Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2023
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.
Competing interests: The authors declare none.
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34 Ibid.
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36 Padoch & Pinedo-Vasquez, n. 3 above.
37 Ibid.; Thung, n. 1 above.
38 Thung, n. 1 above.
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52 Ibid.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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124 Miller, n. 24 above.
125 Presidential Regulation No. 1/2016 on the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG), Art. 4.
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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.
