Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-24T19:12:01.409Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Towards a Transnational Approach to Transboundary Haze Pollution: Governing Traditional Farming in Fire-Prone Regions of Indonesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2023

Shawkat Alam ,
Laely Nurhidayah  and
Michelle Lim
Shawkat Alam
Affiliation:
Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, Sydney (Australia). Email: shawkat.alam@mq.edu.au.
Laely Nurhidayah
Affiliation:
Research Center for Law, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta (Indonesia).Email: lael003@brin.go.id.
Michelle Lim
Affiliation:
Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University (Singapore). Email: michellel@smu.edu.sg.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In Indonesia, swidden practices have been part of traditional rice farming for centuries. Swidden agriculture is a fundamental part of all remaining large tropical forests and provides a critical form of biodiversity-friendly agriculture. Meanwhile, peatland degradation and land conversion for oil palm plantation and agriculture have created an annual transboundary environmental disaster in Southeast Asia. This article adopts a transnational lens to highlight the complex multi-scale interactions that perpetuate recurring transboundary air pollution in the region. Having examined the traditional practices of swidden agriculture in Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra (Indonesia), the article reveals that swidden agriculture has been misunderstood generally, and in particular in international and national law and policy. It argues that existing laws fail to identify the important role that swidden agriculture plays in sustainable ecosystem management and cultural expression. Nuanced understandings of fire use, alongside transnational multi-stakeholder and multi-scale approaches, are required.

Keywords

Traditional ecological knowledgeSwidden agricultureTransboundary hazePeatland restorationMulti-stakeholder platformTransnational governance
Type
Article
Information
Transnational Environmental Law , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , July 2023 , pp. 424 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Competing interests: The authors declare none.

References

1 Mertz, O. et al., ‘Swidden Change in Southeast Asia: Understanding Causes and Consequences’ (2009) 37(3) Human Ecology, pp. 259–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Thung, P.H., ‘A Case Study on the Persistence of Swidden Agriculture in the Context of Post-2015 Anti-Haze Regulation in West-Kalimantan’ (2018) 46(2) Human Ecology, pp. 197–205CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed, at 197.

2 Siahaya, M. et al., ‘Traditional Ecological Knowledge on Shifting Cultivation and Forest Management in East Borneo, Indonesia’ (2016) 12(1–2) International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, pp. 14–23, at 19CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Padoch, C. & Pinedo-Vasquez, M., ‘Saving Slash-and-Burn to Save Biodiversity’ (2010) 42(5) Biotropica, pp. 550–2CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 551.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.; Thung, n. 1 above, p. 199.

6 Clarke, D. & Rieley, J.O., Strategy for Responsible Peatland Management, 6th edn (International Peatland Society, 2019)Google Scholar.

7 Xu, J. et al., ‘Hotspots of Peatland-Derived Potable Water Use Identified by Global Analysis’ (2018) 1(5) Nature Sustainability, pp. 246–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 Vasquez, R. et al., ‘Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Peat Combustion in Wildfires on Indonesian Peatlands, and their Uncertainty’ (2021) 35(2) Global Biogeochemical Cycles, pp. 1–17, at 2Google Scholar.

9 H. Hayasaka & A. Sepriando, ‘Severe Air Pollution Due to Peat Fires during 2015 Super El Niño in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia’, in K. Vadrevu, T. Ohara & C. Justice (eds), Land-Atmospheric Research Applications in South and Southeast Asia (Springer, 2018), pp. 129–42, at 130.

10 ‘Lebih dari 2 juta Hektar Lahan di Indonesia terbakar tahun ini’, Rappler, 30 Oct. 2015, available at: https://www.rappler.com/indonesia/111232-dua-juta-hektar-lahan-indonesia-terbakar-tahun-ini.

11 Thung, n. 1 above, p. 199.

12 S. Alam & L. Nurhidayah, ‘The International Law on Transboundary Haze Pollution: What We Can Learn from the Southeast Asia Region’ (2017) 26(3) Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law, pp. 243–54, at 253.

13 Ibid.

14 Nurhidayah, L., ‘Legislation, Regulations, and Policies in Indonesia Relevant to Addressing Land/Forest Fires and Transboundary Haze Pollution: A Critical Evaluation’ (2013) 16(1) Asia Pacific Journal of Environmental Law, pp. 215–36Google Scholar, at 215.

