Chapter 15
Peatland Protection in Indonesia:
Toward the Right Direction?
Andri G. Wibisana and Savitri Nur Setyorini
Abstract As a country with an extensive area of peatlands, Indonesia provides
abundant sources of natural resources and a vast amount of carbon stocks. However,
the uncontrolled logging and the expansion of timber and palm oil plantations have
changed Indonesia’s peatlands into a source of disasters, that is, wildfires. For years,
Indonesia has been accused of violating state responsibility about transboundary
haze resulting from wildfires in peatlands. This chapter discusses recent legal development in the protection and management of peatlands in Indonesia and analyzes
how regulatory measures addresses the issue of peatland rehabilitation. The chapter
argues that requiring the water-table level of a minimum of 0.4 m from the surface is
justified according to the precautionary principle. The chapter is also of the opinion
that the recovery of peatlands needs to be conducted under the polluter-pay principle,
leading to the use of strict liability against peatland draining activities.
Keywords Logging · Timber and palm oil · Haze · Peatland · Legal development
Introduction
It has been argued that annual fires that occurred in Indonesia have a great deal to do
with lack of law enforcement and indicate inadequate government responses toward
peatlands degradation. One could, for example, refer to Tan (2015, pp. 5–6, 9) and
Nurhidayah et al. (2015, pp. 195–197), who argue that in the context of international
law haze caused by forest and land fires in Indonesia has indicated a violation of state
responsibility principle, namely the responsibility to prevent transboundary pollution
from forest fires. Following the 1997 fires, Tan (1999, pp. 847–848) concluded that
Indonesia violated the principle of state responsibility, and hence:
…Indonesia is internationally responsible for the occurrence of large-scale fires and consequent transboundary injury to neighbouring States by failing to control the actions of its
citizens within its territory. It first failed to prevent transboundary harm by not using its
A. G. Wibisana (B) · S. N. Setyorini
Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
e-mail: andri.gunawan@ui.ac.id
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Djalante et al. (eds.), Climate Change Research, Policy and Actions in Indonesia,
Springer Climate, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55536-8_15
301
Peatland Protection in Indonesia:
Toward the Right Direction?
Andri G. Wibisana and Savitri Nur Setyorini
Abstract As a country with an extensive area of peatlands, Indonesia provides
abundant sources of natural resources and a vast amount of carbon stocks. However,
the uncontrolled logging and the expansion of timber and palm oil plantations have
changed Indonesia’s peatlands into a source of disasters, that is, wildfires. For years,
Indonesia has been accused of violating state responsibility about transboundary
haze resulting from wildfires in peatlands. This chapter discusses recent legal development in the protection and management of peatlands in Indonesia and analyzes
how regulatory measures addresses the issue of peatland rehabilitation. The chapter
argues that requiring the water-table level of a minimum of 0.4 m from the surface is
justified according to the precautionary principle. The chapter is also of the opinion
that the recovery of peatlands needs to be conducted under the polluter-pay principle,
leading to the use of strict liability against peatland draining activities.
Keywords Logging · Timber and palm oil · Haze · Peatland · Legal development
Introduction
It has been argued that annual fires that occurred in Indonesia have a great deal to do
with lack of law enforcement and indicate inadequate government responses toward
peatlands degradation. One could, for example, refer to Tan (2015, pp. 5–6, 9) and
Nurhidayah et al. (2015, pp. 195–197), who argue that in the context of international
law haze caused by forest and land fires in Indonesia has indicated a violation of state
responsibility principle, namely the responsibility to prevent transboundary pollution
from forest fires. Following the 1997 fires, Tan (1999, pp. 847–848) concluded that
Indonesia violated the principle of state responsibility, and hence:
…Indonesia is internationally responsible for the occurrence of large-scale fires and consequent transboundary injury to neighbouring States by failing to control the actions of its
citizens within its territory. It first failed to prevent transboundary harm by not using its
A. G. Wibisana (B) · S. N. Setyorini
Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
e-mail: andri.gunawan@ui.ac.id
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Djalante et al. (eds.), Climate Change Research, Policy and Actions in Indonesia,
Springer Climate, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55536-8_15
301