Legal Protection Of Mangrove Forests: From Community Consensus To Written Law

Abstract

Environmental degradation occurs worldwide and has become an issue of international interest. It has been observed since the 1950s and also affects the ASEAN region, including Indonesia. Some cases of environmental damage in Indonesia include pollution cases, such as forest fire cases, as well as illegal logging, and mining in almost all Indonesian provinces. In relation to the protection and management of the environment at the provincial level, the government of South Sulawesi takes responsibility for protecting and managing the living environment, including concerns related to the mangroves. There are some laws (community consensus) that need to be formulated into written law in order to preserve the mangrove forest from environmental damage. The aim of this paper is to identify the extent to which the community consensus in the form of PerDes (a written law based on village regulatiosn) can be transferred as a written law in order to preserve mangroves from environmental damage. This study was conducted in two villages located in Tongke-Tongke in Sinjai and Tanakeke Island in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The data were predominantly primary in nature whereas secondary data was used to support the concept and results. The findings show that the unwritten laws regarding the preservation of mangrove forests has not been affirmed as a written law in the village of Tongke-Tongke in Sinjai, whereas in Tanakeke Island, the unwritten law, inspired by the consensus of the community (Bangko Tapampang), has been affirmed in village regulation (PerDes). The four villages in Tanakeke Island have initiated a village regulation concerning mangrove management. Both Tongke-Tongke in Sinjai and Tanakeke Island have large areas of protected mangrove. The objective is to highlight that the unwritten law should be formulated in writing as PerDes to guarantee that future generations will abide by the laws to preserve the mangrove forests. This means that to preserve the mangrove forests in Tongke-Tongke in the future, those local values of preserving mangroves in Tongke-Tongke should be transformed into PerDes