T

he Forestry Ministry has set 5.4 million hectares of the production forest for the people’s plantation forest (Hutan Tanaman Rakyat, HTR) policy.

However, after more than two years, the implementation of community participation on the people forest plantation (HTR program), as what happened in a Taman Bandung village in West Java,  people felt they received little from the policy. They even felt disadvantaged by the program.

One of the disadvantages was they spent much time on the program such as promotion activities, meeting in different government offices and conducting comparison studies in some districts.
Sometimes they spent a day on promotion.  

If the time spent converted into money for more than two years, they would have spent a lot of money.  

Today it is noted that there are 91 households who joined the program.   

Therefore, they argued that the policy just benefited government apparatus and outsiders at the expense of the local people. Even though they have already followed the procedure and all requirements, however, the implementation of the policy was very complicated and late.

It was noted that until August 2009, the permission for utilizing forest products of the HTR was issued only for four groups of the farmers.

Today many local people in the area are frustrated and bored with the program. One of the farmer group heads stated that he would bring the issue to the court if the policy was not manifested.
They called the HTR, Halangan Tanaman Rakyat (the people’s plantation obstacles)
In Sarolangun, Jambi, an area of 18,840 hectares is provided for HTR. According to print and electronic news reports a pilot project has begun in that area.

But local people denied this. There is no single unit of the HTR that has been operating there. It means there is no plantation yet in the area.

A piece of the short story above describes that even though the policy on the HTR  is pro poor in character, however, the policy often does not s work in the implementation.

There is much homework for policy makers and related stakeholders to refine the policy. The main weaknesses of the policy regarding the HTR are:

First, there is stagnant flow of information, especially concerning some obstacles of the implementation from the government to the local people.

Second, there is a lack of incentives for compensation of the involvement of the local people.

Basically, the local people fully support the policy. But the government needs to give concrete evidence about the benefits of such a program.

The fate of the HTR policy and program will be the same as other forestry programs, more as a political propaganda rather than a real policy if there is no quick realization of sustainable programs.

The policy will only marginalize and impoverish the local people if the policy is not responsive toward the local aspirations and needs.      



The writer is PhD student at Charles Sturt University Australia.