Law enforcement and deforestation: Lessons for Indonesia from Brazil

Abstract

The Government of Indonesia has committed to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. However, the country suffers from one of the most significant illegal logging and illegal land clearing conditions in the world. Brazil was in a similar condition to Indonesia when it implemented an aggressive and strategic forest law enforcement policy which enable it to significantly reduce deforestation. Indonesia does not have such a strategic approach to forest law enforcement. It should consider the features of Brazil’s strategy in order to improve its forest law enforcement activities in order to be able to deliver on the reduction of forest emissions that it has pledged in Nationally Determined Contributions statement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Indonesia’s efforts, and those of other countries, would be enhanced by research on the reasons at the root of the unsuccessful forest law enforcement policies and activities over the two decades since the spotlight was put on illegal logging at the first Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade conference held in Bali in 2001.