6th English.compressed

NEWSLETTER
Independent Forest Monitoring Network (JPIK)
Newsletter 6th Edition 2017

MAINTAINING SVLK CREDIBILITY
THROUGH INDEPENDENT MONITORING

T

Source: jpik

he Timber Legality

reduce illegal logging, as well as

accordance with the laws and

Verification System

increasing government's income

regulations) do no longer need

(SVLK) started to be

from timber export. After going

to pass any due diligence, as

implemented in 2010 as one of

through a number of processes,

the system is already

the system to implement the

Indonesia has officially become

recognized by the European

Voluntary Partnership

the first country in the world

Union.

Agreement on Law

which received FLEGT License.

Enforcement, Governance, and

This means the timbers exported Altogether with Indonesia's

Trade in Forestry Sector (FLEGT

using V-Legal documents

praiseworthy achievement of

VPA). This agreement between

(Documents notifying that the

receiving the FLEGT License,

the Government of Indonesia

exported timber product has

the Forest Independent

and European Union is one of

conformed with the timber

Monitoring Agency gains

the measures to significantly

legality assurance standards in

stronger role in guaranteeing

1

and ensuring the SVLK's

of 2016 and beginning of

sawit-ilegal-dan-kekebalan-

credibility. Indonesia's success in

2017, JPIK conducted

hukum-masih-menggerogoti-

obtaining the FLEGT license has

monitoring in Central

reformasi-kayu-di-indonesia/).

raised the world's attention on

Kalimantan, in Bereng Malaka

During the monitoring, JPIK

SVLK's credibility. Thus, to ensure

Village, Gunung Mas District.

explored information from
various stakeholders through

that SVLK is consistently
implemented in accordance with

The monitoring was acutally a interviews to surrounding local

the relevant regulations,

part of the follow-up to JPIK

community, workers, and village

supervision is a must, which is

and EIA's finding in 2014

staffs. To strengthen these field

implemented among others

(download the report at

findings, JPIK also requested

through the SVLK monitoring by

http://jpik.or.id/laporan-hasil- some data from the sub-national

an independent monitoring

investigasi-jpik-kalteng),

government, as well as took

agency.

where alleged violation was

relevant photos and videos using

reported to the law

drone (Unmanned Air Vehicle).

The Forest Independent

enforcement agency, yet

Seven companies were targeted

Monitoring Agency (JPIK) as one

without any serious response

in the SVLK monitoring by JPIK in

of the independent monitoring

from the latter. Another

Bereng Malaka, namely IPK PT

agencies officially registered in the monitoring conducted by JPIK
and EIA found that some

Ministry of Environmental and

Prasetya Mitra Muda, IUHK Juita,
IUPHHK T Jimmy Candra, UD

Forestry has been actively

frauds were still committed

Usaha Baru Maju, UD Family

conducting monitoring since the

by illegal actors which

Lambung, and two other

beginning of SVLK

disrupted the reform of

unidentified companies.

implementation. Even after the

Indonesia's timber industry to The difficult access toward the

official granting of the FLEGT

SVLK (download follow-up

License, JPIK keeps monitoring the report at
http://jpik.or.id/perusahaanSVLK implementation. At the end

2

monitoring location, rejection
from local community and
company's workers to give any

data and information are some of

An independent SVLK

independent assessment

the barriers and challenges

monitoring implementation is

agencies as the SVLK auditors,

encountered in the monitoring

crucial to be conducted in

and also government, to

process. However, it was not an

regular manner, particularly

properly implement supervision

excuse for JPIK to not collecting

on companies and license

and ensure company/license

accurate evidences. Supports from

holders who have obtained

holder's conformity to the

the government and other relevant

the SVLK certificate. Other

relevant laws and regulations.

stakeholders are crucial for

than as a means to maintain

This way, SVLK will maintain its

independent monitoring agencies

and guarantee the SVLK's

credibility before the

to ensure the proper

credibility, it also helps the

international community.

implementation of the monitoring

certification agencies and

activities.

