BACKGROUND INFORMATION Indonesia, home to over 300 different ethnic groups, has the largest expanse of tropical rain forests in Asia, second in the world. The rise of the Suharto regime saw rapid economic development, with the logging industry among its leading sources of foreign revenues. The Basic Forest Law of 1967 grants the State sole authority over all forestlands in the country. Coupled with the Foreign Investment Act of 1967, an exodus of large volumes of the country's timber enabled government to earn foreign revenues. By end of the 1970s, Indonesia's share of global tropical wood exports was over 40 percent. This accelerated economic growth since the mid-1960s, however, has caused adverse impacts on this state-controlled natural resource. The country's forest cover fell to less than 92 million hectares from about 152 million hectares to 109 million hectares between the 1950s and 1990s. Its forest state nearing crisis level has been faulted to the centralized nature of management and government's inaction in recognizing adat (indigenous) rights of forest peoples. Forest-dependent communities have to compete with state-owned logging companies for access to natural resources. Government has dealt with community concerns in forestry through the tumpang sari system. However, this state-sanctioned community-based forestry has fallen short of instituting meaningful changes in the country's forest management system. Instead of truly recognizing indigenous rights of forest-dependent peoples, government's community-based forestry model has simply turned them into hired hands for timber concessionaires. President Suharto's resignation in the 1998 paved the way for reformasi - sweeping policy reforms redefining national development priorities. The Decentralization Law of 1999 is currently the most significant policy currently moving actions towards more meaningful involvement of communities in forest management. The Ministry of Forestry, meanwhile, is launching a new social forestry program.

NATURE OF COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT What is community management? In Indonesia, community management is used in two different ways equivalent to two predominant forms: 'customary' and 'formal'. In densely populated Java, the 'customary' form of community management refers to the intensive agro-forestry system of upland households called wono dusun (community forest) in Javanese. In less-populated Kalimantan, 'customary' management has its roots from the rich tradition of forest utilization and care under the adat system of indigenous cultures. The 'formal' form refers to state-sanctioned forms of community involvement under various programs of the Ministry of Forestry and the state forest corporation in Java, Perum Perhutani. Rather than managers, communities are involved as laborers to plant state-selected long-rotation species on degraded forestlands. In return for their labor, they are allowed to cultivate annual and perennial crops in between rows of tree seedlings for 2-3 years before the canopy forms; some get minimal wages. They have no rights to harvest or sell timber. Where are the CFM areas? The 590,000 hectares under CFM, which Ministry of Forestry refers to as hutan rakyat areas, occur on private titled lands that are usually in the name of household heads where families practice 'customary' forms of management. Resources on these lands are statistically accounted for under the agricultural sector. These areas are spread throughout the country, usually on land classified as production forests. Not included in this figure are lands where indigenous communities apply customary practices through their adat systems, usually on islands outside Java where the Dutch colonial rule did little interference on forest management. In Java, state-sanctioned approaches apply to 2.5 million hectares of protection, production, and limited production forests where the Perhutani has been designated forest manager. In some of these areas where land is already degraded and Perhutani has minimal operations, communities have taken over and planted fast-growing tree species, the same ones they use on their hutan rakyat areas.

POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ENVIRONMENT The following national policies provide different levels of support and constraints to CFM in Indonesia: National Forest Policy (1988) mentions community rights in forestlands Spatial Use Management Law (No. 24/1992) gives provincial government rights to make land use planning decisions Ministerial Decree on CFM (No. 699/1998) grants communities forest management leases Basic Law on Regional Autonomy (No. 22/1999) decentralizes several state functions and 80% of income from resources to district governments; implementing regulations are not yet in place Basic Forestry Law (No. 41/1999) gives district heads authority to hand out 100 ha logging licenses but retains the right to determine the forest estate and plan its use Forest Ministry Decree (No. 31/2001) on Administration of Community Forestry allows district regents to issue usufructory leases to communities to manage State forestlands but specifies that communities can manage in zones not under other forms of forest license or utilization right Agrarian Ministry Decree (1999) admitting the possibility of collective usufructs and district level decrees.