15 E.S. Brondézio et al., ‘Assessing a Planet in Transformation: Rationale and Approach of the IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service’, in E.S. Brondízio et al., Global Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES Secretariat, 2019), pp. 1–48, at 11, available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3831673; M. Lim, ‘Biodiversity 2050: Can the Convention on Biological Diversity Deliver a World Living in Harmony with Nature?’ (2021) 30(1) Yearbook of International Environmental Law, pp. 79–101. Decision X/2, ‘The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets’ (18–29 Oct. 2010) of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the 2050 vision of the CBD, which aims to achieve, by 2050, a world ‘living in harmony with nature’. This vision also informs current negotiations towards the post-2020 framework of the CBD (Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 5 June 1992, in force 29 Dec. 1993, available at: http://www.cbd.int/convention).

16 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), 10 June 2002, in force 25 Nov. 2003, available at: https://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ASEANAgreementonTransboundaryHazePollution-1.pdf.

17 Kotzé, L. & Soyapi, C., ‘Transnational Environmental Law: The Birth of a Contemporary Analytical Perspective’, in Fisher, D. (ed.), Research Handbook on Fundamental Concepts of Environmental Law (Edward Elgar, 2016), pp. 82–110Google Scholar.

18 J. van der Ploeg & G. Persoon, ‘Figments of Fire and Forest: Shifting Cultivation Policy in the Philippines and Indonesia’, in M.F. Cairns (ed.), Shifting Cultivation Policies: Balancing Environmental and Social Sustainability (Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), 2017), pp. 57–80, at 75.

19 Denzin, N., The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods (Prentice Hall, 1989)Google Scholar; W. Olsen, ‘Triangulation in Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods Can Really Be Mixed’, in M. Holborn (ed.), Developments in Sociology (Causeway Press, 2004), pp. 103–18, at 103.

20 In Indonesia, a ‘regency’ (kabupaten) refers to the administrative division directly below a province and above a district.

21 Webster, E. & Mai, L., ‘Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene’ (2020) 11(1) Transnational Legal Theory, pp 1–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 T.F.M. Etty et al., ‘Broadening the Branches and Deepening the Roots of Transnational Environmental Law’ (2021) 10(1) Transnational Environmental Law, pp, 1–11.

23 Ibid.

24 M.A. Miller et al., ‘Hybrid Governance of Transboundary Commons: Insights from Southeast Asia’ (2020) 110(1) Annals of the American Association of Geographers, pp. 297–313.

25 Etty et al., n. 22 above.

26 Miller et al., n. 24 above.

27 Keely, W.J. Bond & J.E., ‘Fire as a Global “Herbivore”: The Ecology and Evolution of Flammable Ecosystems’ (2005) 20(7) Trends in Ecology and Evolution, pp. 387–94, at 387Google Scholar.

28 F.K. Lake et al., ‘Returning Fire to the Land: Celebrating Traditional Knowledge and Fire’ (2017) 115(5) Journal of Forestry, pp. 343–53.

29 Padoch & Pinedo-Vasquez, n. 3 above, p. 551. Central Kalimantan in Indonesia Borneo is one of the case studies examined in this article.

30 Siahaya et al., n. 2 above, p. 19.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid.

33 Padoch & Pinedo-Vasquez, n. 3 above.

34 Ibid.

35 Siahaya et al., n. 2 above.

36 Padoch & Pinedo-Vasquez, n. 3 above.

37 Ibid.; Thung, n. 1 above.

38 Thung, n. 1 above.

39 Siahaya et al., n. 2 above (citing A.M.Z. Widjono & R. Haryo, Masyarakat Dayak Menatap Hari Esok (Gramedia Widiasarana, 1988)).

40 P.J.A Kleinman, D. Pimentel & R.B. Bryant, ‘The Ecological Sustainability of Slash and Burn Agriculture’ (1995) 52(2–3) Ecosystem and Environment, pp. 235–49, at 235.

41 H. Hayasaka et al., ‘Peat-fire-related Air Pollution in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia’ (2014) 95 Environmental Pollution, pp. 1–10.

42 S. Page et al., ‘Restoration Ecology of Lowland Tropical Peatlands in Southeast Asia: Current Knowledge and Future Research Direction’ (2008) 12(6) Ecosystem, pp. 888–905.

43 E.N. Nirmala Sari, ‘Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Rice Agriculture on Peatlands’, WRI Indonesia, 23 June 2020, available at: https://wri-indonesia.org/en/blog/opportunities-and-challenges-sustainable-rice-agriculture-peatlands.

