What also accelerated forest use during this time was the increase in oil palm
plantations. When operating a plantation in Riau Province, the operator must obtain
various permissions from the state, including HGU. In 1994, 62 plantation companies held rights to operate on 473,000 ha of land, which included 363,000 ha of land
for which the long-term business usufruct rights had been granted. In 1998, this had
grown to 89 companies with rights to cultivate 789,000 ha of land, including
593,000 ha of land for which the HGU had been granted.
8
A vast part of this extensive state forest area was peatland. For example, half of
Riau Province is covered by peatland, so the forests exploited by HPH, HTI, and
HGU are mostly peatland.
During the HPH period peatland exploitation and peatland conditions were
carried over from panglong regime of the colonial era. Basically, peat swamp forests
in the areas were maintained while deforestation took place, as after the tree felling
secondary forest trees grew.
23.4 Land Use and Businesses Today
23.4.1 Peatland Exploitation at the Research Site
Here we show peatland exploitation and land tenure at the research site located at the
Bengkalis district (Kabupaten Bengkalis), Bukit-Batu sub-district (Kecamatan Bukit
Batu), and Tanjung Leban village (Desa Tanjung Leban).
The area of surveyed village is 17,000 ha, and it is said that the village is quite
large. As Map 23.1 shows, the majority of the land is peatland. Map 23.2 shows that
the majority of the land is state forest area (kawasan hutan) except the narrow belt
around the main road near the coast. The state forest area is considered as land
without any land title (tanah yang tidak dihaki), and it can be managed with
concessions such as the HPH by companies or with the hak pengolahan by an
authority body (Badan Penguasa) (Parlindungan 2015).
We calculated the area of peatland and state forest and their composition at the
research site.
Table 23.1 shows that nearly the entire area is state forest area (kawasan hutan)
and that much of the area is peatland (87.1%). Of the state forest area, the majority is
production forest (88.5%), but partly convertible production forest (Hutan produksi
yang dapat konversi) (10.1%). It is clear that there is a small area outside the state
forest area, or APL (0.9%), and that the majority of this is peatland. 69.7% of the area
is concession area given to three timber plantation companies. These timber concessions were given in the 1990s and the beginning of 2000.
8 Annual issues of Badan Pusat Statistik, Statistik Perusahaasn Perkebunan, Jakarta; Badan Pusat
Statistik.
23 Land Tenure on Peatland: A Source of Insecurity and Degradation in Riau, Sumatra
639
plantations. When operating a plantation in Riau Province, the operator must obtain
various permissions from the state, including HGU. In 1994, 62 plantation companies held rights to operate on 473,000 ha of land, which included 363,000 ha of land
for which the long-term business usufruct rights had been granted. In 1998, this had
grown to 89 companies with rights to cultivate 789,000 ha of land, including
593,000 ha of land for which the HGU had been granted.
8
A vast part of this extensive state forest area was peatland. For example, half of
Riau Province is covered by peatland, so the forests exploited by HPH, HTI, and
HGU are mostly peatland.
During the HPH period peatland exploitation and peatland conditions were
carried over from panglong regime of the colonial era. Basically, peat swamp forests
in the areas were maintained while deforestation took place, as after the tree felling
secondary forest trees grew.
23.4 Land Use and Businesses Today
23.4.1 Peatland Exploitation at the Research Site
Here we show peatland exploitation and land tenure at the research site located at the
Bengkalis district (Kabupaten Bengkalis), Bukit-Batu sub-district (Kecamatan Bukit
Batu), and Tanjung Leban village (Desa Tanjung Leban).
The area of surveyed village is 17,000 ha, and it is said that the village is quite
large. As Map 23.1 shows, the majority of the land is peatland. Map 23.2 shows that
the majority of the land is state forest area (kawasan hutan) except the narrow belt
around the main road near the coast. The state forest area is considered as land
without any land title (tanah yang tidak dihaki), and it can be managed with
concessions such as the HPH by companies or with the hak pengolahan by an
authority body (Badan Penguasa) (Parlindungan 2015).
We calculated the area of peatland and state forest and their composition at the
research site.
Table 23.1 shows that nearly the entire area is state forest area (kawasan hutan)
and that much of the area is peatland (87.1%). Of the state forest area, the majority is
production forest (88.5%), but partly convertible production forest (Hutan produksi
yang dapat konversi) (10.1%). It is clear that there is a small area outside the state
forest area, or APL (0.9%), and that the majority of this is peatland. 69.7% of the area
is concession area given to three timber plantation companies. These timber concessions were given in the 1990s and the beginning of 2000.
8 Annual issues of Badan Pusat Statistik, Statistik Perusahaasn Perkebunan, Jakarta; Badan Pusat
Statistik.
23 Land Tenure on Peatland: A Source of Insecurity and Degradation in Riau, Sumatra
639