3

JPIK Held Capacity Building to
Monitor of SVLK for Members

T

he sustainability of SVLK
implementation monitoring
is crucial to be ensured. This is
especially the case since the
enactment of FLEGT VPA license, w
h i c h r e q u i r e s S V L K
implementation continuously
monitored in order to secure and
maintain its credibility. Capacity
building for independent forest
monitoring is one of the means to
support the sustainable SVLK
implementation monitoring.
The Independent Forest
Monitoring Network (JPIK) which is
one of the independent monitoring
body in Indonesia organized a threeday capacity building training for its
members in Bogor. The training was
held in March 2017 and was
attended by 16 JPIK members from
West Java, Banten, South Sulawesi,
WestKalimantan,North
Kalimantan, West Sumatera, Central
Sulawesi, Lampung, East
Kalimantan, East Java, Southeast
Sulawesi, and West Papua.

a imed to increase JPIK m
embers' capacity in
conducting SVLK monitoring,
w h et h e r t h ro u g h d e s k research, field monitoring, as
well as preparing monitoring
reports and complaint reports
to the certification bodies or
other relevant bodies should
there be any discrepancy found
against the criteria and
indicators in the SVLK
certificate. It is expected that in
t h e f u t u r e S V L K
implementation monitoring,
JPIK members would be able to
perform more thorough
monitoring in desk-research as
well as field monitoring. Any
discrepancies between the
field finding with the prevailing
regulations obtained from
monitoring will be followed-up
and made into complaint
report which will enable
relevant agencies to take the
corresponding measures.

Interestingly, in the
The activity was entitled
training,
JPIK featured Bapak
Adva ed Trai i g for SVLK
(
Mr.)
Komarudin
as the
Implementation Monitoring and
Reporting for JPIK Me ers , and representative of Directorate

4

of Forest Product Retribution and
Circulation as the resource person
for forest product administration,
Ibu (Ms.) Laksmi Banowati and
Bapak Sigit Pramono from the
D irecto rate of Sustainable
Production Forest Management as
the resource person for FLEGT VPA
update, and Bapak Hendy Saputra
from Certification Bdoy as the
resource person on auditor's work
mechanism and critical points to
meet the a s s e s sm e n t and
verification standards in
certification. Also during this
o p p o r t u n i t y, p a r t i c i p a n t s
expressed their hope to get right to
access the SIPUHH portal, so that
during monitoring, observers can
conduct real-time checking. JPIK
expects that the training would
contribute to the enhancement of
knowledge and determination of
JPIK members in conducting
m o n i t o r i n g o f S V L K
implementation in the future.

DKP'S IMPLEMENTATION MAY HARM
SVLK'S CREDIBILITY
by: Hendy Saputra (PT TRIFOS International Sertifikasi)

(SVLK assessment standards and
guidance are governed in the
Director General's Regulation
(Perdirjen P.14 of 2016). Firstly,
to ensure compliance to the
standards through certification
schemethat will be
imp l em ented by a th i rd
independent party (LP&VI,
Independent Assessment &
Verification Agency) to obtain
the Sustainable Production
Forest Management Certificate
(SPHPL), and/or Timber Legality
Source: jpik

T

Certificate (S-LK). PHPL
assessment only comprises state

he Timber Legality

revisions and changes of

Verification System (SVLK)

regulation, and currently is

is a mandatory system

governed through the

applied to timber business

Minister of Environmental and

owners, which was firstly

Forestry's Regulation Number

governed through the Minister of

P.30/Menlhk/Setjen/PHPL.3/3

Forestry's Regulation (Permenhut)

/2016, which was stipulated

P.38/Menhut-II/2009 on Standards

and started to take into effect

and Guidance for Assessment on

on 1 March 2016.

Sustainable Production Forest

The regulation that governs

Management Performance and

SVLK consists of 2 concepts to

Timber Legality Assurance on

ensure compliance to the

License Holder or in forest rights.

timber sustainability and/or

This system, which has been going

legality which is set forth in the

for 8 years has undergone five

implementation regulations

5

forest objects which are
managed by license holders
(except IPK (Timber Utilization
L i cense)) or KPH ( Forest
Management Unit), while the
Timber Legality Assurance has
broader coverage, which is from
the upstream (both state forest
and forest rights) to downstream
(primary industry, continued
industry, holders of TDI [Notice
of Industry Registration], IRT
[HomeIndustry],TPT
[Registered Timber Storage], and

Source: jpik

Non-Producer Exporter). Until

as well as to clarify the party

in accordance with the

March 2017, 3,660 forest-based

responsibleforthe

applicable standards. In other

industries and businesses have

comformity and declaration.

words, it is a self-declare scheme.

been SVLK-certified. (Source: SILK

Meanwhile, according to the

Any license holder who has

Online, 8 March 2017)

