Illegal logging and illegal trade issues have impacted the demand for timber within the international market, which requires legal timber from producing countries, including Indonesia. Indonesia, being considered one of the leading tropical wood producing countries, is attempting to increase the boldness of wood buyers within the legality of its wood products. One of Indonesia’s efforts to beat this problem is the implementation of the Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu (SVLK) policy, known internationally as Indo-TLAS (Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System). SVLK has been implemented since January 2013. In the identical yr, Indonesia and the European Union also signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in Brussels. From 15 November 2016, legality documents issued to the European Union by the Timber Legality Verification Office (LVLK) may also function as FLEGT licences.
Pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry P.8/2021 on forest management and preparation of forest management plans and forest use in protective and production forests (Forest management and preparation of forest management plans and forest use in protected and production forests), the usage of SVLK is mandatory and must apply to all enterprises engaged within the timber industry, from upstream (farmers) to downstream enterprises (industry), including small-scale private forests. SVLK’s policy also applies to domestic and international timber trade. Although SVLK is an internationally recognized system and has opened markets for the Indonesian forestry industry, especially within the European Union, Australia and the United States, there are a lot of problems with its implementation in small enterprises within the forestry sector in addition to private forest farmers.
Obstacles to implementing SVLK, especially for small private forests, are related to compliance with legality standards and certification costs. Rochmadi expressed it,[1] a farmer from the Gunung Kidul area of Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY) who stated that his farmer group (Kelompok Tani Hutan or KTH) Tani Manunggal consists of 97 members who manage community forests or Community Forestry (HKm (community managed state forests) had SVLK certified timber, but because the certification only lasts for one yr, they currently shouldn’t have certification status (SVLK certified). They are currently unable to finance the certification of expansion and supervision, and due to this fact their group currently manages small private forests and HKm without SVLK. He couldn’t say whether there are advantages (and even whether there are impacts) of SVLK because the group has only been certified for one yr and there was no harvesting this yr. However, he mentioned that he believed there was an impact is not going to be significant since the buyers are local people they usually don’t require certification. Most small farmers claimed that they don’t need SVLK, a very powerful thing is the best way to meet the day by day needs of their families. Even without SVLK certification, small businesses using municipal wood as a raw material can still. sell processed wood products within the domestic market.
He also made the identical comment with Rubikem[2], a farmer who’s the secretary of KTH Jasema in Dlingo County, Bantul, DIY. KTH Jasema has received many funding facilities from the federal government and non-governmental organizations to avoid incurring the prices of SVLK. However, it didn’t see any economic effects since the buyers are residents and the trade in municipal wood still takes place on the local level and doesn’t require certification. She added that this had no impact on farmers’ incomes, timber prices, timber sales volumes or the timber market chain. However, SVLK is sufficient to create a social impact on farmers in the shape of recent experience and knowledge, awareness of forest management, improved farmers’ ability to acquire information, role in sustainable forest management, social forest institutions and the economy, business networks and improved production management ( including the executive system). Moreover, meetings between members and various stakeholders have gotten more frequent than ever. But, in fact, all that is due to financial facilities from non-governmental organizations and the federal government.
Meanwhile, information from East Java farmers at KTH Santuso II in Sumberjambe sub-county in Jember[3], revealed that hopes for SVLK are slim. With the assistance of the East Java Forest Agency, KTH has been receiving SVLK since 2019. Although its chairman Bambang Sugianto admits that the business development has not had a major impact from each economic and social features, but KTH is currently within the technique of collaborating with a woodworking company in East Java in reference to obtaining SVLK. He hopes that the technique of making a cooperation plan will likely be carried out properly, in order that the advantages that SVLK has in opening latest markets will likely be real.
In Pati, Central Java, KTH Chairman Tani Muda Makmur, Yoyok[4] stated that the impact of SVLK was small, not less than since SVLK took over in 2018. The price of wood is comparatively stable and intermediaries don’t dare to play with this price. Public opinion can also be increasingly concerned concerning the incontrovertible fact that trees which can be mature or not less than 15 cm in diameter are being cut down, which due to this fact has a great impact on the environment. Besides, Tamsi[5]KTH chairman Tani Lestari 3, added that although the impact of SVLK in private forests has not yet had an economic and social impact, farmers have grow to be more confident in the event of personal forestry enterprises due to the federal government’s recognition of its legality.