LOCAL CONTEXTS [click maps to enlarge - new window] Wonosobo District Land Area: 98,468 ha State Forestland: 18,896 ha (19% of land) Community Forestland: 19,473 ha (20% of land) Population: 738,383 Forest-dependent people: 263,000 Number of community forests: 192 (73% of villages) Forestlands in Wonosobo District, just like many areas in Java, have been under state management for many years. The recent Law on Regional autonomy of 1999 has given local government an opening to take up responsibility for managing these forestlands that are facing many kinds of pressures. Resource management transition is taking place in Wonosobo. This transition has been occurring in two levels of community and district involving two different sets of objectives and calling for two different sets of negotiation processes. The first level involves the district and central government wherein the district government is in the process of obtaining recognition of the district policy from the central government. The second level is between communities and district government. Communities are working towards obtaining agreements with the district government to manage and reap benefits from resources on state forestlands that hey have planted. Bogoran Village Land Area: 770 ha Community Forestland: 635 ha (82% of land area) State Forestland: 240 ha (according to Wonosobo Gov't statistics, 390 ha according to Perhutani statistics) State Forestland under CF Planning: 95 ha Population: 1,862 No. of Hamlets: 3 No. of CF planning groups: 4 (238 members from 2 hamlets) Bogoran was one of the first villages where community planning was piloted to test the mechanisms under CBFM District Regulation. During initial discussions, Bogoran farmers reported that they have already planted on all state forestlands in the village and they know that by law this is illegal. Because of this situation, they were interested in finding out how they could achieve equitable production sharing arrangements and management rights with government through the new district regulation. Two hamlets in the village joined the planning activities; the Kiuni hamlet backed out when people there learned that the Regulation was facing difficulties with Perhutani and Ministry of Forestry. Also, Kiuni is already bound to an agreement with Perhutani because they were allowed to convert a portion of the stateland into a football field. One villager from Kiuni expressed what he thinks about community management: "It is workable to plan as a group and follow the principles of the group if we ourselves formed the group. But it is difficult if we have to manage the land as a group because there are always differences between one person and another." Gunung Tugel Village Land Area: 430 ha Community Forestland: 215 ha State Forestland: 190 ha State Forestland under CF Planning: 138 ha Population: 1,668 No. of Hamlets: 6 No. of CF Planning Groups: 5 (448 members from 7 hamlets) Gunung Tugel, a village located in another sub-district of Wonosobo, was chosen as the second pilot site for community planning. State forest blocks in Gunung Tugel were looted in 1999. After the looting, Perhutani came again and asked them to plant mahogany. In 2001, a sign was put up regarding information on spacing, species and the planting arrangement with villagers: "We were not given seeds so we collected seeds ourselves. In return, Perhutani allowed us to plant annual crops in between the seedlings for three years. We did not have a clear contract with the Perhutani's district office and so we would like to find out what agreement can be reached for newly planted land. We are not following anymore what the Perhutani sign prescribes. We are now planting whatever and however we want but we are looking after the trees that we have already planted." As they were mapping the different forest blocks and identifying how they were allocated, one villager said: "Some people already planted. Some do not want to plant. Others are waiting for the agreement to be signed before they plant." Another asked if the District Regulation mentioned anything about production sharing. The ARuPA facilitator said: "As of now, the District Regulation has not yet prescribed the exact sharing percentage so this question is good input to the District Government as it comes up with the Regulation's implementing guidelines." Another villager commented: "Never mind if there is no exact sharing percentage as long as people get a bigger share. After all, we are the ones working on the land."

IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATIONS AND PARTNER INSTITUTES Wonosobo District Government Several offices in the Wonosobo District Government are active in the CFM discussions: the legislative branch (DPRD), the executive branch (PEMDA), and the District Forest Office (DFO). The DFO has main responsibility for coordinating with Perhutani, the Provincial Forest Office and the Ministry of Forestry. In 2001, the DPRD issued a District Regulation on CFM (PERDA 22) that can provide basis for giving greater tenurial rights to communities working on state forestlands. Under this regulation, the Bupati will sign 30-year tenurial agreements with communities through the DFO. This regulation has not yet been implemented as the Ministry of Forestry and Perum Perhutani are currently contesting its enactment. ARuPA and Koling ARuPA is a Yogyakarta-based NGO composed of young volunteers, mostly forestry professionals from the Gadja Mada University who share a common mission of promoting community forest management. Koling is a Wonosobo-based NGO supporting upland communities in various development projects related to natural resources and environment. Both organizations have assisted the Wonosobo District Government in facilitating the district policy development process for CBFM. They are now facilitating community management planning for state forestlands. FKKM FKKM or Indonesia Communication Forum on Community Forestry is a network with members coming from universities, research institutes, Ministry of Forestry, forest companies, NGOs, indigenous peoples, and local communities. FKKM has working groups operating in 15 different regions in Indonesia. FKKM holds regular national meetings, facilitates collaborative research and comparative studies, organizes policy dialogues, supports decentralization initiatives, and disseminates information through printed and electronic media. ARuPA and Koling are members of FKKM-Central Java. Perum Perhutani Perhutani, a state forest corporation operating in Java, was created in 1961 to generate foreign exchange from timber for the state to finance reforestation, supply forest products to industry, and to manage perceived community pressures on the forests. Areas under Perhutani management are formerly territories of the Dutch Forest Service. This corporation is composed of technical forestry specialists, forest police, and administrators whose authorities are autonomous from the Ministry of Forestry. The income it generates from timber sold is used to support itself while sharing 55% of profits to the national development budget. Ever since its establishment, Perhutani had gone through several programs that bring in communities into state forest management. A common feature of all these programs was the involvement of communities as laborers in return for allowing them to plant agricultural crops before the canopy closes. However, many forest farmers in Java are no longer satisfied with this arrangement and are seeking greater management rights and more equitable sharing of benefits. Central Java Provincial Government Wonosobo District falls within the jurisdiction of the Central Java Provincial Government. The Governor and the Provincial Forest Office have been involved in mediating discussions between the Wonosobo District Government and Perhutani. Ministry of Forestry The Ministry of Forestry is based in Jakarta and has five main directorates: forest utilization, reforestation & land rehabilitation, forest protection and nature conservation, forest inventory & land use planning, and forest research and development. Community forest development is under the Directorate General for Reforestation and Land Rehabilitation. In 2002, the Ministry of Forestry wrote a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs asking for the cancellation of the Wonosobo District Regulation on CBFM. The Ministry of Home Affairs in turn issued a statement that the district regulation needs to be revised. Wonosobo Multistakeholder Team This ad hoc team functions as a forum for discussing issues on forest plunder, land use conflict, and forest rehabilitation. It is composed of representatives from the Wonosobo DPRD, forest farmers association, academe, media and non-government organizations. Perhutani's local officers used to be part of the team until it pulled out because they did not agree with the majority's decision of implementing a six-month logging moratorium in 20 villages to curb escalating forest plunder and land use conflicts. The team is responsible for the process of crafting the Wonosobo District Regulation on CBFM. Wonosobo Forest Forum The Wonosobo Forest Forum (WFF) will be the main body that will ensure the effectiveness of implementation of the District Regulation on CBFM. It will act as the recommending and monitoring body for all CBFM applications. WFF will consist of representatives from government, local community, academicians and NGOs. The forum will have counterpart structures in the village, region, and district levels.