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Civil groups demand protection of indigenous rights in conservation law
Civil society organizations have demanded the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights as the Constitutional Court reviews the newly revised conservation law, which potentially enables the exclusion and criminalization of indigenous communities for defending their customary lands.
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Planting trees: A villager of the Sihaporas indigenous community in North Sumatra plants a tree on their customary land in August 2024 to help regrow the rainforest. (Courtesy of AMAN Tano Batak) (Courtesy of AMAN Tano Batak)
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ivil society organizations have demanded the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights as the Constitutional Court reviews the newly revised conservation law, which potentially enables the exclusion and criminalization of indigenous communities for defending their customary lands.
Anggi Prayoga of the Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) explained on Wednesday that Law No. 32/2024 on Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation expands state authority in designating conservation areas, while simultaneously restricting the rights of indigenous peoples over their ancestral territories.
The law, a revision of the 1990 conservation law, stipulates that conservation zones, among others, cover the so-called “preservation areas, including customary forests”.
Furthermore, it states that if any rights-holder in a preservation area refuses to engage in conservation activities, “the person concerned must relinquish their rights to the land in exchange for compensation”, or risk criminal penalties.
“Instead of strengthening conservation, the law opens a loophole for increased criminalization [of indigenous peoples],” Anggi said during a discussion hosted by the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) at its headquarters in Tebet, South Jakarta.
Read also: House passes long-awaited nature conservation law revision
It is reported that around 35 percent of indigenous territories now fall within designated conservation zones. Yet, indigenous voices were not meaningfully included during the legislative process, said Lasti Fardila Noor of Indigenous and Local Communities Conserved Areas (ICCAs) Indonesia.