Although all interviewees stated that SVLK requires high costs, they really didn’t know the precise costs of the whole certification process as all are funded by the donor/government. They were merely implementers of what the assistants/donors suggested. Moreover, some farmers still use a system of logging to fulfill the needs of the economy, or it’s known as a “need harvest”. (must cut)although some have tricks to forestall trees from being cut down that will not be worthy.
For example, through the strategy of loan funds from the KTH Cooperation Office, corresponding to those run by KTH Jasema in Bantul DIY, and internal agreements between buyers and sellers related to the loan fund for delayed harvests, corresponding to those at KTH Tani Muda Makmur and KTH Tani Lestari 3 in Pati, Central Java. The government itself through its public service body, i.e. Badan Layanan Umum (BLU), has recently provided loan services to local forest farmers, considered one of which is the delayed harvest loan (Credit for late cut) diagram. Soedomo research results et al. (2021)[6] showed that the delayed harvest loan has enriched its objectives, not only by coping with “needy harvests”, but additionally by becoming an alternate source of funds for the event of economic activities in rural areas.
The results of the interviews don’t differ much from the outcomes of the study “Enhancing Community-Based Commercial Forestry in Indonesia” in 2016 – 2021 (joint research of the Research and Development and Innovation Agency of the Ministry of Environment and Forests with the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research) that several SVLK certificates have the status suspension, mainly since the certificate holder doesn’t perform audit supervision activities in accordance with the schedule established by the Timber Legality Verification Agency (LVLK). After the freeze until the V-LK certificate was revoked, many operators within the small timber sector, in addition to in private forests, still cite the high costs of certification and maintenance. Moreover, harvesting of municipal timber in a non-public forest can still only be carried out on the premise of a Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) or Independent Declaration of Forest Products pursuant to Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry P.8/2021.
Farmers who’ve received SVLK say they’re willing to use for SVLK because there’s help from the federal government and non-governmental organizations willing to facilitate financing and meet all SVLK needs. They cannot apply to fulfill the SVLK requirements without assistance. Some farmers claim that they have no idea the precise amount of costs related to the submission, processing and supervision of the SVLK, because all related financing is handled by the assistant and the farmer only follows orders and directions from the team of assistants. Farmers have realized that certification costs are expensive and difficult for small-scale private forest owners to cover.
But what about private forest farmers who don’t yet have access to information and support from stakeholders? Farmers who’ve received SVLK are fortunate to receive attention and assistance from the federal government or non-governmental organizations, although some also argue that further assistance after receiving SVLK has been suboptimal. Overall, private forest management institutions remain weak. SVLK or SVLK-related regulations are changing rapidly, which confuses the audience. As a result, small business entities are indifferent and reluctant to care about SVLK certification. It isn’t easy for personal forest farmers with low income and education to comply with the SVLK system, and the common land area is barely about 0.25 ha. They face unfavorable economic and institutional conditions that ultimately call on other actors for help. The government must provide more socialization and assistance in order that farmers and small businesses can adopt higher policies.
There isn’t any denying that SVLK in a non-public forest raises many interesting questions and discussions, and far further exploration is required. There are many issues to lift and questions regarding SVLK, corresponding to whether it is required in private forests. In fact, wood from private forests is probably the most legal wood from a legal perspective, right? especially in Java. Private forests, to which everyone has ownership rights, will in fact be closely guarded and guarded by the landowners. It may be said that illegal logging in private forests is a really minimal phenomenon, and even very difficult to implement, because each owner protects the trees as a source of income. Therefore, evaluation of the implementation and challenges of SVLK in Indonesia is crucial to offer recommendations to the federal government and donors to support the effectiveness of SVLK, improve donor policies and programs in the long run.
Fitta Setiajiati1.3Bramasto Nugroho1.3Damayanti Buchori2.3Julius the Hero1.3Silfi Iriyani3
1 Department of Forest Management, IPB University
2 Department of Plant Protection, IPB University
3 Center for Transdisciplinary Sciences and Sustainable Development, IPB University
[1] Telephone interview conducted on December 21, 2021
[2] Telephone interview conducted on December 21, 2021
[3] Telephone interview conducted on December 25, 2021
[4] Telephone interview conducted on December 26, 2021
[5] Telephone interview conducted on December 26, 2021
[6] Soedomo S, Putro HS, Nugroho B, Suharjito D. 2021. Forest provides security in Indonesia. Small-scale forestry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-021-09491-8
