Implications of omnibus law for forestland conflict resolution systems (a case study in Sumbawa)

Abstract

Abstract There are many cases of forestland tenure in Indonesia and one of them occurre in a village on the island of Sumbawa. Currently, the Omnibus Law no.11/2020 and its derivative regulation PP no. 23/2021 came up to create a more robust business enabling environment in the forestry sector with one of the targets is to improve the economic conditions of the communities around the forests. In relation to the forestry conflict in Sumbawa, these regulations bring hope for the parties involved in the conflict in the efforts to resolve prolonged tenure conflicts. The purpose of this case study is to examine how the new forestry regulations can provide options for communities and the Forest Management Unit (FMU) in resolving forestry conflicts, assess how conflicting communities perceive the forms of cooperation of their expectation in the future, and provide options for potential partnerships to be initiated. The research methods used are historical study, survey, participant observation, semi-structured interviews with forest managers and communities, and focus group discussion that was all carried out in 2017. The findings show that according to PP. no. 23/2021 and the history of this area, this piece of land is a potential object of the social forestry program. In addition, through this action research, two farmer groups are successfully formed. This makes the legalization of social forestry one-step forward to be a reality. Moreover, all respondents agree to carry out partnership with the FMU. This study recommends that the ideal form of forestry partnership is community forestry considering the location of the conflict land is in a production forest area. The facilitations could be implemented to support; the community are the legalization of community forestry, support for the development of honey from stingless bees that has been being developed by some farmers, cashew based business development, and assistance in implementing agroforestry with a sustainable alley cropping model of wood-cashew-corn plants. Initiatives from local people and facilitation from FMU are required to succeed the implementation of Omnibus Law in the forestry sector.