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Jakarta Post

Activists say climate change regulations neglect public participation

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, December 15, 2016

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Activists say climate change regulations neglect public participation Orangutan in the wild forests of Sumatra. (Shutterstock/File)

E

nvironment activists are calling on the government to increase public participation in forest management as the urge to deal with climate change is increasing.

Forest People Program researcher Emil Kleden said on Thursday that the lack of government regulations that highlight public participation resulted in neglect of forest control and management in Indonesia.

"The public could actually participate by overseeing the government on forest management effectiveness, but until now we do not see such regulations," he said during a discussion in Jakarta.

The government has formulated 12 regulations on climate change management, from presidential decrees to gubernatorial decrees, but no article in the regulations stipulates public participation, according to research by the Association for Community and Ecology-Based Law Reform (HuMa).

In a similar vein, HuMa executive director Dahniar Andriani said the government had to encourage public participation, particularly by indigenous people who had managed customary forests for decades.

"Managing customary forests is a tradition for indigenous people. We want the government to appreciate that," he said.

Andi Buyung Saputra, head of the Ammatoa Kajang customary institution in South Sulawesi, said that the government should not underestimate public participation over climate change.

"It is the indigenous people who were directly responsible for the forests even before we knew the term 'climate change'," he said. (adt/evi)

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