The disciplining of illegal palm oil plantations in Sumatra

Abstract

The Indonesian state has issued many regulations to control palm oil expansion, but they have been weakly enforced, resulting in widespread illegal plantations. During the last decade, Indonesian authorities have used force to reduce illegal plantations. This article analyses the drivers behind these actions and questions to what extent they reflect the rise of eco-authoritarianism. By investigating six cases of disciplinary action in Sumatra, we conclude that the Indonesian state is neither practising eco-authoritarianism nor constituting a green state. The disciplinary action, however, has had limited success in environmental terms due to policy incoherence, violent contestation and the sector's historical context.

Implementing sustainability commitments for palm oil in Indonesia: Governance arrangements of sustainability initiatives involving public and private actors

“…2 In addition, the sector is characterised by large areas of illegal palm oil within the forest estate 3 (Sloan 2014;Pramudya et al 2017). Figures on the actual size of the issue depend on the definition of "illegality" and which sources of illegality are included.…”

“…"Implementation" could include government sanction of private standards. In terms of "monitoring and enforcement", the state might take legal action against companies defaulting from their commitments such as actions in Indonesia connected to fire issues (Pramudya et al 2017). …”

Friend or foe? The various responses of the Indonesian state to sustainable non-state palm oil initiatives

“…Under this administration, the confusing responses to IPOP occurred alongside a suspicion that it had become a vehicle of foreign interests. Such issues related to sovereignty might stimulate the Indonesian state's strong reaction with could result in repressive approach (Pramudya et al, 2017b) Evans (1995) argued that beyond limiting itself to regulation, the state could perform an important facilitation of developing the economy by supporting business. However, when the situation changes, then business would have to reorient themselves to contemporary conditions.…”

Balancing and counterbalancing : the Indonesian state addressing pressures to improve palm oil sector sustainability

“…Regarding power bargaining, the forestry authority showed an indication for retaining its power over land definitions and the coordination role in managing FLPF. Some plantations were considered illegal since the 83 areas have not been through sufficient procedures to be released from forest status (Pramudya, Hospes, and Termeer 2017b). Power bargaining also occurred from the position of the forestry authority to protect the conservation areas where it tended to strengthen its claim in forest protection duties and criticised the plantation authority for not managing properly the governance of plantation expansion causing further forest degradation.…”

“…Under this administration, the confusing responses to IPOP occurred alongside a suspicion that it had become a vehicle of foreign interests. Such issues related to sovereignty might stimulate the Indonesian state's strong reaction with could result in repressive approach (Pramudya, Hospes, and Termeer 2017b) However, the humble approach of UNDP in establishing InPOP that has similar programmes with IPOP resulted in a positive response from the state. This situation shows that leadership styles and orientation affect the state's responses, and business that is aware can develop more effective collaboration with the state.…”