The Ministry Of Environment And Forestry The Role Of The Indigenous Peoples Of West Papua Is Important In The Action To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Illustration. The Arfak tribe, one of the indigenous peoples living in West Papua. (ANTARA/Toyiban)

WEST PAPUA - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) invites indigenous peoples in West Papua Province to support the implementation of the action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the forestry sector. The action was launched through the Indonesia's Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) program Net Sink 2030.

Director General of Forest Management Lestari KLHK Agus Justianto said indigenous peoples are an important element in the order of social life in Papua, which is a special autonomy area whose involvement in the action is needed.

"The indigenous people have a strategic position, therefore we need support from indigenous peoples," said Agus who is also the Daily Chair II of Indonesia's FOLU Net Sink 2030, in Manokwari, West Papua, Wednesday, February 15, was confiscated by Antara.

He hopes that after the socialization of the Sub-National Indonesia's FOLU Net Sink 2030 which will be held in Manokwari Regency, local governments, both districts and provinces, can follow up on all indigenous peoples.

Thus, indigenous peoples increasingly understand the importance of mitigation programs towards climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions.

"The involvement of the indigenous people is what we hope for," he said

According to him, indigenous peoples in Papua have local knowledge in preserving forests, but this needs to be transformed into a joint commitment to realize a greenhouse gas emission reduction program.

On the other hand, the number of forest police is still very minimal because it is not comparable to the area of the forest area in West Papua which reaches 87.3 percent or 8.39 million hectares.

"I make sure that the forest police are still very limited. To maintain the forest in West Papua, which is very wide, we need the role of the community, including indigenous peoples," he said.

The Indonesian government, Agus said, provides space for the community to manage forest areas through social forestry programs with traditional forest schemes. This means that the government recognizes the existence of indigenous peoples by allocating the management of these forest areas.

"The government has issued various policies so that indigenous peoples can manage the forest," he said.

He continued, the government continues to strive to suppress the deforestation rate of forest and peat areas throughout Indonesia through a number of policies issued by President Joko Widodo.

For example, forest fire prevention activities, anticipating illegal mining that has the potential to damage forests, and other repairs.

"There are many corrective action activities carried out by the government, including monitoring forest utilization permits," said Agus.

The ministry, he said, had already prepared an operational plan and a spatial direction map for Indonesia's FOLU Net Sink 2030 which was then followed up by all local governments.

Each province will have a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on the area of the forest area, but that target needs to be formulated first in the regional work plan.

"After the work plan is completed, we will implement Indonesia's FOLU Net Sink activities," he said.

He added that the operational plan for Indonesia's FOLU Net Sink 2030 requires support from the police to prevent forest fires or activities that hinder Indonesia from achieving the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 140 million tons of CO2e by 2030.

"Without the support of the police, of course law enforcement activities will not be carried out properly," he concluded.