Institutional fragmentation of peat fire management in Indonesia: a knowledge management perspective

Abstract

The importance of intersectoral collaboration in policy implementation has been widely accepted. Concepts of intersectoral collaboration and policy coordination are theoretically appealing; however, it is challenging to implement in practice, including in forest fire management. This paper aims to map the institutions on forest fire management and analyze the rationality in using knowledge in their duties and authorities. Using stakeholder mapping combined with the Concern-Knowledge-Action approach, this study is conducted at the national level in Indonesia, and takes two sub-national levels, South Sumatera and Central Kalimantan, as the case study. There are many institutions involved in fire management in all governance levels, including at the provincial-district level, as well as at the sub-district-village level, but the institutional fragmentation in peat fire management is still found. In managing fire in South Sumatera and Central Kalimantan, it is not handled by a specific institution having the most influential and important positions. They have different authorities but the same potential power to prevent and combat fire. A complex interconnection among them indicates the need for effective institution integration. Less connectivity among the knowledge pool is also found, especially between private – community, NGO – academia, and government – community. Finally, knowledge improvement on fire prevention method especially in defining a community livelihood offset, as well as the ex-post fire management (measuring the level of fire impact and its recovery methods) is needed to fill the gap of knowledge. A stakeholder Forum is one of the options to improve intersectoral coordination in managing forest fire in peatland and enhance the effectiveness of knowledge sharing. At community level, conducting informal discussion and capacity-building programs would be feasible options for better coordination and improving knowledge.