Minister of Environment and

received the SVLK certificate

Secondly, ensuring the compliance

Fo re st ry 's Regulation

(both SPHPL [Sustainable Forest

to standards through Declaration

(PermenLHK P.30 of 2016),

Product Management

of Supplier Conformity (DKP). The

the Declaration of Supplier

Certificate] or SLK [Timber

scheme refers to the international

Co nfo rm ity ( DKP) i s a

Legality Certificate]) is obliged to

standards ado pted as the

statement of conformity from

use the V-Legal Mark on its

Indonesia's National Standard

the supplier based on the

transport document or on the

(SNI), which is SNI ISO/IEC

evidence showing its

timber/timber product to mark

17050 : 2010 on conformity

conformity to requirements.

that the timber is SVLK-certified.

assessment - Declaration of

In brief, it can be interpreted

The same applies on log and

Supplier Conformity - (the standard

that the Declaration of

processed timber product which

consists of 2 parts, namely ISO/IEC

Supplier Conformity (DKP) in

already has DKP; they are

17050:2010-1, with Part 1: General

the SVLK scheme i s a

entitled to be attached with the

Requirements and SNI ISO/IEC

declaration issued by a timber

same V-Legal mark.

17050 - 2 : 2010 , and Part 2 :

supplier which contains

Then, is this DKP scheme which

Supporting Documents). Based on

guarantee that a timber or

uses self-declare scheme

the standard, the declaration aims

timber product to which the

effective to provide timber

to provide guarantee on the

DKP is attached has met the

legality guarantee just like the

conformity of an identified object

requirements of the timber

one provided by an

to certain referred requirements,

legality assurance standards

independent third party through

6

Sample of DKP issuance:
The farmer/management of forest rights can issue a DKP for the log from cultivation of
forest rights which will be sent to buyer/sawing mill industry. Thus, that particular
farmer/management of forest rights has guaranteed that the log is compliant with the
standards and criteria on timber legality for forest rights. This standard is exactly identical with
the one used to conduct assessment on timber legality for forest rights which is conducted by
independent parties (LP&VI).
Another example is that a primary industry with production capacity under 6,000 m3/year
which only process timber from forest rights can issue a DKP for its processed products, which
is sawn timber, to be sent to a continued industry. With such a DKP, the owner or management
of a primary industry has guaranteed that the sawn timber processing industry is compliant
with the timber legality standards for IUIPHHK (Forest Timber Exploitation License) with
capacity under 6,000 m3 (among others, having complete license, complete raw material
documents, implementing OHS, complying with labor regulation, etc.).

a certification scheme?

Regulation/Permenhut P.43 of

arranged through random

Referring to the SNI ISO/IEC

2014) until today, and yet is

inspection and specific

17050:2010 standard, the issuance

still far below the referred

inspection remains

of a declaration of conformity shall

standards when the DKP

unimplemented until now.

be based on the result of the

concept was developed. In

There is no sufficient

appropriate assessment activity

general, the DKP issued by a

information on whether a

(such as testing, measuring,

supplier, altogether with the

general or specific inspection

auditing, inspection, or

DKP inspection evidence

on DKP conformity has been

examination) conducted by one

conducted by the receiver,

implemented in accordance

party or more, whether a first party, have been more of

with the guidance provided in

second party, or third party. The

administrative formality

the regulation. Furthermore,

entire assessment activities must

documents. Evidences of

information on monitoring by

be properly documented and can

conformity assessment that

an Independent Forest

be tracked at anytime needed.

truly reflect the

Monitoring on the

The implementation of the

implementation of timber

implementation and use of DKP

Declaration of Supplier Conformity

legality standard in

is also seriously lacking (rarely

(DKP) in the SVLK has been going

accordance with the DKP

becomes the object of

for more than 3 years (since

issuing agency is hard to find.

monitoring).

stipulated for the first time in the

In addition, the controlling

This is especially taking place

Minister of Forestry's

mechanism which has been

when the DKP for the timbers

7

from forest rights are attached to

originating from harvest of

from such an SLK

the transport document of forest

forest rights, until other

ownership. Initially,

rights timber (transport note). This processed products which are
produced by industry or
matter starts to be addressed in
the Minister of Environmental and

artisans as well as registered

forest managements
expected that the logs
they produced could get

Forestry's Regulation (PermenLHK) timber storage which stores
P.21 of 2015 on the Forest Products logs and processed timber

better access than the

Administration originating from

from forest rights. However,

forest rights which had

forest rights, until the currently

with the arising impacts of DKP

no SLK. This was

applicable regulation, which is the

application to the SVLK

especially the case when

Minister of Environmental and

credibility as a timber legality

there was a plan that

Forestry's Regulation (PermenLHK) system in Indonesia which has
been internationally
P.85 of 2016 on Transporting of

logs originating from

IUIPHHK may only
receive logs that had

Cultivation Timber Forest Products

recognized, there is a need to

been certified (SPHPL

originating from Forest Rights.

