MANAJEMEN HUTAN TROPIKA Journal of Tropical Forest Management
Vol. 27 (2021): Thematics Edition: Forestry Land Reform in Indonesia: The Paradoxes

Political Economy of Land Use in Indonesia: Trap and Curse of Natural Forests

Sudarsono Soedomo (Department of Forest Management, IPB University)



Article Info

Publish Date
17 Jan 2022

Abstract

The allocation of land use in Indonesia is very inefficient, while the distribution of tenure is unequal. Half of the land for cultivation is held by forestry, and the other half is used by various other sectors. Most Indonesian farmers are small- scale farmers who do not meet economies of scale. Agrarian reforms aimed at overcoming inefficiency in land use, eliminating inequality in land tenure, and promoting rural areas’ prosperity need to involve land for cultivation allocated for forestry. This paper is written based on the author’s experience of interacting with various parties related to land issues, forest areas and agrarian reform through various forums, such as official meetings, focus group discussions, seminars, workshops, symposiums, one-on-one discussions (interviews), and interactions through social media. Agrarian reform, which has been launched since 1960, has not been able to be realized until today. The fight seems to involve two large groups, namely environmentalists and developmentalists, but this kind of grouping is likely to be misleading. Environmental issues may only be used as an instrument to obtain economic benefits as well, not for the environment itself.

Copyrights © 2021






Journal Info

Abbrev

jmht

Publisher

Subject

Agriculture, Biological Sciences & Forestry

Description

Jurnal Manajemen Hutan Tropika is a periodic scientific articles and conceptual thinking of tropical forest management covering all aspects of forest planning, forest policy, utilization of forest resources, forest ergonomics, forest ecology, forest inventory, silviculture, and management of ...