44 Thung, n. 1 above; Siahaya et al., n. 2 above.

45 S.E Page & A. Hooijer, ‘In the Line of Fire: The Peatlands of Southeast Asia’ (2016) 371(1969) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, pp. 1–9, at 5.

46 Ibid.

47 Thung, n. 1 above; Siahaya et al., n. 2 above.

48 W. Dressier et al., ‘The Impact of Swidden Decline on Livelihoods and Ecosystem Services in Southeast Asia: A Review of the Evidence from 1990 to 2015’ (2017) 46(3) Ambio , pp. 291–310.

49 Ibid.

50 H. Varkkey, ‘Patronage Politics, Plantation Fires and Transboundary Haze’ (2013) 12(3–4) Environmental Hazards, pp. 200–17.

51 ‘Indonesia Punishes 23 Companies for Starting Fires’, The Jakarta Post, 23 Dec. 2015, available at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/12/23/indonesia-punishes-23-companies-causing-forest-fires.html.

52 Ibid.

53 N. 16 above.

54 ‘Buka Kebun dengan Cara Membakar, Terancam 10 Tahun Penjara’, Dinas Perkebunan Provinsi Kalimantan Timur, 15 Sept. 2015, available at: https://disbun.kaltimprov.go.id/artikel/buka-kebun-dengan-cara-membakar-terancam-10-tahun-penjara.

55 International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), ‘Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia’, 2022, available at: https://www.iwgia.org/en/Indonesia.

56 UN General Assembly, ‘United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’, 13 Sept. 2007, UN Doc. A/RES/61/295, available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html.

57 Ibid., Art. 1.

58 Ibid., Art. 32(1).

59 Ibid., Art. 23.

60 Ibid., Art. 29.

61 Ibid., Art. 26(2).

62 Ibid., Art. 19.

63 Ibid., Art. 11.

64 Ibid., Art. 32(2).

65 Ibid., Art. 28.

66 Ibid., Art. 27.

67 Ibid., Art. 19.

68 Inter-American Court of Human Rights, The Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua, Judgment of 31 Aug. 2001, Series C No. 79 (2001).

69 Ibid., para. 151.

70 African Union, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, Doc. No. 276/03, 27 AAR, 11–25 Nov. 2009, para. 175.

71 N. 15 above.

72 Ibid., Art. 10(c).

73 Ibid.

74 Report of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 3–14 June 1992, UN Doc. A/CONF.151/26/Rev.1, vol. I, Annex I, Principle 22, available at: https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_CONF.151_26_Vol.I_Declaration.pdf.

75 Ibid.

76 See Markey, K., ‘Air Pollution as Public Nuisance: Comparing Modern-day Greenhouse Gas Abatement with Nineteenth Century Smoke Abatement’ (2022) 120(7) Michigan Law Review, pp. 1535–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

77 Hapsari, H. et al., ‘Adaptation of Indigenous Community Agricultural Systems on Climate Change: Case Study of Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, Sukabumi Regency, West Java’ (2019) 306(1) IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, pp. 1–9Google Scholar; Anderson, S., Morton, J. & Toulmin, C., ‘Climate Change for Agrarian Societies in Drylands: Implications and Future Pathways’, in R. Mearns & R. Norton (eds), Social Dimensions of Climate Change: Equity and Vulnerability in a Warming World (World Bank, 2009), pp. 199–230Google Scholar; Altieri, M. et al., ‘Agroecology and the Design of Climate Change-Resilient Farming Systems’ (2015) 35(3) Agronomy for Sustainable Development, pp. 869–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

78 Brondizio et al., n. 15 above.

79 H.O. Pörtner et al. (eds), IPBES-IPCC Co-sponsored Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Climate Change, (IPBES & IPCC, 2021).

80 New York, NY (US), 9 May 1992, in force 21 Mar. 1994, available at: https://unfccc.int.

81 See UN Climate Change Conference, United Kingdom, 2021, ‘Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use’, 2 Nov. 2021, available at: https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use.

82 N. 16 above.

83 L. Bell, ‘After 12 Years Indonesia Finally Ratifies Transboundary Haze Agreement’, Mongabay, 19 Sept. 2014, available at: https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/after-12-years-indonesia-finally-ratifies-transboundary-haze-agreement.

