Forest conversion addresses to sawit plantation. This inclination condition has happened for two decades in Indonesia in case of natural forest resources usage development. More than 16 million hectare of community forestry has been converted into sawit plantation dominantly. Conflict of Human and ecology within the conversion of forest area has its impact, furthermore the tenure conflict occurred.
Tenure conflict plays as a basic conflict of the forest conversion in Indonesia. It also triggered the government to issue some forestry policy in order to enhance the authority for the natural resources development for timber industry, pulp and paper forest plantation industry, sawit plantation industry, and mining-mineral exploration and exploitation.
For two decades, KpSHK (Consortium for Supporting Community Based Forest System Management) in collaboration with its members noted that; There is 16 million hectares of community forestry (SHK-Sistem Hutan Kerakyatan) and 1.800 villages identified consisted near conservation area or it might declared as state forest of Indonesia.
Since 80’s era some forest area have been converted into sawit plantation. The latest study showed that, more than 60% of community forestry area has been converted into sawit plantation, especially for that area existed in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Local Economic Acceleration
For other particular reason, why would sawit plantation have become economical commodity trend in Indonesia that came from forest conversion? It is some cause identified to trigger this situation; propaganda in sawit industry or government promotion for countryside development, it is also said that sawit oil have become economical commodity for pro-poverty. Sawit oil is claimed as a tool for reducing methods of un-employee index in national level as a development solution for labor crisis.
The development goals has directed in wrong way, since it is not proven that sawit plantation could enhance the local economy for local people and set them free from their poverty crisis. It is a fact that after sawit plantation has become an economical trend commodity, some other problems shall appear. One of the biggest problem occurred is the increasment of tenure conflicts quantities, not to mention the conflict for ecological quality and human resources quality.
The development goal is in wrong way for increasing local economic and making people free from poverty crisis. After sawit plantation becomes an economical trend commodity, all problems could be appeared. The problems are increasing quantity of tenure conflicts, quality of human and ecology conflicts.
It is obvious that economic growth as a development goal is the main cause of these crisis. The key to make this situation run well is that people have to increase their local economic. Commodity alternative increase the local economic as well as a way for decreasing poverty. Many kinds of local commodity could do by communities for sustainable forest product and agriculture product like rubber, rattan, rice, food plant of palm order etc. The commodity alternative comes from local (indigenous) knowledge on community production as subsistent model. All stakeholders on forest and agriculture development issue have to improve what the local knowledge has.
Now, sawit plantation expansion occupied the community forestry area where is coincide area with in forest state area. It is according to Fay (2004) that 56% of forest states area coincides with local (indigenous) community land.
