Deforestation issues are more problematic when indigenous (adat) communities, living within a forest, have lived there for many generations. These adat communities, who employ traditional land-use, are frequently accused of encroaching on the forest. To understand existing and future trends in the spatial patterns of the expansion of traditional land-use and deforestation, we conducted a case study in the Kandilo Subwatershed using mixed methods with image interpretation, spatial modelling and sociocultural surveys to examine the interrelationships between physical conditions, community characteristics and traditional land-use expansion. We investigated community characteristics through household interviews, communication with key informants, and discussions with focus groups. By using an area production model, we were able to analyze the effect of improved farming systems, policy intervention and law enforcement on traditional land-use expansion and deforestation. Based on our examination of a 20-year period of traditional land-use activities in adat forests, the evidence indicated that the steeper the slope of the land and the farther the distance from the village, the lower the rate of deforestation. Our study found that customary law, regulating traditional land-use, played an important role in controlling deforestation and land degradation. We conclude that the integration of land allocation, improved farming practices and enforcement of customary law are effective measures to improve traditional land productivity while avoiding deforestation and land degradation.

The increasing need for forest resources and cultivated land requires a solution in forest management to realize sustainable land use. Smart agroforestry (SAF) is a set of agriculture and silviculture knowledge and practices that is aimed at not only increasing profits and resilience for farmers but also improving environmental parameters, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity enhancement, and soil and water conservation, while assuring sustainable landscape management. SAF, a solution for land management systems to reduce the rate of deforestation, is a smart effort to overcome the food crisis and mitigate climate change that is prospectively applied mainly in the social forestry area. Optimized forest land utilization could be achieved by implementing SAF and applying silvicultural and crop cultivation techniques to optimize productivity and meet sustainability and adaptability goals. This paper reviews the existing conditions, opportunities, and challenges in the mainstreaming of SAF in social forestry implementation to support the Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesia. Mainstreaming SAF should include policy innovation and regulation implementation, the use of appropriate technology, and compromises or trade-offs among benefits, risks, and resources. SAF is a strategy to revive the rural economy and community prosperity through the optimal use of local resources as well as a form of smart landscape and land-use management that has significant roles in soil and water conservation, bioenergy, climate change responses, and enhanced biodiversity conservation.

This paper provides an overview of the implementation and obstacles of watershed management, and the alternative solutions based on a synoptic review of related studies and experiences across Indonesia. The review found that problems in the institutional aspect were hierarchical confusion, discrepancy, and asynchrony among regulations, and weak (participation, synchronization, and coordination) among watershed management stakeholders. The weaknesses in the planning stage are integration among sectors, a lack of community participation, and limited readiness to integrate watershed planning into regional planning. Stakeholders’ involvement is also a critical factor in successful implementation of degraded watershed rehabilitation, including in peatland and mangrove areas. Failure should be minimized by providing adequate information on degraded watershed characteristics, appropriate species choices, and effective mechanical construction for soil and water conservation. Community participation as the main factor in driving watershed management should be achieved by strengthening public awareness of the importance of a sustainable watershed and providing access for the community to be involved in each stage of watershed management. Another problem is data gaps which are essential to address from the planning to evaluation stages. The gaps can be bridged by using remotely sensed data and by applying hydrological-based simulation models. Simplified criteria for watershed assessment may also be required, depending on site-specific issues and the watershed scale.

Dominated by mountainous topography, high rainfall, and erosion-sensitive soil types, and with the majority of its population living in rural areas as farmers, most of Indonesia’s watersheds are highly vulnerable to erosion. In 1984, the Government of Indonesia established 22 priority watersheds to be handled, which marked the start of formal soil and water conservation activities. Although it has not fully succeeded in improving watershed conditions from all aspects, something which is indicated by fluctuations in the area of degraded land, over the past 40 years the Indonesian government has systematically implemented various soil and water conservation techniques in various areas with the support of policies, laws and regulations, and research and development. These systematic efforts have shown positive results, with a 40% reduction in the area of degraded land over the last 15 years from 2004–2018. This paper reviews policy, implementation, and research and development of soil and water conservation activities in Indonesia over the last 40 years from the 1980s to 2020 and explores the dynamics of the activities.