84 N. 16 above, Art. 16(1)(e).

85 Ibid., Art. 9(f).

86 23 Sept. 2013, available at: https://asean.org/speechandstatement/asean-haze-and-peatland-programmes.

87 T. Griffiths, ‘Seeing “REDD”? Forests, Climate Change Mitigation and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’, Forest People Programme, 3 Dec. 2008, pp. 1–53, at 4, available at: https://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/default/files/publication/2010/08/seeingreddupdatedraft3dec08eng.pdf.

88 See, e.g., Finegan, B. & Nasi, R., ‘The Biodiversity and Conservation Potential of Swidden Agricultural Landscape’, in G. Schroth et al. (eds), Agroforestry and Biological Conservation in Tropical Landscapes (Island Press, 2004), pp. 2–44, at 26Google Scholar.

89 See F. Firatmaja, ‘Gubenur Riau Tegas Melarang Buka Lahan Dengan Membakar’, Republika, 15 July 2022, available at: https://www.republika.co.id/berita/rf1vhf418/gubernur-riau-tegas-melarang-buka-lahan-dengan-cara-dibakar.

90 Firatmaja, n. 89 above.

91 Ibid.

92 W.S. Ritung et al., Luas dan Kandungan Karbon di Kalimantan [Map of Peatland Distribution Area and Carbon Content in Kalimantan] 2000–2002 (Wetland International – Indonesia Program & Wildlife Habitat Canada (WHC), 2004) available at: https://www.wetlands.or.id/PDF/buku/Atlas%20Sebaran%20Gambut%20Kalimantan.pdf.

93 ‘Memperkuat Kapasitas Masyarakat Kalteng untuk Menanggulangi Api’, 27 Aug. 2012, available at: http://ditjenppi.menlhk.go.id/dari-media/311-memperkuat-kapasitas-masyarakat-kalteng-untuk-menanggulangi-api.html.

94 Media Center, ‘BRG Restorasi 366.746 Ribu Hektar Lahan Gambut di Kalteng’, Palangkaraya go id, 27 Dec. 2021, available at: https://palangkaraya.go.id/brg-restorasi-366-746-ribu-hektar-lahan-gambut-di-kalteng.

95 ‘Strategi 3 R dalam Upaya Restorasi Gambut’, Badan Restorasi Gambut dan Mangrove (BRGM), available at: https://brgm.go.id/strategi-3r-dalam-upaya-restorasi-gambut/?lang=id.

96 Interview with USAID Lestari, 10 Jan. 2019 (on file with the authors). USAID Lestari supports the Government of Indonesia in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving biodiversity in carbon-rich and biologically significant forest and mangrove ecosystems.

97 Ibid.

98 N. 56 above.

99 R. Widayati, ‘Kementan Optimis Cetak 80.000 Hektar Sawah Baru’, Tempo, 28 Apr. 2017, available at: https://bisnis.tempo.co/read/869870/kementan-optimis-cetak-80-000-hektar-sawah-baru.

100 R.V. Utami, ‘Budaya Sonor, Salah Satu Penyumbang Asap di Sumatra’, CNN Indonesia, 8 Oct. 2015, available at: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20151008032913-20-83589/budaya-sonor-salah-satu-penyumbang-asap-di-sumatra.

101 U. Chokkalingam et al., ‘Community Fire Use, Resource Change, and Livelihood Impacts: The Downward Spiral in the Wetlands of Southern Sumatra’ (2007) 12(1) Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, pp. 75–100, at 75.

102 F. Agus et al., ‘Reducing Emissions from Peatland Deforestation and Degradation: Carbon Emission and Opportunity Costs’, International Symposium and Workshop on Tropical Peatland, ‘Carbon – Climate – Human Interaction: Carbon Pools, Fire, Mitigation, Restoration, and Wise Use’, Yogyakarta (Indonesia), 27–31 Aug. 2007, available at: https://www.asb.cgiar.org/publication/reducing-emissions-peatland-deforestation-and-degradation-carbon-emission-and.

103 Indonesian National Carbon Accounting System (INCAS), ‘Sumatra Selatan’, available at: http://incas.menlhk.go.id/id/data/south-sumatra.

104 Press Release, ‘OKI Susun Dokumen RPPEG, Lindungi 1,03 Juta Hektar Gambut’, Kaboki, 15 Apr. 2022, available at: https://news.kaboki.go.id/index.php/press-release/oki-susun-dokumen-rppeg-lindungi-1-03-juta-hektar-gambut.html.