conduct a review on this

and SLK). However, the

The initial aim of the DKP system

system.

efforts later turned out

was to make it easier to obtain

The extension of DKP

to be in vain, as the later

guarantee for timber legality for

implementation may harm the

policy set forth that

cultivation timbers from forest

SVLK's credibility as it causes

IUIPHHK was allowed to

rights, both the logs and timbers

direct negative impacts. Some

receive uncertified logs

processed by industry without

of the impacts are as follows:

so long as it was

having to go through costly

1. The decline of sales

accompanied with DKP.
2. Thus lost the hope of the

certification process. Considering

value of logs from

that the management and

private forest/forest

SLK forest rights

administration of the forest rights

rights which has

management to get

timber need to be made easier,

received SLK. Most of

direct access to IUIPHHK

while the guarantee of timber

the forest rights

without

legality must also still be enforced,

management of

collector/intermediary,

the DKP concept is therefore

cultivation which have

as currently the latter

applied in that specific scope. Up to

received the SLK do

can issue DKP.

now, DKP can be used as a

not extend their SLK as

guarantee for timber legality for log

there is no incentive

8

3. The sustainable forest
rights/private forest

management which is

verified objects only

available options is to apply the

evidenced through

if the sawmills apply

timber receipt quota policy with

certification instruments

for an SVLK

multi-layered DKP for industries

will dramatically lose its

certification.

processing people's timber. In

popularity, as it won't be

However, by using

certain period (such as 5 years),

able to compete with the

DKP, nobody checks

the annual percentage of the

facilities given to the DKP.

the truth or existence

industrial raw material received

of such documents.

from DKP will have to decline, so

4. Supports for sawmill
owners who process

To prevent this phenomenon

that by the sixth year since the

timber originating from

into becoming a threat to the

policy is rolled out, the industry

private forest/forest rights

SVLK credibility, DKP shall be

will only receive raw materials

to obtain complete license

only allowed as a part of

which have been SVLK certified

such as IUIPHHK, SIUP

transitional policy, which

(SPHPL and/or SLK). This method

(Business License), TDP

aims to allow forest rights

will ensure that SVLK is still

(Company Registration

managements, IKM (Small-

implemented while retaining its

Certificate), Environment

Medium Industry), and

full credibility, as well as reduce

Document as well as other private forest sawmills to
legality documents

prepare themselves to apply

significantly decrease. The

for timber legality

documents become

certification. One of the

9

the chance for illegal timber
smuggling.

Timber, Business, and Fear that
Befalls Indigenous Community
by: Wengki Purwanto (FP JPIK Sumbar/PBHI Sumbar) & Yuafriza (YCMM)

Source: jpik

H

Forest is the sustainer and
source of life. Indonesian
people has always been
aware of this fact, as well as the fact
that forest as a God's blessing must
be protected and managed in the
best manner possible for the
people's prosperity. This awareness
and commitment are expressed in
article 33 of the country's 1945
Constitution. To achieve people's
welfare, forest management and
use shall not only based upon

economic calculation, but
instead need to be synergized
with ecological and socialcultural values and functions,
as well as the local wisdom of
the Indonesian indigenous
community.
Article 23 of Law 44/1999 on
Fo restry,whichwas
substituted by Law 19/2004
sets forth that the use of
forest (forest timber) aims to
generate optimum benefit to
create prosperity of the entire

