ABSTRACT
In the early 1980s, in what could be considered one of the largest land grabs in history, the Indonesian government implemented a forest zonation system that classified most of the Outer Islands as state forestlands. Seventy-eight percent of Indonesia, or more than 140 million ha, was placed under the responsibility of the Ministry of Forestry and Estate Crops (MoFEC). This included more than 90% of the Outer Islands. Estimates place as many as 65 million people living within these areas. 1 According to the Ministry of Forestry (MoF), the creation of the state forest zone nullified local customary (adat) rights, making thousands of communities invisible to the forest management planning process and squatters on their ancestral lands. 2 As a result, logging concessions, timber plantations, protected areas, and government-sponsored migration schemes have been directly overlaid on millions of hectares of community lands, causing widespread conflict. Yet, in fact for many local people, traditional or customary law still governs natural resource management practices.