With 15–20% of Indonesian oil palms located, without a legal basis and permits, within the forest zone (‘Kawasan hutan’), international concerns regarding deforestation affect the totality of Indonesian palm oil export. ‘Forest zone oil palm’ (FZ-OP) is a substantive issue that requires analysis and policy change. While spatial details of FZ-OP remain contested, we review literature on (1) the legal basis of the forest zone and its conversion, (2) social stratification in oil palm production (large-scale, plasma and independent growers), and (3) environmental consequences of forest conversion to FZ-OP, before discussing policy options in a range of social and ecological contexts. Policy options range from full regularization (as FZ-OP stands could meet international forest definitions), to conditional acceptance of diversified smallholder plantings in ‘agroforestry concessions’, to gradually phasing out FZ-OP and eviction/destruction. A nuanced and differentiated approach to FZ-OP is needed, as certification of legality along supply chains is vulnerable to illegal levies and corruption. Corporate actors trading internationally can avoid use of uncertified raw materials, effectively shifting blame and depressing farmgate prices for domestic-market palm oil, but this will not return forest conditions or stop further forest conversion. We discuss an agenda for follow-up policy research.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR SPATIAL PLANNING AND FOREST MANAGEMENT IN INDONESIA: SECURING THE BASIC RIGHTS FOR ADAT PEOPLE. Limited transparency, accountability, and participation in policy formulation as well as implementation mainly based on economic considerations, all lead to failure to attain sustainable forest management (SFM). Along with the reluctance of policy makers and lacking stakeholder capacity, less accurate data bases has also indicated a constraint in the development of appropriate action. The issues have been more complicated where they were correlated with economic imperatives, vested interest, ownership issues and the basic rights of indigenous communities living inside or adjacent the forest. Forest destruction will be no end without securing customary land and territorial rights. To cope with these issues, the concept of fair governance has been promoted as an alternative to the traditional pattern of administration. This paper examines a theoretical framework for policy development in order to attain SFM while respecting the rights of the adat people. We show that adaptive governance, adaptive management, and participatory learning are strategic approaches in governance reform to achieve sustainable forest management securing the customary rights and traditional land use of forest dependent people.Keywords: Forest management, adaptive governance, spatial planning, Indonesia, adat KERANGKA TEORI UNTUK PERENCANAAN TATA RUANG DAN PENGELOLAAN HUTAN DI INDONESIA: PERLINDUNGAN HAK DASAR MASYARAKAT ADAT. Minimnya transparansi, akuntabilitas dan partisipasi dalam perumusan kebijakan dan implementasi yang hanya didasarkan pada pertimbangan ekonomi, mengakibatkan kegagalan tercapainya tujuan pengelolaan hutan lestari (PHL). Seiring dengan keengganan para pembuat kebijakan dan keterbatasan kapasitas pemangku kepentingan, kurangnya basis data yang akurat telah terbukti

With 120 million hectares of forest area, Indonesia has the third largest area of biodiversity-rich tropical forests in the world, and it is well-known as a mega-biodiversity country. However, in 2020, only 70 percent of this area remained forested. The government has consistently undertaken corrective actions to achieve Sustainable Development Goal targets, with a special focus on Goals #1 (no poverty), #2 (zero hunger), #3 (good health and well-being), #7 (affordable and clean energy), #8 (decent work and economic growth), #13 (climate action), and #15 (life on land). Good environmental governance is a core concept in Indonesia’s forest management and includes mainstreaming ecosystem services as a framework for sustainable forest management. This paper analyzes efforts to mainstream Indonesia’s remaining forest ecosystem services. We review the state of Indonesia’s forests in relation to deforestation dynamics, climate change, and ecosystem service potential and options and provide recommendations for mainstreaming strategies regarding aspects of policy, planning, and implementation, as well as the process of the articulation of ecosystem services and their alternative funding.

The decision of Indonesian's constitutional court in May 2013, to review Law Number 41/1999 on Forestry, marked a significant step forward in Indonesian policy related to recognition of the rights of Indigenous people to forest. Under the decision, Indigenous forest is no longer considered State forest and rights to it should be granted to Indigenous communities inhabiting them as long as there is proof of their Indigenous status. However, at the implementation level, special measures are required to ascertain who is truly Indigenous. Bogus claims of indigeneity and rights to land are not uncommon. This paper examines the verification mechanism employed for spatial analysis to assess traditional knowledge and Indigenous law implementation as substantial evidences for Indigenous rights recognition to a forest area. We conducted a case study in the Gunung Lumut Protection Forest with two groups of Indigenous communities living around the forest using image interpretation and spatial analysis supported by socioeconomic and cultural analysis. We also assessed the capacity and awareness of Indigenous communities to manage their forest. This case study illustrates that in general Indigenous people apply ancestral norms, beliefs and traditional knowledge and wisdom in managing their livelihoods and daily life. Nonetheless, increasing necessities of life, better accessibility, and socio-cultural assimilation has changed the Indigenous people's behavior towards nature. Holistic approaches in transferring land rights, effective longterm engagement, and revitalization of Indigenous law in line with formal law enforcement, are among the essential measures that must be conducted systematically to ensure that the Indigenous forest remains and is sustainably managed for the benefit of the Indigenous community and the environment.