10

society in just and sustainable
manners. As such, in order to
penetrate the European Union
market, on 30 September 2013,
the Government of Indonesia
signed a Voluntary Partnership
Agreement (VPA) with the
European Union Government on
Forest Law Enforcement,
Governance and Trade/FLEGT).
The partnership was ratified
through Presidential Regulation
No. 21/2014 on Legitimization of
Voluntary Partnership
A g re e m e nt b et we e n t h e
Republic of Indonesia with
European Union on Forest Law
Enforcement, Governance and
Trade of Timber Products to
European Union. The goal,
commitment and/or all
conditions described in the
above apply for all Indonesia's
territory, including West
Sumatera.
In West Sumatera context, on 19
October 2004, the Indonesian
Minister of Forestry issued
Decree Letter SK.413/MenhutIV/2004 on License for Forest
Timber Utilization in Natural
Forest (IUPHHK-HA) for PT.
Salaki Summa Sejahtera (PT. SSS)
covering the area of 48,420
(forty-eight thousand four
hundred twenty thousand)
hectares in Kepulauan Mentawai
District, which is effective for 45
years. In 2013, the Minister of
Forestry issued the Decree Letter
SK No. 502/Menhut-II/2013 on
Forest Timber Utilization in
Natural Forest (IUPHHK-HA) for
PT. Minas Pagai Lumber (PT. SSS)

Table 1. Total Timber Production of PT. Salaki Summa Sejahtera and PT. Minas Pagai Lumber's IUPHHK-HA,

Timber Type

Number of Production (piece)
MPL
SSS

2015
Meranti
Mix Tropical Hardwood
Total production
2016
Meranti
Mix Tropical Hardwood
Total production

10.293
203
10.496

11.912
645
12.557

8.330
77
8.407

7.046
1.035
8.081

(source: sipuhh online)

covering the area of 78,000
(seventy-eight thousand) hectares
which is also effective for 45 years.
The log produced by both
companies is predominantly the
meranti group.
PT. SSS has obtained the PHPL
certificated number 05.Rev.3/ASERT-PHPL/XI/2013 which is valid
from 11 November 2013 to 10
November 2018. PT. SSS was
certified by PT. Ayamaru Sertifikasi,
and has undergone three
inspections which resulted GOOD
a d des ri ed as Well-Maintained
and “ustai a le . Meanwhile, PT.
MPL has already obtained the
timber legality certificate (S-LK)
number 12.r2-SIC-04.02, which is
valid from 06-12-2014 until 05-122017 from PT. Sarbi International
C e r t i f i cat i o n . PT. M P L h a s
undergone two inspections and was
declared as pass as it met the
inspection norms of each verifier
based on the applicable law.
Pursuant to the Minister of
Environment's Regulation No.
P.71/MenLHK/Setjen/HPL.3/8/201
6 on Procedure for Charging,

Collection and Submission of
Provision of Forest Resources,
Reforestation Fund, Forest
Coverage Remedy, Penalty for
Violation in Forest
Exploitation and Retribution
of Forest Utilization Business
License, PT. SSS and PT. MPL,
which are IUPHHK-HA holders
are obliged to pay the NonTax State Income (PNBP),
namely the Provision of Forest
Resources (PSDH) and
Reforestation Fund (DR) to
the government.
Based on the total production
of PT. SSS and PT. MPL (Table
1), in 2015, PT. SSS was
obliged to pay the Non-Tax
State Income (PNBP) in form
of Provision of Forest
Resources (PSDH) amounting
IDR 4,320,948,400,- dan DR
amounting US$ 980,834.76.
The oustanding PSDH was IDR
4,320,948,400,-, while the
outstanding DR was
amounting US$ 980,834.81.
Meanwhile, from the total
production of log timber in
2016, PT. SSS's outstanding

11

PNPB consisted of PSDH
amounting IDR 2,754,170,320,-,
while the outstanding DR was
amounting US$ 626,351.70. The
outstanding paid by PT. SSS was
respectively the PSDH which
amounted IDR 2,436,352,060,-,
and the outstanding DR which
amounted US$ 544,322.44.
Meanwhile, in 2015, PT. MPL
was obliged to pay the PNBP in
form of PSDH amounting IDR
3,960,630,510,-, and the
outstanding DR, which
amounted US$ 900,725.76. The
oustanding PSDH was IDR
3,673,515,490,-, and the
outstanding DR amounted US$
835,610.71. Meanwhile, in
2016, PT. MPL's outstanding
PNPB consisted of PSDH
amounting IDR 2,681,011,400,-,
and outstanding DR which
amounted US$ 607,672.49. The
outstanding paid by PT. MPL
was respectively the PSDH
amounting IDR 2,681,011,400,-,
and outstanding DR which
amounted US$ 607,656.20.

Ÿ

The Non-Tax State Income (PNBP) is the entire income of the National Government from nontax sources.
Ÿ Provision of Forest Resources (PSDH) is a levy which is a substitute to the intrinsic value of the
forest products that are harvested from the state's forest and/or from the forest products
located in forest area which status as forest area and/or state's forest area is cancelled and is
designated for development outside forestry sector.
Ÿ Reforestation Fund (DR) is the fund allocated for reforestation and rehabilitation of forest
along with its supporting activities which are levied from the IUPHH-HA holders which
harvest timber.

