Which Way Forward

CHAPTER SIX

Reforming the Reformistsin Post-SoehartoIndonesia

Chip Fay and Martua Sirait

In the early 1980s, in what could be considered one of the largest land grabs in history, the Indonesian government implemented a forest zonation system that classified most of the Outer Islands as state forestlands. Seventy-eight percent of Indonesia, or more than 140 million ha, was placed under the responsibility of the Ministry of Forestry and Estate Crops (MoFEC). This included more than 90% of the Outer Islands. Estimates place as many as 65 million people living within these areas.¹ According to the Ministry of Forestry (MoF), the creation of the state forest zone nullified local customary (adat) rights, making thousands of communities invisible to ...