Yogayakarta, 14 September 2020 — Illegal logging and illegal timber trade has the most impact on indigenous / local communities. These impacts include ecological crises in the form of natural disasters; loss of livelihoods due to closure of access (enclosure) or even land dispossession by forestry business actors; and the emergence of conflicts and violations of human rights (HAM).
Therefore, it is appropriate for customary / local communities to participate in monitoring forest management, wood processing, and timber distribution and trade. Bad forest governance practices can be minimized through independent monitoring by customary / local communities through the Independent Monitoring mechanism within the policy framework of the Timber Legality Verification System or SVLK.
Bruno Cammaert, Forestry Officer of the FAO-EU FLEGT Program for the Asia and Pacific Region for the forestry sector, said in his remarks that FAO supports the activities of Independent Monitoring, including involving indigenous and local communities in independent forestry monitoring activities.
“To strengthen SVLK, Independent Monitors also need to promote the forestry industry that complies with regulations. So that it can fully describe the positive and negative sides of the SVLK journey, ”said Bruno.
SVLK which is regulated in the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation Number 30 of 2016 is an Indonesian initiative to ensure that wood products come from legal and sustainable sources. One of the objectives of this policy is to reduce illegal logging and illegal timber trade.
Economically, with the SVLK, the value of Indonesia’s timber exports has increased. Since the SVLK was implemented, timber exports have skyrocketed. In 2013, Indonesia’s timber export value reached US $ 6 billion; in 2016 increased to US $ 9.26 billion; and in 2019 it jumped to US $ 11.62 billion. This means that the existence of SVLK does not make the export performance of our wood products decrease, but it has even increased sharply.
However, for a decade the SVLK has been running, we still encounter illegal logging practices and illegal timber trade. One month ago, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s Jabalnusra Gakkum Hall captured 175 m3 of illegal merbau and meranti logs from Maluku. One year ago, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry also arrested 384 containers of illegal merbau logs from Papua at Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya and 57 containers at Soekarno Hatta port, Makassar.
Muhamad Kosar, the dynamist of JPIK said that from 2011 to early 2020, JPIK had monitored 107 concessions and forestry industry management units and reported the monitoring results to parties related to SVLK, law enforcers, including 118 Gakkum KLHK and Police. report.
“We still see weaknesses in supervision and law enforcement, and lack of support in monitoring activities. Until now, independent monitors have not been able to access data and information related to timber distribution. In addition, there is no funding mechanism to support the sustainability of monitoring.
The arrest of a number of illegal merbau and meranti logs at the two ports has not been fully handled. This case proves the need for increased supervision and law enforcement by all related parties, along with increased coordination and transparency in all ongoing legal processes.
Interestingly, these cases originated from information and reports from indigenous / local communities both in the upstream and downstream areas. In the workshop and the program implementation socialization (inception meeting), Muhammad Nur from the Jabalnusra Gakkum Hall, emphasized that 99% of illegal logging cases handled by Gakkum originated from community reports. “So far, the majority of illegal logging cases handled by Gakkum involve large corporations.” Thus, upstream and downstream integrated monitoring is important for customary / local communities to ensure timber traceability.
In the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation Number 30 of 2016, Chapter III describes monitoring aimed at maintaining the accountability and credibility of the SVLK. Article 23 point a states that those who can act as independent monitors are the people who live / are in or around the area of permit holders, management rights holders, or private forest owners located / operating.
Hendy Saputra, one of the leaders of the PT. TRIC said that forest monitoring should not just stop at the SVLK point, because SVLK is only one tool for improving forestry governance. So, reporting is not only aimed at LS. The weakness that has not been regulated in the plan to revise the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. 30/2016 is the regulation regarding the ease with which the forestry industry can move from one LS to another because the certificate is frozen or the certificate is revoked.
Muhammad Ichwan, Director of PPLH Mangkubumi, stated that in the current timber administration system, there are three documents accompanying timber, namely the Certificate of Legality of Log Forest Products (SKSHH) for Log Timber, SKSHH for Processed Timber, and DKP for community timber. Meanwhile, findings in the field show that there are still violation practices in exports. For example, falsification of V-Legal documents. We encourage V-Legal to act as a legal document for timber forest products for export, equivalent to SKSHH. Thus, if there is a violation, there will be sanctions.
In the context of Permen LHK Number 30 of 2016, the Mangkubumi Center for Environmental Education (JPIK), an independent forestry monitoring agency with support from the FAO-EU FLEGT Program, together with indigenous / local communities from 4 provinces, namely South Kalimantan, North Maluku, West Papua , and East Java, will carry out monitoring of forests and wood processing industries for the next one year. The upstream downstream approach will be used for this monitoring. The upstream areas in Papua, Kalimantan and Sulawesi are closely related to the downstream areas in East Java. The main objective of this monitoring is to combat illegal logging, promote legan timber and contribute significantly to forest sustainability.
To initiate this plan, PPLH Mangkubumi held an Inception Meeting entitled Strengthening Forestry Governance through SVLK Monitoring by Indigenous and Local Communities in 4 Provinces in Indonesia which was held on September 14, 2020 at the Grand Senyum Hotel Yogyakarta. In this activity, representatives of the FAO-EU FLEGT Program, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Local Governments, Law Enforcement, Timber Entrepreneurs Association, Certification Bodies, NGOs, and Forestry Monitors from various regions were present.
For further information, please contact:
Muhammad Ichwan | PPLH Mangkubumi | +62 815-5650-8591
M. Kosar | JPIK | +62 813-1872-6321
Ivonne Melisa | FAO EU FLEGT Programme Indonesia | +62 812-1997-124
Institution Profile
- PPLH Mangkubumi is an NGO working on environmental and forestry issues that works with forest-based communities to strengthen their capacity in monitoring and sustainable natural resource management focusing on forest and river monitoring. PPLH Mangkubumi is a member of the Independent Forestry Monitoring Network (JPIK) based in East Java and carries out forest monitoring work in the context of SVLK, empowering forest village communities, and advocating forestry policies. Further information www.pplh-mangkubumi.or.id
- JPIK is a network that focuses on realizing fair and sustainable forest governance that is guaranteed through independent monitoring. It was declared on 23 September 2010 by 29 civil society organizations from across Aceh to Papua in a FLEGT workshop meeting, 21-23 September 2010, in Jakarta. Further information www.jpik.or.id
- The FAO-EU FLEGT Program is a global, demand-based initiative that provides technical support and resources for the implementation of activities to achieve the objectives of the European Union (EU) FLEGT Action Plan. The program is funded by the EU, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the UK Department for International Development. For more information, visit (http://www.fao.org/in-action/eu-fao-flegt-programme/en/