PT. SSS and PT. MPL have been
implementing their obligations to
pay the PNBP to the government.
However, does the timber, as a high
economic value forest product, has
optimally contributed to the justice
and welfare for the people,
p a rt ic ul ar ly those residing
surrounding or within the forest?
And, has the utilization of forest
timber produtc been implemented
in accordance with the law (legal
aspect)?
According to the Presidential
Regulation (Perpres) No. 131/2015
ontheDesignationof
Disadvantaged Area for 2015-2019,
the Kepulauan Mentawai District
was categorized as one of the three
disadvantaged areas in West
Sumatera. It turned out that the
utilization of forest timber since the
1970s in Mentawai has not brought
any significant change to the local
people's welfare. The online media
MentawaiKita.com published the
following news on 21-12-2016,
entitled: Living in Poverty in Timber
Producing Area, which highlighted
the poverty suffered by the locals of
Taikako Hulu Timur Sub-village
(which is located in PT. MPL's
concession), which was inhabited
by 64 heads of household. The subvillage head, Satriman Sabalat, said,

thereisnosignof
development whatsoever in
our village. The roads are
muddy during the rain, and
students on their way home
have to carry their shoes to
prevent from dirt so that they
can be used on the next day.
Efendi Sapalakkai (Head of BPD
of Taikako), during the meeting
between Sikakap community
with the West Sumatran
Provincial Government
(7/12/2016) demanded that
the Provi ial Gover e t of
West Sumatera facilitate the
exclusion of Taikako Village from
the HPH location, as at that
time, PT. MPL has planted
borders for their HPH area in the
locals' field and dwelling areas.
We don't want to stay within
the HPH location. We are
worried that someday, there
would be a policy to evict us
under the pretext of protecting
state's asset, and they would
destroy our homes, just like
whatyouseeon TV, he said.
Meanwhile, the f indings
collected by Yayasan Citra
Mandiri Mentawai (YCMM)
show that PT. MPL committed
violations in its operations.
These include the construction

12

of roads outside the legitimate
road path corridor declared in its
Annual Work Plan (RKT) 2016,
namelyinManganjo,
Saumanganya Village, and Pagai
Utara Sub-district, which stretch
400 meters long and 6 meter
wide. Meanwhile, according to
the Annual Work Plan (RKT) 2016
Number 522.1/3084/PH-2015
dated 21 December 2015, the
road construction should have
been conducted in Taikako Hulu
area, which i s located at
coordinate S:02.72°56'6
E:100°1'05.00. However, field
finding shows that there was a
road construction outside of the
designated corridor in the
company's Annual Work Plan
(RKT) 2016.
YCMM also found logging
activities within the prohibited
radius or distance, which is based
upon article 50 paragraph (3) of
Law on Forestry, namely the
Simanoppou and Simangaik river
riparians, where a stump from
logging remnants was found
within less than 50 meters from
the river and within the radius of
less than 8 meters from the tip of
cliff with 4 m depth.
In addition, PT. MPL was also
suspected as violating the
deadline for the rennovation of

concession borders which should
have been completed one year after
the license had been issued. In the
Annual Work Plan (RKT) 2015,
Chapter II page 3 on the realization
of scope of work area is specified to
be 0.00% until December 2015, and
in the Annual Work Plan (RKT) 2016
Chapter II page 6 it is specified that
u nt i l N ove m b e r 2 0 1 5 , t h e
realization of scope of work area for
IUPHHK-HA only reached 77.44%. It
was not until August 2016 that the
border reconfiguration of the
Sau man ganyak V i l l age was
conducted. PT. Furthermore, MPL
did not collaborate with local
community cooperative, despite
the fact that in its Annual Work Plan
(RKT) 2016 it is specified that the
company shall collaborate with
cooperative at the latest one year
after the license is issued.
YCMM also suspected that PT. MPL
does not implement proper
management of forest timber
product (in measurement, testing,
m arking, t ranspo rting, and
production reporting) on all of its
logs. The suspicion was raised upon
finding of a log that was not
transported to the log collection
location (TPn) nor marked. The
findings also show that some logs
were used as foundation and body
of bridge on the rivers cutting the
route for timber transport. The idle
logs and those used as bridge
foundation and body were not
marked, and hence most likely
wouldn't be reported in the
production report, so that no
Provision of Forest Resources
(PSDH) will be charged nor any
compensation for the forest stand
value.
Meanwhile, PT. SSS is involved in a
conflict with Samongilailai tribe

