Chapter 1-Position

CHAPTER I Position

There is a joke about a grain of corn and chicken. Somehow, there is a person who feels that he is a grain of corn. When he meets a chicken, he is always shivering afraid from the cold. He is afraid of being pecked by the chicken. The doctor advises to do therapy for several weeks, and finally the patient realizes that he is a human, not a grain. When he leaves the doctor’s room, he turns back in again, trembling with fear. He reports that there is chicken ahead, and he is afraid that the chicken will eat him. “My brother” the Doctor said, “You know very well you are not a grain of corn, but you are a human.” Of course, I know that,” the patient answers“, but does the chicken know it?

We want to put that joke on what happens in timber legality regulation in Indonesia. Of course the chicken will know that that person is not a grain. As well as the academics and civil society activist who struggle indigenous people know that community is the nearest party either knowledge or daily visions of natural resources in Indoensia. However, the natural resources management so far still uses academics knowledge approach. After “New Order” government in Indoenesia, the involvement slogan of indigenous people/local communities mainstreaming in natural resources management in Indonesia came up until now. But unfortunately, the slogan is still above interest, knowledge, and policy system which is opposite. In other government policy, such as Agrarian Reform and Social Forestry policy, there is an increase number of acknowledgement

from the government of indigenous people/local communities and the forest area which managed by them. As an illustration, the permit proportion of forest management which is originally for indigenous people/local communities only 4 % in 2014, now it has increased until 14 – 15 % through Social Forestry and Agrarian Reform policy. But, in timber legality regulation policy, the mainstreaming role of indigenous people/local communities especially in monitoring is still far from the dream. In the government regulation, it is said that Independent Monitors is civil society either individual or institution or legal entity in Indonesia. In the practice, what is civil society is not able to be reached by indigenous people/local communities because of various administrative, such as identity and capacity matters. So, in the situation, monitoring is only can be reached by urban middle class civil society who has the access of all the administrative requirements. Whereas, the timber legality arrangement is not only about a forestry and timber enterprise unit obeys the exist regulations, but also about how the enterprise unit produces, use workforce, and give impact in many fields in indigenouse people/ local communities in the surrounding. Basically, the way to produce timber is not different with the way on producing timber enterprises and forestry itself. The question is how is the role of indigenous people/local in timber legality arrangement?

In this introduction, we would like to tell about how is the monitoring of timber legality which is carried out by indigenous people/local communities is a future discourse for the sustainability of timber legality in Indonesia. We start with how the political and ecology context of the environment and forestry damage comes up with the idea of legal and sustainable timber trade in global scale through certification; the response of the arrangement in Indonesia in the form of Sustainable and Legality Verification System (SVLK); the assurance of the credibility of SVLK arangement in Indonesia through monitoring; rethink the foundation of the interest and knowledge; and the overview of chapter arrangement in this book.