The global GIZ Forest Governance Programme (FGP) and the bilateral German-Indonesian Forests and Climate Change Programme (FORCLIME) have been working together since 2013 in Indonesia, to improve forest governance and to strengthen access of local or customary communities to forest resources.

How does FORCLIME support the Resolution of Forest Conflicts?

The two GIZ programmes cooperate with the Indonesian multi-stakeholder platform Working Group on Forest Land Tenure (WGT) and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry on the mapping of customary forest, land use rights and related conflicts, as well as the development of innovative mechanisms for conflict resolution at local level in FORCLIME pilot districts Berau and Kapuas Hulu in Kalimantan.

What has been achieved so far?

In support of the resolution of land and forest related conflicts the following results have been achieved so far:

• A study on the institutional and legal set-up for forest conflict resolution in Indonesia was conducted between March and December 2015. The study underlined the need for building capacity for multi-party mediation at local level, for better coordination of conflict resolution across sectors and across all levels of forest governance and suggested the set-up of a conflict resolution mechanism on a pilot basis.
• Land tenure assessments were realized in several Forest Management Units (KPHs) across Indonesia for providing comprehensive information and data on current and potential conflicts.
• Trainings on land tenure analysis, participatory mapping and mediation of conflicts have been conducted for government staff, private sector and civil society has been conducted in Jakarta, as well as in Berau and Kapuas Hulu districts.
• Two conflict management processes were started: In Berau, an initial Memorandum of Understanding was signed between four village communities and a state timber company to develop a “partnership scheme” inside the Forest Management Unit area. In Kapuas Hulu, a conflict concerning administrative village boundaries was successfully resolved through a mediation which was facilitated by WGT. The two village communities Menua Sadap and Pulau Manak celebrated in March 2016 the agreement over their administrative village boundaries by carrying out a special adat ceremony based on their customary traditions to symbolize the end of a long-standing boundary dispute.
  
  
  
  
• Guidelines and lessons learned on mediation and conflict assessment were prepared, published and some already successfully mainstreamed in the in-house training centres of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
• Input to the formulation or improvement of national regulations and laws on conflict resolution was provided. In collaboration with the MoEF, WGT assisted the formulation of the new Ministry Regulation on Conflict Handling.
• A meeting was organized to review and discuss with various organizations (Indonesian Institute Conflict Transformation, PUSDIKLAT, Impartial Mediator Network, etc) the existing mediation curricula. The meeting identified the need to adopt the existing curricula to the particular considerations of multi-party mediation and to the methodology of experiential adult learning.
• As a direct follow-up by the above mentioned study, the Desk Resolusi Konflik Lahan (DRKL) was established in Kapuas Hulu early 2017 and legalized by Regent’s Decree No 110/2017. The aim of the DRKL is to strengthen coordination and mediation of forest and land related conflicts. DRKL consists of a mediation team with 24 officers from different government agencies and Kapuas Hulu based NGOs and a Secretariat for conflict handling hosted by the Dinas Pemberdayakan Masyarakat dan Desa (DPMD).
• The newly established DRKL of Kapuas Hulu district was officially launched on 22 February 2017.
• FORCLIME entered a collaboration with the Conflict Resolution Unit (CRU) in March 2017 to jointly conduct research on mediation. The aim of this research is to identify principles and conditions (“best practices”) for successful multi-stakeholder mediation processes in Indonesia and for sharing and dissemination of the results with a wider audience.
• Early May 2017 the mediation team of DRKL received their first training on mediation. During the training, DSKL members have also identified a list of conflicts which are of priority for the District of Kapuas Hulu and have formed two mediation teams.

Way forward

The DRKL opens up significant opportunities for building staff capacity, and for developing connections and more effective coordination among the agencies and organizations responsible for natural resources management. DRKL must underscore a core commitment to neutrality, develop a clear mandate and designated responsibilities, promotes integration with other agencies and initiatives, including an expanded role and dedicated funding for conflict coordination and mediation.

FORCLIME will support the DRKL during a 3 years pilot phase up to the End of 2019. The focus in the early stages will be on piloting mediations and documentation of the processes and outcomes. Ways will have to be identified to share emerging lessons with a wider audience. The Komunitas Penyelesaian Konflik Sumber Daya Alam (KPKSDA) and the CRU-Technical Advisory Team meetings provide immediate opportunities for this purpose.

Furthermore, the DSKL will need assistance to develop an online system and data base for receiving reports about conflicts and referring them to the authorities in charge.

The District government of Kapuas Hulu will need to explore options for sustainable funding of conflict coordination and mediation. WGT-FORCLIME will ensure that activities, developments and lessons learned are communicated with the relevant authorities on national level and inputs are provided for future national legal and policy decisions in conflict resolution

Ultimately, experiences and lessons learned during the pilot phase may be replicated to other FORCLIME pilot districts.