Commercialism and Conservationism: Law in the Forests of Indonesia - from Colonisation to Climate Change

摘要

In recent years REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) or, more recently, REDD- plus, has been confirmed as a critical component of current global attempts to mitigate the anthropogenic effects of carbon emission and to combat climate change. However, Indigenous peoples around the world have been voicing concerns over how the emerging legal and policy schemes relating to REDD recognise and affect their rights to customary forest domains. As the largest contributor to global carbon emissions through deforestation, Indonesia is a prime candidate for REDD schemes. This article places the emerging global and national REDD framework in the context of historical legal treatment of forests in Indonesia, and argues that it continues the pattern of exclusion for Indigenous peoples. The article maps the legal landscape in relation to Indonesia's forests from the colonial era to the climate change-related REDD regulations promulgated in 2009. In doing so, it traces two ideologies of colonial provenance commercialism and conservationism - evident in the law relating to forests in Indonesia.