Various parties have welcomed the Determination of Forest Areas with Special Management (KHDPK) in Java, some of which are designated for social forestry. The policy is expected to resolve various problems in forest areas with community involvement through sustainable forest management.
Various parties have welcomed the Determination of Forest Areas with Special Management (KHDPK) in Java, some of which are designated for social forestry. The policy is expected to resolve various problems in forest areas with community involvement through sustainable forest management.
The government through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry on April 5, 2022 has designated Forest Areas with Special Management (KHDPK) in part of state forests located in production forest areas and protected forests in the provinces of Central Java, East Java, West Java and Banten Province. Based on the Decree of the Minister of Environment and Forestry Number 287 of 2022, the KHDPK covering an area of 1,103,941 hectares is for social forestry purposes.
Social forestry is a sustainable forest management system implemented in State Forest Areas or Rights Forests/Forests implemented by local communities or Customary Law Communities.
Barid Hardiyanto from the Institute for Research and Development of Natural Resources and the Environment (LPPSLH) assessed that the policy would have various positive impacts, including a high sense of ownership of the forest by the community, increased productivity which would have an impact on better community income through agroforestry.
"High productivity will have an impact on better income for farmers. So the poverty that occurs in 5,400 villages that have forests claimed by the state as state forest areas, with the expansion of this access to KHDPK, it will create higher income for the community," said Barid Hardiyanto in the Village Corner Forum webinar themed KHDPK as Justice for Forest Management in Java Island, Tuesday (16/8).
In addition to social forestry, KHDPK is also useful for the use of forest areas, forest rehabilitation, forest protection and the use of environmental services.
Chairman of the Indonesian Social Forestry Management Association (AP2SI), Roni Usman Kusmana, said that community involvement in social forestry has resulted in environmental improvements, such as reducing cases of forest and land fires in the Kamojang conservation area, Garut, West Java.
"I'll take Kamojang as an example. Every year, Kamojang experiences extraordinary fires, but
"Alhamdulillah, since 2017 until now, everything can be minimized, and fires are almost impossible to happen anymore, because they themselves are the ones who guard and care for it," said Roni Usman.
Roni Usman hopes that the determination of the KHDPK can answer the ecological crisis or restore forest areas, resolve conflicts and improve the welfare of communities living around the forest.
KHDPK Efforts to Improve Forest Management Policy in Java
In a press release, Thursday (21/7), the Director General of Social Forestry and Environmental Partnerships (PSKL), Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Bambang Suprianto explained that through KHDPK it is hoped that it can answer social and ecological problems in the forest areas of Java.
He explained that based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (2021), of the 25,863 villages located around forest areas, 36.7 percent were categorized as poor. Meanwhile, the poverty rate in Java Island is 14 million people or 52 percent of the total national poor population of 26.5 million. Another problem is that there are villages or hamlets in isolated and underdeveloped forest areas covering an area of 7,236 hectares. In addition, of the 2.1 million hectares of critical land in Java, 472 thousand hectares are in forest areas.
"Well, that condition, ladies and gentlemen, open up a shared awareness to improve forest management policies in Java, most of which are managed by Perhutani. Perhutani is actually an operator, not a state, an economic operator, BUMN is the same as HPH HTI, only owned by the state," said Bambang Suprianto in the National Social Forestry Webinar, Thursday (21/7).
He said that the KHDPK policy could address community problems in forest areas, in addition, so that the National Forestry Company (Perhutani) could focus on its business.
Following the enactment of Decree 287 of 2022, the government is preparing to draft the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation to accommodate the dynamics and facts in the field in the form of guidelines for KHDPK in general, including social forestry.
Meanwhile, regarding the concerns of some Perhutani employees with the existence of the KHDPK Decree, the Government has also considered this and has been regulated in the regulation. Perhutani employees will be transformed into Social Forestry assistants.
News Source:
August 18, 2022