(Siberut Utara concerning the
payment of t imber fee.
Although the 3rd audit result by
PT. Ayamaru Sertifikasi on the
certification ofPHPL
performance assessment of PT.
Salaki Summa Sejahtera page
22 states that the conflict with
the local community has been
setled by PT. Salaki Summa
Sejahtera through a joint
agreement which favors both
parties and hence prevents
further conflict.
However, reality in the field
shows different result. Quoting
Pinda Tangka Simanjuntak
(Head of YCMM Organization
Division) which was published
on www.mentawaikita.com on
9 June 2017, entitled
Samongilailai Land Conflict in
Tobilanggai, Malancan Village,
Siberut Utara, on 9 November
2016, dozens of people of
Sirilanggai launched an action
of cutting the 30 meter wooden
bridge in Tobilanggai. The
bridge was used by the
company to transport timber.
The community cut down the
bridge to express their
frustration as the cooperative
and company have not paid any
timber fee to their tribe
(Samongilailai). Due to the
action, thousands of cubic
timberscouldnot be
transported by the company.
The conflict was then mediated
by the Muspida (Local Leaders
D e l i b e r a t i o n ) Te a m o f
Mentawai on 12 November
2016 at the Malancan village
head's house. Eventually, it was
agreed that cooperative (the
company) needs to pay timber
fee to the Samongilailai tribe

13

amounting IDR 37,500/cubic,
and that the payment was to be
made at the latest two weeks
since the signing of the minutes
of agreement. However, until
June 2017, the agreement was
not yet implemented. This
means, the legal aspect of timber
forest product utilization still
encounters problems in the field.
It is the time, therefore, that the
granting of license for timber
forest product utilization in
Mentawai to be more thoroughly
evaluated. The audit result by
any assessment agency does not
fully guarantee that the IUPHHKHAholderoperatesin
compliance with the law. It is
time to ensure that utilization of
timber forest product optimally
benefits the people in just and
sustainable manners. Let's hope
so.

DEVELOPMENT OF 'PERIODIC EVALUATION'
(PE) OF FLEGT-VPA EU-IDN
Arbi Valentinus, who is also the National FLEGT Expert/Consultant for Indonesia at EFI FLEGT Facility

T

he 'PERIODIC EVALUATION'
(ref: Annex VI VPA EU-IDN)
is one of the 3 existing
monitoring/evaluation instruments
in the FLEGT-VPA Agreement
entered into between the EU
(European Union) and its each
partner country. Up to now, the
FLEGT-VPA Agreements (VPA) that
have been signed, ratified by both
parties, and implemented are:
between EU and Indonesia (IDN)
(signed on 30 September 2013,
ratified by both parties in April
2014, and started to be effective
on 1 May 2014), Ghana (signed on
19 November 2009 and started to
be effective on 1 December 2009),
and most recently Vietnam
(agreed on 11 May 2017).
The two other instruments are the
Impact Monitoring (IM) ref: Article
12 VPA EU-IDN and Independent
Market Monitoring (IMM) ref:
Annex VII VPA EU-IDN). The
Periodic Evaluation (PE) aims to
'provide guarantee that the SVLK
truly functions as specified in the
FLEGT VPA, which in turn will

increase the credibility of the
issued FLEGT license'.
For the FLEGT-VPA EUIndonesia, this Periodic
Evaluation (PE) was firstly
conducted (PE#01: 20162017) in the end of 2016 and
is expected to be completed
by the middle of 2017, which
will afterwards be reported
in the JIC which will be held
approximately one year after
the agreement on
preparation for
implementation process (and
the implementation itself) of
'FLEGT license' is achieved.
The agreement on the PE
time frame was achieved in
the fifth 'Joint
Implementation Committee'
(JIC #5) in Yogyakarta on 15
September 2016, upon
consideration that (i) VPA
between EU and Indonesia
was just completed with the
implementation of 'Joint
Assessment' (ref: VPA Annex
VIII) in August 2016, as well
as the fact that (ii) the

middle of September 2016 was
the time when JIC decided to
initiate the preparation process
for 'FLEGT license'
implementation, and it was also
estimated that one month
afterward (mid-November 2016)
was the beginning of 'FLEGT
license' implementation.
This first PE (PE#01: 2016-2017)
was organized by 'Sucofindo
SBU-LSI' (an independent
consultant agency, in
compliance with the
qualifications/pre-requisites set
forth in Annex VI VPA). Side
note: Sucofindo SBU-LSI is a
business unit which provides
separate services, which is
independent from the Sucofindo
SBU-SERCO unit which is the
KAN accredited LVLK as 'other'
independent agency which is
determined as one of the LVLK
by the Ministry of
Environmental and Forestry in
the SVLK element. The absence
of 'conflict of interest' is further
iterated with a written

