The report describes the impacts of forestry decentralization on district finance, local communities and spatial planning, drawing on an 18-month research project in Bulungan District in East Kalimantan Province. It describes forestry management policies following the implementation of regional autonomy, and their impacts on district revenue and local livelihoods. The authors analyze district spatial planning, forest land use and community control over forest lands. While agreeing that decentralized forest policies have had positive impacts in Bulungan District, the report highlighted a number of issues that both district and central governments and stakeholders need to examine if the decentralization of the forestry sector is to be successful. These issues include the lack of coherent policies and coordination between central and district governments; lack of adequate resources on the part of both district and central governments to manage, monitor and control the use of the forest resource; weak district tax collection mechanisms and ineffective imposition of penalties, and the failure of the decentralized policies to ensure that the local people benefit from the resource.
Authors and Publishers
Samsu
Suramenggala, I.
Komarudin, H.
Ngau, Y.
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is a non-profit, scientific facility that conducts research on the most pressing challenges of forest and landscapes management around the world. With our global, multidisciplinary approach, we aim to improve human well-being, protect the environment, and increase equity. To do so, we help policymakers, practitioners and communities make decisions based on solid science about how they use and manage their forests and landscapes.
Data provider
CGIAR (CGIAR)
CGIAR is the only worldwide partnership addressing agricultural research for development, whose work contributes to the global effort to tackle poverty, hunger and major nutrition imbalances, and environmental degradation.