Indonesia actively demonstrates its commitment to global biodiversity conservation through participation in various international agreements and agreements. One form of this commitment is ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which binds Indonesia to protect biodiversity from exploitation and destruction. Furthermore, Indonesia has also drafted Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan Indonesia actively demonstrates its commitment to global biodiversity conservation through participation in various international treaties and agreements. One form of this commitment is ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which binds Indonesia to protect biodiversity from exploitation and destruction. Furthermore, Indonesia has also been drafted
Indonesia's active participation in the international biodiversity conservation agenda confirms its important role in global efforts to preserve life on earth. However, this commitment needs to be balanced with consistent implementation at the national level so that biodiversity conservation goals can be achieved optimally. This commitment positions Indonesia as an important actor in global efforts to protect biodiversity and preserve natural resources.
However, the irony behind this commitment is that there are major challenges in implementing conservation in Indonesia. The reality on the ground shows a very serious conflict of interest. The forest area regime is considered incapable of stopping the rate of destruction of natural resources and biodiversity in Indonesia, so far. Forest Watch Indonesia's records (2024) show that 90% of the destruction of natural resources in the form of natural forests occurs outside conservation areas, namely Protected Forest Areas, Limited Production Forest Areas, Permanent Production Forest Areas, Converted Production Forest Areas, and Other Use Areas. This indicates that the threat of biodiversity loss is very real outside formally conserved areas.
Data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry reveals that 6.91 million hectares of land have been released from state forest areas, and 78.39% of them are for oil palm plantations, including for bioenergy. FWI (2024) notes that 5.5 million hectares have been released for oil palm plantations. Pressure on biodiversity conservation is increasingly difficult with the high interest in natural resources in the forestry sector from oil palm plantation businesses. The complexity of the Right to Cultivate (HGU) is considered a regime that also threatens the achievement of biodiversity conservation goals in Indonesia.
FWI data (2024) shows that in various regions in Indonesia, biodiversity hotspots are found within HGU areas. It was recorded that 19.16% of the total HGU area (analysis excluding Papua Land) is significantly an essential ecosystem area (KEE). The areas in this analysis include Java, Bali, Nusra, Maluku, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Kalimantan. KEE (Essential Ecosystem Areas) which include various important ecosystems such as mangroves, peat, and karst, which are habitats for various rare species and high conservation value areas (ABKT) which also include wildlife corridors and biodiversity parks to protect flora and fauna, which are conservation efforts outside the status of conservation areas.
This overlap triggers the exploitation of natural resources by the HGU regime. The operation of large plantation businesses such as palm oil can threaten the ecosystem that is biodiversity. This shows that land governance still faces serious challenges between business interests and nature conservation.
The governance of Land Use Rights (HGU) shows poor performance. There is no transparency and deliberate defiance by the Minister of ATR/BPN against the law. The civil society HGU information dispute is a portrait that the Ministry of ATR/BPN is reluctant to comply with the decision of the Public Information Commission, the PTUN decision, and even the Supreme Court decision to open HGU documents. This encourages ongoing agrarian conflicts and limits the rights and access of local communities and indigenous peoples to land information. Therefore, HGU is implemented without participation, the principle of FPIC and is implemented without good accountability. This is a portrait Bad Governance from the HGU regime in Indonesia which can trigger abuse of authority and corruption in the natural resources sector.
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