Chapter 11 - Collaborative Governance of Forest Resources in Indonesia: Giving Over Managerial Authority to Decision Makers on the Sites

Abstract

A decade and a half of the implementation of forestry decentralization in Indonesia has resulted in impacts beyond the theoretical assumption that it would have implications for better forest governance. In fact, the decentralization still keeps standing deforestation and forest degradation rates going up. Moreover it is unable to increase local community welfare significantly. The main problems considered were less optimal span of control in terms of limited professional foresters within local forestry services compared to very large areas that have to be monitored, an insufficient budget, as well as limited physical resources. The recent concept of Forest Management Units (FMUs) with the understanding of institutions equipped with professional foresters at the site level (Kesatuan Pemangkuan Hutans (KPHs)) is believed will become a solution to governance-related problems, and therefore an analysis of its potential is an objective of this chapter.