Customary Land Tenure In East Kalimantan

The majority of the population of South-East Asia depends on the land for its living. Land is held in a multitude of different ways- through tribal custom, as individual owner-occupier units, through plantations; in many parts of the region landlessness is a major social and political issue. Using a wide range of case studies, the authors examine the different landholding systems of the region and argue that a combination of traditional and reformed tenure systems offers the best prospects for improving the welfare of the rural population.

This working paper presents the status of forest tenure in contemporary Indonesia; it explores how forest tenure reforms emerge and the options for formal approaches to securing customary rights in Indonesia. It also presents an overview and analysis of Indonesia's legal and institutional framework for tenure reform. Forest tenure reforms in Indonesia have evolved through dynamic, interactive, collaborative processes that have involved both State and non-State institutions. Both the processes and the products (such as policies and programs) of forest tenure reforms in Indonesia, such as the 1999 reforms that resulted in social forestry schemes, have not been effectively implemented in Indonesia due to the: onerous process of obtaining a permit; lack of direction and motivation of staff within implementing agencies in supporting social forestry; limited capacity and resources among both communities and implementing agencies to comply with the technical requirements to process the permit; and macro-level economic prioritization of extractive activities that concentrate benefits in the corporate sector. Moreover, women and marginal members of indigenous peoples and local communities have been largely left out. However, recent developments such as Constitutional Court Ruling No. 35/2012 defined land and forests within customary territories as private entities, and not State land and forests. Furthermore, recent government initiatives for recognizing existing agroforestry practices within kawasan hutan by granting land title or bringing them under social forestry schemes are important developments that can help to resolve conflicts. Finally, the government's ambitious target of bringing 12.7 million ha of State forest area under community management, deregulation of some of the steps for obtaining a social forestry permit and the involvement of non-State actors in tenure reform processes have the potential to further strengthen local people's rights and security over land and forests, if properly supported and implemented.

The name 'Borneo' evokes visions of constantly changing landscapes, but with important island-wide continuities. One of the continuities has been the forests, which have for generations been created and modified by the indigenous population, but over the past three decades have been partially replaced by tree crops, grass or scrub. This book, the first in the series of Asia-Pacific Environmental Monographs, looks at the political complexities of forest management across the whole island of Borneo, tackling issues of tenure, land use change and resource competition, 'tradition' versus 'modernity', disputes within and between communities, between communities and private firms, or between communities and governments. While it focuses on the changes taking place in local political economies and conservation practices, it also makes visible the larger changes taking place in both Indonesia and Malaysia. The common theme of the volume is the need to situate local complexities in the larger institutional context, and the possible gains to be made from such an approach in the search for alternative models of conservation and development.

This book examines the relationship between land tenure, conservation and rural development in the context of the Southeast Asian archipelago. In particular, it is concerned with people living in and around national parks and other protected areas. It discusses the value of reinforcing indigenous tenure and sustainable resource use practices and of including them in policies and projects that attempt to integrate conservation and development.

Indonesia was founded on the ideal of the "e;Sovereignty of the People"e;, which suggests the pre-eminence of people's rights to access, use and control land to support their livelihoods. Yet, many questions remain unresolved. How can the state ensure access to land for agriculture and housing while also supporting land acquisition for investment in industry and infrastructure? What is to be done about indigenous rights? Do registration and titling provide solutions? Is the land reform agenda "e;legislated but never implemented"e; still relevant? How should the land questions affecting Indonesia's disappearing forests be resolved? The contributors to this volume assess progress on these issues through case studies from across the archipelago: from large-scale land acquisitions in Papua, to asset ownership in the villages of Sulawesi and Java, to tenure conflicts associated with the oil palm and mining booms in Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra. What are the prospects for the "e;people's sovereignty"e; in regard to land?

Exploration of the issues surrounding resettlement of the East Timorese population since independence. Effectively having a 'clean slate' to establish ownership laws and institutions to regulate land ownership and use, the new East Timorese government must seek to balance the peace, security and economy of its people. Includes references and index. Author is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the Australian National University.

An annotated bibliography focused on Borneo and the Southern Philippines. With over 1,000 citations, this reference work identifies patterns of forestland transformation common to the areas under consideration. A subject index is included.