Contentious Politics of Mapping for (De)forestation in Indonesia: From the National to Provincial and Community Levels

Abstract

Democratization and decentralization have accelerated the dispersion of power, even in the cartography of Indonesia. Different actors from the national to the provincial and community levels have started to create maps that reflect their own purposes and interests. As far as forest and peatland areas are concerned, some maps aim to reconfirm the reality of deforestation and the opening of peatland for plantations. Others aim to reclaim the forest and peatland. Without clear and binding regulations on the mapping, a plurality of maps has prevailed at all levels in Indonesia. This is increasingly reinforced by the fact that map-based land use has become the norm of spatial planning, making the creation of a legally binding map quintessentially important for any stakeholder. The cases from the national, Riau provincial, and community levels in this chapter demonstrate that all the mapping processes have failed to create a consensus map: while pro-environment mapping is not easily accepted, the rubber-stamp mapping of illegal forest and peatland opening is no longer simply accepted as before.