INTRODUCTION

The issuance of Law No. 22/1999 and Law No. 25/1999 resulted in the opening of more forests for mining activities. Since 2001, there are intense complaints by local communities about their land — mostly forest land — having been taken away from them. This has frequently generated conflict. The state, however, has not recognized the customary rights of the indigenous communities who live in this area. In the past, the opening of forest lands for mining took place with usually little or no consultation with the local communities. The process of land acquisition sometimes involved forced evictions, intimidation and oppression, including use of the security forces. Unlicensed medium-scale operations have become a major issue in the mining sector since the fall of Suharto in 1998. These operations are often controlled by the military and backed by corrupt local government officials, taking advantage of the legal vacuum by taking over parts of licensed company concessions.

LEGAL CERTAINTY FOR COMPANIES OR COMMUNITIES?

One of the industry's main arguments is that the contracts signed before the introduction of the 1999 legislation should be honoured and that the law should not be retroactive. Some NGOs denied the argument, as the argument fails to take into account the fact that those contracts were issued by the old regime, that is, a regime which swept aside community rights and environmental considerations. During those years, investors’ interests were allowed to take priority over livelihoods. They were handed vast tracts of land for exploration, with the result that the industry now controls 66.9 million hectares of land or more than 35 per cent of Indonesia's land surface (see Table 10.1 and Table 10.2 for further details by islands). Much of this land is forested and belongs to Indonesia's millions of indigenous people who are now seeking legal recognition of their territories. They want legal certainty for communities, not companies.

The local communities are also concerned that many of the areas classified as protected forests will be degraded due to “open-pit” mining. Indonesian NGOs have pointed to the increase in flood disasters as a clear sign that more, not less, protection is needed. A total of sixteen provinces have been identified as prone to flooding and landslides. NGOs have estimated that the impact of mining amounts to a substantial 10 per cent of forest destruction in the country.