https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2601-733X
The high rate of deforestation in the world has seriously impacted climate change; and one of the causes of deforestation is hyper-capitalist consumption in countries that are part of the international trade in products from forest land conversion. Therefore, these countries try to reduce deforestation through the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) programme. Indonesia is one of the countries designated to implement this programme, but it has yet to achieve maximum results due to political and economic contestation that has weakened the programme. This book reflects Indonesia’s experience in implementing the REDD+ programme and describes how the neoliberal approach is used in managing forests in Indonesia.
This new book by David Aled Williams uses a political ecology perspective to examine the implementation of REDD+ in Indonesia. This perspective is used because REDD+ is a form of environmental conservation closely related to political, economic, and social dynamics. Williams divides the history of the dynamics of forest management in Indonesia into five periods: precolonial, colonial, old order, new order, and reform. Although each period has different arrangements, one thing is the same: the marginalization of local communities’ rights to forest management. In short, the government will reward groups they favor and punish those not aligned with the planned economic motives.
Williams describes how the political system has worked in REDD+ management in Indonesia since the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who signed a memorandum of understanding with Norway in 2010 and followed up with the establishment of the Management Agency (Badan Pengelola) REDD+, a governing body equivalent to a ministry that reports directly to the president for REDD+ implementation. Despite strong support from the president, the lack of support from the regional government and the parliament meant that the programme could not provide optimal results. In the next government period led by President Jokowi, Badan Pangelola REDD+ was dissolved in 2015, and the government delegated its authority to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, which was feared to lead to corruption. Williams states that since 2015 the REDD+ programme has no longer been prioritized because it is considered to interfere with land conversion interests, comprehensively explaining that oligarchy has a significant influence on the decline of this programme.
Furthermore, the author discovered that the UN-REDD+ pilot project in Central Sulawesi involved difficulties, particularly in two villages, namely Lembah Mukti Village and Talaga Village. The author describes the perspective of local communities that could have benefited more from the programme. Lembah Mukti villagers agreed to implement forest rehabilitation activities, while Talaga villagers refused. This is due to the two villages’ different conditions and socio-cultural dynamics, such as local beliefs, values, norms, traditions, and practices that influence their attitudes and behaviors towards forest conservation and management. An NGO called Pokja Pantau carried out advocacy to raise awareness among the people about the potential dangers of REDD+ to their livelihoods dependent on forests, such as restricting their use of forest resources. The author reveals obstacles in implementing REDD+ pilots, namely the FPIC (Free, Prior, and Informed Consent) process, which is still new and unfamiliar in the region, and the difficulty of interacting with local villagers.
In addition to the low involvement of local communities, the author also believes that the REDD+ programme has led to power contestation between various parties, including the state forest bureaucracy and political and economic elites. There are tensions between beneficiaries and losers at national and local levels. In addition, there are inequalities in the distribution of power and resources, as well as resistance and agency of local communities in the face of environmental conservation policies. Officials and global interests have disabled local systems of livelihoods, production, and socio-political organization and, in their struggle to control resources, have characterized historically productive or benign local production practices as unsustainable.
This book illustrates how politics and economics influence deforestation and environmental justice issues. The author reveals how environmental policies such as REDD+ are confronted with elite interests that encourage large-scale wealth creation through natural resource extraction as well as forms of nepotism and power-grabbing. Economic and business groups interested in extractive industries influence the formulation of government policies related to forest and natural resource management. They can use their wealth and political power to influence policies to achieve their goals. This narrative is relevant as REDD+ pilots are conducted in peripheral communities engaged in small-scale economic activities considered environmentally damaging but not in mining or plantation areas that cause much greater deforestation.
At the end of the book, the author reminds us that REDD+ or other neoliberal forest conservation schemes are difficult to implement and difficult to have a significant impact if they have to deal with the complex political-economic conditions in the country where they are implemented. This book provides a perspective of an environmental management in the neoliberal era that does not entirely on the side of the environmental justice but rather the interests of its actors. William argues that the REDD+ programme has a larger goal not only of forest conservation but also a form of ‘greenwashing’, an effort to hide hypercapitalism towards the environment. In addition, William expressed his concern that the global REDD+ programme is a form of neocolonialism in which developed countries have political and economic control over poorer countries with this programme.
Thus, this book analyzes the complex relationship between politics, economics, and the environment and considers environmental policy’s social and justice dimensions. The book aims to provide important insights into power distribution, inequality, conflicts of interest, community participation, and environmental impacts of REDD+ implementation in Indonesia. As such, it is essential for readers involved in realizing better environmental governance.