CUSTOMARY LAW (ADAT) FOREST BROCHURE

Photo by HuMa

Customary Law Forests as part of Indonesia’s Social Forestry Initiative The Government of Indonesia is committed to expand community-based forest management and pledged a total of 12.7 million hectares for social forestry under community-based forest management.

An important part of this social forestry initiative is the recognition of customary law forests as one of the schemes of community-based forest management, along with community forests, community plantation forests, village forests and forest partnership.

Photo by HuMa

New Regulation to support customary law communities to claim rights over their forests The Constitutional Court ruling No.35/2012 paved the way towards recognition of customary law communities rights over their forests. Based on this Constitutional Court ruling, in 2015, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry adopted a Ministerial Regulation No.32/2015, recognizing customary law forests as private forests. The regulation delineates the procedures for customary law communities to claim their customary law forests.

Under this regulation, customary law communities can submit claims based on accurate boundaries of customary law forests to the local governments and then approved by the Ministry. Customary Law Communities that have been legally recognised by local governments through issuance of local bylaws, may submit a request for legalisation of private rights over customary forests to the Minister of Environment and Forestry. Following veriďŹ cation and validation in coordination with local

governments, and other stakeholders, the Ministry can then delineate the said forest area to the group and the area is included in the government’s map of forestry area.

Customary law communities with rights over their forests, are eligible to receive support and incentives from the government to enhanced their economic livelihoods and perform sustainable management of their forests�

To date, there are already 12 claims from customary law communities facilitated by NGOs submitted to both local governments and MoEF.

Ammatoa Kajang Customary Law Forests

The Ammatoa Kajang costumary law community is an indigenous community living in 8 villages and 6 hamlets in the District of Bulukumba, South Sulawesi Province.

The Ammatoa Kajang community has lived for generations in this area under a set of values called the Pasang ri Kajang, preserving their traditional culture, custom, and a strong link to their land, forests and natural resources.

The Kajangs regard their forest as ‘mother’ and treat it as a sacred area. Therefore, the function of the Kajang customary law forest is strictly for conservation purposes.

In November 2015, the District Head of Bulukumba, Yusuf Sommeng, passed a district bylaw No.9/2015 on Recognition and Protection of the Rights of Customary Law Community of Ammatoa Kajang. The bylaw is the first step towards the recognition of the community’s claim of their customary law forest under the Constitutional Court decision No.35/2012 and Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No.32/2015.

Under the bylaw, the Ammatoa Kajang customary law forest is commonly owned by the Ammatoa Kajang customary law community and this status of ownership as well as the function of the forest may not be changed.

The customary law community is responsible in preserving the status of the customary law forests as prescribed in the Pasang ri Kajang.

The local government is responsible in providing support to the community in order to continue to preserve their culture and natural resources. Should government agencies or other external parties plan to implement programs in the community’s area, the community must be consulted with sufficient information regarding the program. The community also has the right to accept and reject proposals for programs by the government or external institutions in their area.

The Ammatoa Kajang community will be the first in the country to be officially granted the ownership status of their customary law forest under the Minister of Forestry Regulation No.32/2015. This status will be officially presented by the President. The total are of Ammatoa Kajang customary law forest is

313.99 hectares

Photo by HuMa

19 local bylaws recognising the rights of customary law communities over their land and forests have been adopted across Indonesia as the ďŹ rst step toward declaration of their forests as private forests.

Photo by HuMa

Photo by HuMa

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTRY REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA