The Concept of State Control over Forests and Forest Areas in Indonesia
Article Sidebar
Download : 17 times
Main Article Content
Abstract
Constitutionally, the concept of a state's right to control forests and forest areas is public and exercised through administrative permits, but it is often misunderstood as an absolute right, which can lead to mismanagement and ecological damage. This research aims to describe the concept of state attributive control over forests and forest areas through standardized permitting instruments. This type of research is normative, employing a statutory approach to analyze the basic concept of the state's right to control, that outlined in Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and relevant Indonesian regulations. This research shows, first, that the error in distinguishing between the concepts of rights and permits in forest control reflects the misconception that state authority is absolute, whereas it is attributed to the public interest. Second, it's important to understand that permits are a way for the government to control forests, which is done through permits for using forest products, area use permits, and environmental services, as explained in the Forestry Law, the Omnibus Law, and other related regulations. With this concept, forest utilization permits are not merely administrative instruments, but rather social and ecological contracts that involve violations of environmental
Aldyan, Arsyad, and others, ‘Local Wisdom-Based Environmental Management Policy in Indonesia : Challenges and Implementation’, Journal of Law, Environmental and Justice, 2.3 (2024), pp. 332–54, doi:10.62264/jlej.v2i3.100
Anindyati, Farista Dewi, Abdul Haris Farid, and Dwi Wulan Titik Andari, ‘Urgensi Autentikasi Dan Legalisasi Arsip Pertanahan Hasil Digitalisasi’, Tunas Agraria, 3.3 (2020), doi:10.31292/jta.v3i3.121
Anugrah, Iqra, ‘Land Control, Coal Resource Exploitation and Democratic Decline in Indonesia’, TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, 20.5 (2023), doi:10.1017/trn.2023.4
Ardani, Mira Novana, ‘Penyelenggaraan Tertib Administrasi Bidang Pertanahan Untuk Menunjang Pelaksanaan Kewenangan, Tugas Dan Fungsi i Badan Pertanahan Nasional’, Administrative Law and Governance Journal, 2.3 (2019), pp. 476–92, doi:10.14710/alj.v2i3.476-492
Arizona, Yance, ‘The Return of Pancasila: Political and Legal Rhetoric Against Transnational Islamist Imposition’, Constitutional Review, 5.1 (2019), pp. 164–93, doi:10.31078/consrev516
Astuti, Rini, and Yuti A Fatimah, ‘Science in the Court: Expert Knowledge and Forest Fires on Indonesia’s Plantations’, Environmental Science & Policy, 151 (2024), p. 103631, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.103631
Azhar, Muhamad, ‘Hak Menguasai Negara Atas Sumur Minyak Melalui Pendirian Mini Refinery Plant Di Kabupaten Bojonegoro’, Administrative Law and Governance Journal, 1.1 (2018), pp. 90–102 <https://ejournal2.undip.ac.id/index.php/alj/article/view/2758>
Basuki, Agung, and others, ‘Establishing Ecological Justice in the Governance of Land Inventory , Ownership , and Utilisation in Indonesia’, Journal of Law, Environmental and Justice, 18.2 (2023), pp. 137–54, doi:10.62264/jlej.v1i2.12
Bo’a, Fais Yonas, ‘Pancasila Sebagai Sumber Hukum Dalam Sistem Hukum Nasional Pancasila as the Source of Law in the National Legal System’, Jurnal Konstitusi, 15.1 (2018), pp. 27–49, doi:10.31078/jk1512
Chervier, Colas, and others, ‘Impact of Indonesia’s Forest Management Units on the Reduction of Forest Loss and Forest Fires in Sulawesi’, Ecological Economics, 227 (2025), doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108418
Delfirman, and Hilmy M. Dzaki, ‘Shifts in the Control of Natural Resources: An Analysis of the Resource Curse in Tin-Rich Bangka Belitung, Indonesia’, in Extractive Industries and Society, preprint, Elsevier Ltd, 1 September 2025, XXIII, doi:10.1016/j.exis.2025.101682
Fatima, Sidra, and others, ‘Sustainable Forestry and Environmental Impacts: Assessing the Economic, Environmental, and Social Benefits of Adopting Sustainable Agricultural Practices’, Ecological Frontiers, published online 2024, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecofro.2024.05.009
Faxon, Hilary Oliva, and others, ‘Territorializing Spatial Data: Controlling Land through One Map Projects in Indonesia and Myanmar’, Political Geography, 98 (2022), p. 102651, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2022.102651
Hanum, Willy Naresta, and Muhamad Nafi Uz Zaman, ‘Existence of Human Rights Protection in Land and Mining Conflicts : Evidence from Indonesia’, Journal of Law, Environmental and Justice, 2.3 (2024), pp. 285–306, doi:10.62264/jlej.v2i3.107
Harada, Kazuhiro, and others, ‘The Role of NGOs in Recognition and Sustainable Maintenance of Customary Forests within Indigenous Communities: The Case of Kerinci, Indonesia’, Land Use Policy, 113 (2022), p. 105865, doi:10.1016/J.LANDUSEPOL.2021.105865
Hari Akbar, Jefri, and Soeganda Priyatna, ‘Kudus, Local Wisdom, and Tobacco Industry: Historical Trajectory of the Employment Relationship Between Scissoring Workers and the Company’, LJIH, 33.1 (2025), pp. 168–91 <http://www.ejournal.umm.ac.id/index.php/legality>
Hartanto, Ponco, Subagio Gigih, and Riami Chancy, ‘Discourse of Ecological Damage as a State Financial Loss : Evidence from Indonesia’, Journal of Law, Environmental and Justice, 2.3 (2024), pp. 307–31, doi:10.62264/jlej.v2i3.110
Hermawan, Silvio, Moch Faisal Karim, and Lena Rethel, ‘Institutional Layering in Climate Policy: Insights from REDD+ Governance in Indonesia’, Forest Policy and Economics, 154 (2023), p. 103037, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2023.103037
Ismail, Nurhasan, and others, ‘Penjabaran Asas-Asas Pembaharuan Agraria Berdasarkan Tap Mpr No Ix / Mpr / 2001 Dalam Perundang-Undangan Di Bidang Pertanahan’, Mimbar Hukum, 22.2 (2010), pp. 360–72
Karjoko, Lego, I Gusti Ayu Ketut Rachmi Handayani, and Willy Naresta Hanum, ‘Legal Policy of Old Wells Petroleum Mining Management Based on Social Justice in Realising Energy Sovereignty’, Sriwijaya Law Review, 6.2 (2022), pp. 286–303, doi:10.28946/slrev.Vol6.Iss2. 1745.pp286-303
Kodir, Abdul, and others, ‘Integrated Post Mining Landscape for Sustainable Land Use: A Case Study in South Sumatera, Indonesia’, Sustainable Environment Research, 27.4 (2017), pp. 203–13, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.serj.2017.03.003
Kunz, Yvonne, and others, ‘“The Fridge in the Forest”: Historical Trajectories of Land Tenure Regulations Fostering Landscape Transformation in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia’, Forest Policy and Economics, 81 (2017), pp. 1–9, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2017.04.005
Liliyani, Pertiwi, Tanjung Nugroho, and Dwi Wulan Titik Andari, ‘Inventarisasi Penguasaan, Pemilikan, Penggunaan Dan Pemanfaatan Tanah (IP4T) Partisipatif Di Kabupaten Madiun’, Tunas Agraria, 3.2 (2020), pp. 157–76, doi:10.31292/jta.v3i2.114
Manullang, Fernando Morganda, ‘The Purpose of Law, Pancasila and Legality According To Ernst Utrecht: A Critical Reflection’, Indonesia Law Review, 5.2 (2015), doi:10.15742/ilrev.v5n2.141
Martini, Sri, Maiza Hazrina Ash-Shafikh, and Nur Choirul Afif, ‘Implementasi Reforma Agraria Terhadap Pemenuhan Harapan Masyarakat Yang Bersengketa Lahan’, BHUMI: Jurnal Agraria Dan Pertanahan, 5.2 (2019), pp. 150–62, doi:10.31292/jb.v5i2.367
Maryati, Sri, ‘Land Capability Evaluation of Reclamation Areain Indonesia Coal Mining Using LCLP Software’, Procedia Earth and Planetary Science, 6 (2013), pp. 465–73, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeps.2013.01.061
Mensah, Linda, ‘Legal Pluralism in Practice: Critical Reflections on the Formalisation of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) and Customary Land Tenure in Ghana’, The Extractive Industries and Society, 8.4 (2021), p. 100973, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2021.100973
Moeliono, Moira, and others, ‘REDD+ in Indonesia: A New Mode of Governance or Just Another Project?’, Forest Policy and Economics, 121 (2020), p. 102316, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102316
Muttaqin, Tatag, and others, ‘Asymmetric Power Relations in Multistakeholder Initiatives: Insights from the Government-Instituted Indonesian National Forestry Council’, Trees, Forests and People, 12 (2023), p. 100406, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2023.100406
Ngo, T D, and Mahdi, ‘Chapter 14 - Targeting Deforestation Through Local Forest Governance in Indonesia and Vietnam’, in Redefining Diversity & Dynamics of Natural Resources Management in Asia, Volume 1, ed. by Ganesh P Shivakoti, Ujjwal Pradhan, and Helmi (Elsevier, 2017), pp. 273–88, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-805454-3.00014-1
Nizammudin, Nizammudin, ‘Hak Menguasai Negara Dalam Sistem Tata Kelola Minyak Dan Gas Bumi: Analisis Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 36/PUU-X/2012’, Jurnal Hukum Dan Peradilan, 5.3 (2016), p. 407
Pardede, Marulak, ‘Hak Menguasai Negara Dalam Jaminan Kepastian Hukum Kepemilikan Hak Atas Tanah Dan Peruntukannya’, Jurnal Penelitian Hukum De Jure, 19.4 (2019), p. 405, doi:10.30641/dejure.2019.v19.405-420
Pratiwi, and others, ‘Managing and Reforesting Degraded Post-Mining Landscape in Indonesia: A Review’, Land, 10.6 (2021), doi:10.3390/land10060658
Qurbani, Indah Dwi, Ilham Dwi Rafiqi, and Ilham Dwi Rafiqi, ‘Prospective Green Constitution in New and Renewable Energy Regulation’, Legality: Jurnal Ilmiah Hukum, 30.1 (2022), pp. 68–87, doi:10.22219/ljih.v30i1.18289
Rohmy, Atikah Mardhiya, Hartiwiningsih, and I Gusti Ayu Ketut Rachmi Handayani, ‘Judicial Mafia and Ecological In-Justice: Obstacles to Policy Enforcement in Indonesian Forest Management and Protection’, Trees, Forests and People, 17 (2024), p. 100613, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2024.100613
Ronyastra, I Made, Lip Huat Saw, and Foon Siang Low, ‘Monte Carlo Simulation-Based Financial Risk Identification for Industrial Estate as Post-Mining Land Usage in Indonesia’, Resources Policy, 89 (2024), p. 104639, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.104639
Safitri, Myrna A., ‘Hak Menguasai Negara Di Kawasan Hutan: Beberapa Indikator Menilai Pelaksanaannya’, Jurnal Hukum Lingkungan Indonesia, 1.2 (2014), pp. 1–21
Sahide, Muhammad Alif K., and others, ‘The Boom of Social Forestry Policy and the Bust of Social Forests in Indonesia: Developing and Applying an Access-Exclusion Framework to Assess Policy Outcomes’, Forest Policy and Economics, 120 (2020), doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102290
Saputra, Rian, and others, ‘Ecological Justice in Indonesia and China Post- Mining Land Use ?’, Journal of Law, Environmental and Justice, 2.3 (2024), pp. 254–84, doi:10.62264/jlej.v2i3.108
——, Willy Naresta, and Vincent Ariesto, ‘Post-Mining Land Use Regulations and Practices in the United States of America : Lesson for Indonesia’, Journal of Law, Environmental and Justice, 3.1 (2025), pp. 104–33, doi:10.62264/jlej.v3i1.118
Sembiring, Julius, ‘Hak Menguasai Negara Atas Sumber Daya Agraria’, BHUMI: Jurnal Agraria Dan Pertanahan, 2.2 (2016), pp. 119–32
Setyowati, Abidah, and Constance L McDermott, ‘Commodifying Legality? Who and What Counts as Legal in the Indonesian Wood Trade’, Society and Natural Resources, 30.6 (2017), pp. 750 – 764, doi:10.1080/08941920.2016.1239295
Silviana, Ana, ‘Urgensi Sertipikat Tanah Elektronik Dalam Sistem Hukum Pendaftaran Tanah Di Indonesia’, Administrative Law and Governance Journal, 4.1 (2021), pp. 51–68, doi:10.14710/alj.v4i1.51- 68
Sopaheluwakan, William R I, and others, ‘Two-Decade Decentralization and Recognition of Customary Forest Rights: Cases from Special Autonomy Policy in West Papua, Indonesia’, Forest Policy and Economics, 151 (2023), p. 102951, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2023.102951
Sukriono, Didik, and others, Local Wisdom as Legal Dispute Settlement: How Indonesia’s Communities Acknowledge Alternative Dispute Resolution?, no. 1 (2025), pp. 261–85 <http://www.ejournal.umm.ac.id/index.php/legality>
Sulaiman, King Faisal, ‘Polemik Fungsi Sosial Tanah Dan Hak Menguasai Negara Pasca UU Nomor 12 Tahun 2012 Dan Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 50/PUU-X/2012’, Jurnal Konstitusi, 18.1 (2021), pp. 091–111, doi:10.31078/jk1815
Tacconi, Luca, Rafael J Rodrigues, and Ahmad Maryudi, ‘Law Enforcement and Deforestation: Lessons for Indonesia from Brazil’, Forest Policy and Economics, 108 (2019), p. 101943, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2019.05.029
Tania, Rahmi Agnes, and Iwan Satriawan, ‘Discriminatory Policy of Land Ownership of the Chinese in the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Constitutional and Local Regulation Perspective’, E3S Web of Conferences, 316 (2021), doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202131604019
Thao, Le Thi, and Phan Vinh Tuan Anh, ‘Control Air Pollution to The Sustainable Development Goals Vietnam Perspective’, Administrative and Environmental Law Review, 4.1 (2023), pp. 49–64, doi:10.25041/aelr.v4i1.2860
Timilsina, Raja Rajendra, and Koji Kotani, ‘Evaluating the Potential of Marketable Permits in a Framed Field Experiment: Forest Conservation in Nepal’, Journal of Forest Economics, 29 (2017), pp. 25–37, doi:10.1016/J.JFE.2016.11.003
Wehn, Uta, and Abeer Almomani, ‘Incentives and Barriers for Participation in Community-Based Environmental Monitoring and Information Systems: A Critical Analysis and Integration of the Literature’, Environmental Science & Policy, 101 (2019), pp. 341–57, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2019.09.002
White, Ben, Colum Graham, and Laksmi Savitri, ‘Agrarian Movements and Rural Populism in Indonesia’, Journal of Agrarian Change, 23.1 (2023), pp. 68 – 84, doi:10.1111/joac.12506
Wicaksono, Muhammad Bagus Adi, and Devi Triasari, ‘Coal Post-Mining Reclamation Policies in Several Countries : Lessons for Indonesia’, Journal of Law, Environmental and Justice, 2.3 (2024), pp. 229–53, doi:10.62264/jlej.v2i3.106
Yovi, Efi Yuliati, and Dodik Ridho Nurrochmat, ‘An Occupational Ergonomics in the Indonesian State Mandatory Sustainable Forest Management Instrument: A Review’, Forest Policy and Economics, 91 (2018), pp. 27–35, doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2017.11.007
Yurista, Ananda Prima, ‘Implikasi Penafsiran Kembali Hak Menguasai Negara Terhadap Pengelolaan Wilayah Pesisir Dan Pulau-Pulau Kecil’, Rechtsvinding, 5.3 (2016), pp. 257–75
Zhang, Xiuqin, and Meiqi You, ‘Environmental Justice, Corporate Green Total Factor Productivity, and Pollution Control: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the Establishment of Environmental Courts’, International Review of Economics & Finance, 100 (2025), p. 104126, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2025.104126
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Copyright on any article is retained by the author(s).
- The author grants the journal, the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
- The article and any associated published material is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License