During Ramadan, media outlets in Indonesia didn’t only cover the news about preparation for Eid Mubarak. If you noticed, whether it’s from the newspaper or online media, they still tried to bring out issues about Land and Forest Governance/Tata Kelola Hutan dan Lahan (TKHL). Let’s take a look at these seven media coverages on TKHL issue below.
- It turned out that Riau still had dozens of hotspots that caused a forest fire in several areas. The Provincial Government of Riau decided to extend the emergency alert status regarding the land and forest fires (Kebakaran Hutan dan Lahan - Karhutla), which had been applied since June 2016 until November 30th, 2016. The government used the extent as an effort to optimize the prevention of Karhutla. As we all know, Riau has been going through Karhutla since the last 18 years.
- Badan Restorasi Gambut (BRG) just completed a peatmoss restoration map. Based on the mapping result, the peatmoss hydrology has a total area of 22,4 million ha, which consists of 15,9 million ha of peatland and 6,5 million ha of mineral land (non-turf). Meanwhile, the protected peat has only a total area of 4,1 million ha, and the rest of it is used for cultivation (11,8 million ha). According to the data, the area of peatland that is going to be restored until the next five years reaches 2,679 million hectares, with the cultivation area around 2,3 million ha. Also, 1,2 million ha out of 2,3 million ha is actually the concessions of plantation and forestry. Not to mention the fact that 0,5 million ha of it is located in the peat dome, which was supposed to be protected area.
- The Local Government of Kepulauan Riau will discuss Local Regulation Perda RTRW that includes all things needed for the spatial structure plan, the scheme of space, and strategic area. All factions in DPRD Province of Kepulauan Riau are agreed to revisit the local regulation about Spatial Planning (Rencana Tata Ruang Wilayah), which has already been postponed since 2005.
- In order to optimize the re-arrangement of lands and forests in Aceh, Masyarakat Transparansi Aceh (MaTa) held a blog event with a total prize of Rp 9,5 million. Anyone is welcome to participate in the event, which had been started since June 11th, 2016, until the last day of submission on July 25th, 2016. With “Review Izin untuk Penataan Perizinan” as its main theme, the event was held as one of the monitoring instruments to optimize the natural resources. The government hopes that it will align with the aspects of the economy, social, and the living environment.
- National Forestry Authority/Dewan Kehutanan Nasional (DKN) is going to conduct the sixth Kongres Kehutanan Indonesia (KKI) on December 30th, 2016. Throughout the congress, DKN is going to involve every party who is related to forestry issues. This year, KKI is also going to pinpoint the concrete solutions to solve the issues, both in regional scale and national.
- Solidaritas Perempuan Palembang (SPP) held a discussion and breakfasting event with all members of SPP in Grand Ballroom Hotel Grand Duta Syariah on June 30th, 2016. With “Memperkuat Strategi Perempuan Akar Rumput dalam Penyelesaian Konflik Lahan dan Mendorong Pengakuan Wilayah Kelola Perempuan” as its main theme, SPP demanded back the resolving of agrarian conflict in South Sumatera and the acknowledgment of some areas under women’s management.
- There are still many Karhutla cases that involve companies, yet there are no clear actions taken to solve that. It is time for the government to implement the “strict liability” concept in the environmental damage. This concept is clearly included on Pasal 88 UU No. 32 Tahun 2009 about Environmental Management and Protection (Perlindungan dan Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup). In addition to that, the government, especially the local ones, needs to improve their performances in the law enforcement and bring the Karhutla issue to justice.
