Browsing by Author "Obidzinski, Krystof"

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Environmental and Social Impacts from Palm based Biofuel Development in Indonesia
(2011) Andriani, Rubeta; Andrianto, Agus; Komarudin, Heru; Obidzinski, Krystof
"This paper reviews oil palm biofuel development and analyzes social and environmental impacts of oil palm plantations in Indonesia. Three plantation study sites were selected in West Papua (Manokwari), West Kalimantan (Kubu Raya) and Papua (Boven Digoel) and used as case studies to illustrate likely impacts of biofuel plantations. These plantations are being developed or expanded in the aftermath of the 2006 National Energy Policy and managed by companies with supply connections to biodiesel industry. Household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews were employed to gauge respondent perceptions about social, economic and environmental impacts. Concurrently, spatial analysis was used to assess the changes in forest cover. The development of oil palm in all three sites has caused deforestation and is likely to lead to further loss of forest as expansion continue to take place. Some communities did enjoy economic and social benefits from oil palm plantations such as more stable and reliable income, road access, better healthcare services. In Kubu Raya, some communities benefited both from employment opportunities and from sales of smallholder oil palm harvests. In Kubu Raya and Boven Digoel sites, some indigenous communities and migrants developed good inter-ethnic relations, although this was not the case in Manokwari. Other communities experienced increasing restrictions on traditional land use rights and outright land losses. Conflicts over land between indigenous communities and oil palm companies were observed in all three sites. Communities in all three sites experienced additional adverse environmental effects such as water pollution and flooding. The findings call for plantation policy makers to revisit the principles governing large- scale land allocation for plantations. They need to pay particular attention to whether and to what extent the free, prior, and informed consent principle is being applied during the land acquisition process. The smallholder and nucleus oil palm schemes need improvements in efficiency and profitability. Finally, stringent sanctions are needed against companies failing to implement legally binding environmental monitoring and management plans."
Environmental and Social Impacts of Oil Palm Plantations and the Implications for Biofuel Production in Indonesia
(2012) Obidzinski, Krystof; Andriani, Rubeta; Komarudin, Heru; Andrianto, Agus
"This paper reviews the development of oil palm with linkages to biofuel in Indonesia and analyzes the associated environmental and socioeconomic impacts. We selected three plantation study sites in West Papua (Manokwari), West Kalimantan (Kubu Raya), and Papua (Boven Digoel) to assess the impacts. Research findings indicate that the development of oil palm in all three sites has caused deforestation, resulting in significant secondary external impacts such as water pollution, soil erosion, and air pollution. In terms of social impacts, many stakeholder groups, i.e., employees, out-growers, and investing households, report significant gains. However, we found these benefits were not evenly distributed. Other stakeholders, particularly traditional landowners, experienced restrictions on traditional land use rights and land losses. We observed increasing land scarcity, rising land prices, and conflicts over land in all sites. Three major trade-offs are associated with the development of oil palm plantations, including those related to biofuels: unevenly distributed economic benefits are generated at the cost of significant environmental losses; there are some winners but also many losers; and economic gains accrue at the expense of weak rule of law. To reduce the negative impacts and trade-offs of oil palm plantations and maximize their economic potential, government decision makers need to restrict the use of forested land for plantation development, enforce existing regulations on concession allocation and environmental management, improve monitoring of labor practices, recognize traditional land use rights, and make land transfer agreements involving customary land more transparent and legally binding."
Illegal Logging and the Fate of Indonesia's Forests in Times of Regional Autonomy
(2004) Obidzinski, Krystof
"In the aftermath of decentralization and regional autonomy processes in post-1998 Indonesia, forests have become a de facto open access, resource in the country. Where previously the central government had held exclusive control over forest estate through state-based forestry management regime, the initial period following the implementation of decentralization and regional autonomy was marked by the emergence of claims to forest resources by a wide range of stakeholders. Such claims led to the fragmentation of forest policy in Indonesia, with districts and provinces promulgating local forestry rules and regulations with little regard for the central government authorities in Jakarta. The fragmentation of the forest policy in Indonesia resulted in widespread confusion about what rules did and did not apply in the forestry sector, ushering in legal uncertainty and the potential for conflict. "As the processes of decentralization and regional autonomy unfolded in Indonesia following the fall of Suharto's New Order regime in 1998, illegal logging in Indonesia appeared to have increased tremendously (Contreras-Hermosilla 2001; ITTO 2001; EIA/Telapak 2002; FWI/GFW 2002). Such apparent intensification and the spread of illegal logging activities prompted suggestions, particularly from Indonesian government officials but also from NGOs and international research organizations, that it was a relatively recent form of forest crime resulting from post-1998 breakdown of central government controls (EIA and Telapak 1999; EIA and Telapak 2000). In more recent times, such a critique is increasingly being used to stress the alleged correlation between illegal logging and deforestation to underline the districts and provinces irresponsibility and lack of capacity for self-rule. Within such context, decentralization in the forestry sector is being presented as a failure. Such views are the main driving force behind the calls for decentralization review (Jakarta Post 2003a; Jakarta Post 2003b; Jakarta Post 2003c; Pontianak Post 2003; Kaltim Post 2003), which leads to multi-layered political conflicts. This paper questions these assumptions. In the second section, it shows that spatial data on deforestation and forest degradation in Indonesia for the last several years do not provide a conclusive link between forest loss and decentralized forest governance. In the third part, it examines the historical foundations of illegal logging and determines that it is not a new phenomenon. Rather, illegal logging has long been a part of Indonesian forestry. Its recent prominence is merely due to its increased visibility as a result of the fragmentation of the forestry management regime. Fourth, the paper explains the 4 persistence of illegal logging through time as due primarily to clearly distinguishable and important functions that illegal logging plays in local economies, politics and social relationships. In this context, the long-standing inequalities in access to forest resources in Indonesia are an important factor driving illegal logging as well."