019, namely the area of palm oil plantation cover is 16.38 million hectares. The Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency has validated data on Cultivation Rights (HGU) in East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, West Sulawesi, Papua and Riau. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has postponed the issuance of new permits for the release of forest areas/exchanges, has determined illegal palm oil plantations in forest areas and prepared a draft presidential regulation regarding the typology of resolving palm oil in forest areas.
Meanwhile, at the provincial and district levels, several local governments, such as Aceh Province, Buol Regency, Sanggau Regency, Gorontalo Regency, and North Aceh, have responded to this policy by implementing it into local regulations in the form of Circular Letters (SE) and Regent Regulations (Perbup). Five provinces (East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Riau, West Papua, and the Riau Islands) and six cities/regencies (Sintang, North Kayong, East Barito, Lingga, Banyuasin, and Musi Banyuasin) have shown a positive commitment to this presidential instruction.
These positive achievements are not without obstacles and challenges in implementation that need to be addressed going forward. The Civil Society Coalition noted several things, including: First , the lack of policy socialization. Several regional heads at the provincial and district/city levels are still unaware of this policy. This indicates a poor socialization process. Second, the work patterns of the central and regional governments are not synchronized. The work pattern in this presidential instruction is from the regional to the national level, meaning that the findings of regional governments will then be discussed by the national working team for follow-up. This is not happening. The central government is only focused on compiling oil palm area coverage. Even the national working team's strategy for implementing the presidential instruction, which establishes seven priority provinces (Jambi, Riau, South Sumatra, North Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and East Kalimantan), is not in line with the presidential instruction, because the presidential instruction does not mandate such a thing.
Third , there is no roadmap for implementing the Presidential Instruction on the palm oil moratorium. Several regions eager to implement the Instruction are hampered by the lack of reference documents to guide its implementation. Therefore, a roadmap, implementing instructions (juklak), and technical guidelines (juknis) are needed, including budget allocations not specified in the Instruction.
Fourth , the failure to prioritize the principle of data transparency. The six-monthly progress report prepared by the national task force for submission to the President is extremely difficult for civil society groups to access. While there is no obligation to make this document public, it would be beneficial to do so so that we can see the full process and provide appropriate input. Furthermore, the lack of updates received by civil society regarding the transfer of the Deputy at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, who handles this Presidential Instruction, is also regrettable. Transparency is crucial for identifying existing loopholes and working together to patch them.
Furthermore, the published data on the extent of palm oil plantations in Indonesia does not provide details on the number and location of palm oil plantations within forest areas. If this information were included in the data, it would greatly facilitate the evaluation team's efforts. Therefore, it is understandable that no palm oil cases within forest areas have been resolved through this presidential instruction. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has stated that there are 3.4 million hectares of palm oil plantations within forest areas, but there is no clarity regarding their location, ownership, and follow-up.
Fifth , the government lacks a clear direction for increasing palm oil productivity. This means it lacks a target or standard for palm oil productivity, nor does it have a clear path to achieving it. From the government's perspective, productivity improvement is limited to the Smallholder Oil Palm Replanting Program (PSR) utilizing BPDP-KS funds. The program's implementation remains minimal, with only 20,469 hectares, or 11.37% of the target, being replanted in 2020.
Furthermore, from an economic perspective, the palm oil industry's contribution to regional development is still perceived as having little impact. This is due to the lack of a balanced profit-sharing scheme between palm oil-producing regions and the central government. This profit-sharing system does not equate to the impacts of palm oil plantation management, such as infrastructure damage from CPO transportation, environmental damage resulting in water, soil, and air pollution, and forest and land fires.
We hope the critical points above will be of interest to those mandated by this presidential instruction. We, the civil society coalition, recommend several things, including:
The positive response from regional governments at the provincial/district/city level needs to be welcomed by the central government by synergizing work and facilitating it by preparing technical regulations for implementing the presidential instruction (executive instructions or technical guidelines), including budget allocation.
The government has clearer and more measurable targets and productivity improvement programs and has a time and location (district/city) for achieving these targets.
Increase transparency and public access to six-monthly reports on the progress of the moratorium presidential instruction, as well as data on land use and permits for palm oil plantation companies.
Involving cross-stakeholders in the implementation and monitoring of the palm oil moratorium, such as civil society organizations and inter-faith organizations.
The existence of a fair profit-sharing fund scheme between palm oil producing regions and the central government so that regions have the incentive to monitor and develop sustainable palm oil plantations.
Develop a one-stop roadmap for implementing the palm oil moratorium. This is necessary to streamline the palm oil moratorium process and prevent overlapping bureaucratic regulations and budgetary constraints.
The discussion of the Job Creation Bill should not be an excuse for the government to delay the implementation of the Presidential Instruction on the Palm Oil Moratorium. Completing the moratorium, with a focus on data consolidation and licensing reviews, should be the first step in resolving plantation governance issues.
The implementation of the Presidential Instruction on the palm oil moratorium policy does not prioritize certain regions, but rather all regions in Indonesia that have palm oil.
If the government continues to use the same approach and strategy in carrying out its duties and mandates in this presidential instruction, then the long-dreamed-of improvement in palm oil governance will be very difficult to achieve in this limited time. The Civil Society Coalition views the extension of the palm oil moratorium presidential instruction to improve the governance of Indonesian palm oil plantations as something relevant that the Indonesian government can do, provided it must have measurable achievements in all aspects and also synchronize and consolidate with parties who have the same goal in realizing improvements in palm oil governance, such as the National Movement to Save Natural Resources (GN PSDA) of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in terms of licensing reviews and together with ISPO and RSPO in terms of increasing productivity and standards of sustainable palm oil plantations through certification mechanisms.
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On Behalf of the Civil Society Coalition:
Sawit Watch, Kaoem Telapak, Madani Sustainable,
Forest Watch Indonesia and the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL)
Contact person:
Abu Meridian_Executive Director of Kaoem Telapak (082311600535 / abu.meridian@kaoemtelapak.org
Adrianus Eryan_Indonesian Center For Environmental Law (081386299786 / adrianuseryan@gmail.com )
Agung Ady Setiyawan_Forest Watch Indonesia Campaign (085783517913 / agung_ady@fwi.or.id )
Inda Fatinaware_Executive Director of Sawit Watch (0811448677 / inda@sawitwatch.or.id )
Teguh Surya_Executive Director of Madani Berkelanjutan (081294801453 / teguh@madaniberkelanjuan.id )
