No abstract

Smallholders play a significant role in the Indonesian palm oil industry. They cultivate more than 40% of the total plantation area, and their production contributes to the national revenue. However, despite their significant role, smallholders continue to face crop management, financial and environmental challenges. The fact that some smallholder plantations are illegally located in state forestland poses challenges for smallholders as regards getting access to finance, improving yields, and obtaining sustainable certification. Government policy on the collection of levies from exported crude palm oil (CPO fund) and its derivative products provides smallholders the opportunity to replant and support their sustainable practices, thereby reducing deforestation. This paper discusses how fiscal incentives of the CPO fund may have been optimized to prioritize these outcomes. We should prioritize the use of the fund not only to support smallholder replanting, but also to clarify their land tenure rights, so that they could get access to sustainable certification and financial institutions. It is also recommended that funds be allocated to subsidize loan interest to the bank and build productive capital during the grace period. These efforts have to be accompanied by building and improving smallholder databases and strengthening local government.

Payments for ecosystem services schemes are viewed as having the potential to achieve positive biodiversity and ecosystem service outcomes and social outcomes, and they have been widely studied since their development in the 1990s. We describe the state of payments for ecosystem services in Indonesia, where nine schemes were identified, four involving water and five involving carbon. We also assess the perceptions of stakeholders (donors, government, and non-government agencies) regarding the status of such schemes in Indonesia, and their views on what factors support or constrain their development. The main factors perceived to support payments for ecosystem services schemes were easily identifiable ecosystem services and service users, and the long-term support provided by individuals or institutions that facilitate the schemes, building on existing relationships between communities and these facilitating agencies. Stakeholders identified problems relating to regulation: the lack of regulation specifically in relation to payments for ecosystem services, but also overlap and uncertainties regarding regulations. Other constraining factors identified were the lack of recognition of environmental problems amongst potential buyers, and issues of rights and tenure for local communities. With so few operational programmes to date, covering a relatively small land area, and such constraints to further development, payments for ecosystem services schemes appear to have limited scope to supply ecosystem services successfully and sustainably at scale.

Palm oil is considered a key commodity in supporting the Indonesian economy, generating both domestic revenue and foreign exchange. Such revenue needs to be distributed equally for the benefit of the government and society. This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of the proposed revenue-sharing scheme, DBH Sawit, sourcing from palm oil, particularly between central and local governments. It examines how the proposed scheme can be implemented and what strategies can reward regions for moving toward environmental sustainability practices. Research methods used in this paper include a literature study, stakeholder interviews, the SWOT method and analytical hierarchy processes. Results indicate that DBH Sawit is one of several fiscal instruments that could potentially incentivize sustainability. It has both strengths and anticipated opportunities, such as increased CPO production and global demand for palm oil. It faces, however, serious weaknesses, such as unauthorized oil palm plantations and the absence of traceability systems. It is also threatened by unfair market and global policies. This paper recommends diverse strategies to increase palm oil productivity, accelerate sustainability certification and develop a tracing system. To accelerate the adoption of environmental sustainability, the paper advocates an ecological-based fiscal transfer system.

Gender discourse in Indonesia is currently developing very rapidly. On one hand, gender activists have focused on gender mainstreaming. On the other hand, the socio-cultural reality in Indonesia persists with the old traditional construction of power relations between men and women. Feminists fight for justice and inclusiveness for women. However, their struggle must be confronted with the fact that the prevailing socio-cultural norms still tend to be male-dominant. This paper will reveal how the social reality of power relations in the realm of gender is constructed in rural areas in Indonesia. The subjects studied are families at the clan level who are managing sustainable bamboo forestry in Ngadha Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The research was conducted in 2019-2021. The methods used are participatory rural appraisal (PRA), in-depth interviews, and observation as participants. Time allocation is used as the object of this study to create gender mapping. The analysis is carried out using a social construction theory. This study concluded that the clan of Neguwulacan adopt the HBL system. This is reflected in the emergence of local initiatives to manage finances, the workforce, groups, as well as build and implement them at the clan level. The gender relations that exist in SBF practice at the clan of Neguwula are relative. First, in terms of family lines, women obtain benefits because could hold matrilineal law. Political decisions remain in the hands of women. Second, practically speaking, women work twice as much in domestic and commercial work. Third, in some cases, deliberation is put forward for a fair division of labor. At this point, inclusiveness emerges as a reality that colors gender relations.