105 T. Wijaya, ‘Hampir 70 Persen Gambut di Sumatera Selatan Dikuasai Perusahaan. Masih Adakah untuk Masyarakat?’, Mongabay, 11 June 2016, available at: https://www.mongabay.co.id/2016/06/11/hampir-70-persen-gambut-di-sumatera-selatan-dikuasai-perusahaan-masih-adakah-untuk-masyarakat.

106 Interview with government official at Balitbang Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (KLHK) [Ministry of Environment and Forestry], 19 Sept. 2019 (on file with the authors). KLHK, ‘Agrosilvofishery Metode Jitu Pulihkan Ekosistem Gambut Terdegradasi’, 8 Oct. 2018, available at: https://www.menlhk.go.id/site/single_post/1377.

107 Schroder, C., ‘Towards Large Scale Paludiculture: Addressing the Challenges of Biomass Harvesting in Wet and Rewetted Peatlands’ (2015) 16(13) Mires and Peat, pp. 1–18, at 2Google Scholar.

108 Interview, Balitbang KLHK, n. 106 above.

109 Service, C.N. et al., ‘Indigenous Knowledge and Science Unite to Reveal Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Distributional Shift in Wildlife of Conservation Concern’ (2014) 9(7) PLoS One, pp. 1–10, at 1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

110 UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), ‘Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge and the Science Agenda: Framework for Action’, Budapest (Hungary), 26 June–1 July 1999, available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000116994.

111 Alam & Nurhidayah, n. 12 above.

112 Interview with academics from LLPM UPR, Aug. 2019 (on file with the authors).

113 Ibid.

114 Interview, USAID Lestari, n. 96 above.

115 Interview with NGO Kemitraan, Aug. 2019 (on file with the authors).

116 BRG Indonesia, ‘Siaran Pers Penandatanganan Mou Antara Brg Dengan Bukalapak dan BRG dengan MUI’, 18 Dec. 2019, available at: https://brg.go.id/siaranpers/siaran-pers-penandatanganan-mou-antara-brg-dengan-bukalapak-dan-brg-dengan-mui.

117 Page et al., n. 42 above.

118 In 2017, the company was found to have deliberately lit a fire to clear land in South Sumatra province, leading to a forest fire. WAJ was ordered to pay a fine of rupiah (Rp) 466.5 billion (approximately US$35 million).

119 In 2016, the Supreme Court found the Indonesian logging company guilty of conducting illegal logging and ordered the company to pay a US$1.2 billion fine for unlawfully clearing 5,500 protected trees and 1,873 hectares outside the concession areas.

120 In Aug. 2016, the High Court in Palembang, South Sumatra found PT Bumi Mekar Hijau, a pulpwood company, guilty of burning its concession area for land clearing and ordered it to pay US$5 million in damages.

121 The Jakarta District Court ordered a sago plantation firm, PT National Sago Prima, to pay a US$76 million fine for failing to stop fire in its concession area.

122 Nurhidayah, L., Alam, S. & Lipman, Z., ‘The Influence of International Law upon ASEAN Approaches in Addressing Transboundary Haze Pollution in Southeast Asia’ (2015) 37(2) Contemporary Southeast Asia, pp. 183–210, at 183CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Nurhidayah, L., Lipman, Z. & Alam, S., ‘REDD+ and Forest Fires: Implications for the Legal and Policy Forest Fire Management Framework in Indonesia’ (2017) 34(3) Environmental Planning Law Journal, pp. 251–67, at 251Google Scholar.

123 N. 90 above.

124 Miller, n. 24 above.

125 Presidential Regulation No. 1/2016 on the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG), Art. 4.

126 B.P. Siregar, ‘BRG Targetkan 1000 Desa Peduli Gambut Terbentuk’, Warta Ekonomi, 13 Mar. 2017, available at: https://wartaekonomi.co.id/read133758/brg-targetkan-1000-desa-peduli-gambut-terbentuk.

127 Kementerian Pertanian [Ministry of Agriculture], ‘Dampingi Presiden Jokowi di Kalteng, Mentan SYL Siap Percepat Bangun Food Estate’, 9 July 2020, available at: https://www.pertanian.go.id/home/?show=news&act=view&id=4443#:~:text=Food%20estate%20merupakan%20salah%20satu,percontohan%20penerapan%20teknologi%20pertanian%204.0.

128 N. 56 above.

129 N. 15 above.