The term 'Periodic Evaluation' (PE) is an official/formal term in the VPA with Indonesia. As for
the VPA with Ghana and other partner countries (other VPAs that have been signed or in
negotiation process), the same instrument has/can be recognized under the name of
'Independent Audit' or 'Independent Monitoring'. The different naming/term aims to prevent
confusion in the VPA with Indonesia, since in SVLK, a similar term has been earlier
known/used/associated to refer to the role/activity of a verification or assessment bodies (re:
independent audit/verification) or that of independent (forest) monitoring agency. Note: In order
to distinguish and prevent confusion, the 'independent forest monitoring' is shortened to 'IFM' in
the VPA's notes, minutes (MoM=minutes of meeting), as well as in the RoD (record of discussion);
'IM' is more associated with 'impact monitoring' of VPA, and thus: IMD= Impact Monitoring
Design.

14

2017), East Java (3-6 May 2017),
Jambi (9-13 May 2017), Bali (1720 May 2017), and Jakarta
Greater Area (April-June 2017).

statement from PT. Sucofindo,
which was accepted by the PE
Tender Selection Panel (multistakeholders representation) and
also represented both parties in
the Agreement, namely EU &
Indonesia).
Evaluation was conducted with the
objective/target of evaluating the
functioning of each element in the
SVLK implementation (which
comprises elements such as:
Ministries/government agencies,
accreditation agencies,
verification/assessment agencies,
as well as licensing agencies,
independent monitoring agencies,
and business units).
Evaluation is conducted regularly
(once a year), by referring to the
evaluation standards developed by
multi-stakeholders. There are 23
evaluation standards that have
been developed and serve as the
basis to implement evaluation for
each 'target' of the SVLK element
being evaluated. The formulation
and development of PE evaluation
standards by the multistakeholders formulation team (PE
Assistance Team) together with
the PE Sucofindo SBU-LSI
formulation team was conducted
throughout February 2016 -

The Sucofindo SBU-LSI PE Team
currently (July 2017) is in the
process to compile/consolidate
all records from the evaluation
and is working on its PE#01
results: 2016-2017. The
temporary pointers (including
the notes on the process and
inputs/recommendations based on the entire process of
the first evaluation - for future
October 2016, which included
PE evaluation) will be reported
broader public consultation
to the technical meeting forum
on 28 June 2016 (at Bidakara,
of VPA (or JWG = Joint Working
Jakarta).
Group, or JEM= Joint Expert
Meeting; note: it will take place
The PE was implemented by
in the second week of August
the Sucofindo SBU-LSI PE
2017 (8-10 August 2017)) and
Evaluator Team (assisted by
report its final result to the
the PE Assistance Team)
upcoming JIC (Joint
during April - June 2017. The
Implementation Committee)
PE was conducted in (i) census
Forum (planned to be held in
format through the entire
September 2017).
part of each (i.a)
verification/assessment
agency (LVLK/LPPHPL) and
license issuing agency (V-Legal
Document Issuing Agency),
and (i.b) relevant national
government agencies (and
relevant government agencies
in evaluation sector), as well
as (ii) sampling on (ii.c)
business unit (by considering
the representativeness of the
entire business unit
typology/category covered in
the SVLK), and (ii.d)
independent forest
monitoring agency (IFM). The
first PE was conducted in
several provinces, namely
Yogyakarta(3-9 April 2017),
Central Java (10-15 April
2017), Central Kalimantan
(18-22 April 2017), East
Kalimantan (24-30 April

15

REDESIGNING ISPO FOR THE IMPROVEMENT
OF INDONESIA'S PALM OIL INDUSTRY GOVERNANCE

I

indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil
(ISPO) Initiative is a policy of the
Ministry of Agriculture which
aims to ensure the enforcement of
laws and regulations relating to
palm oil and thus ensure the
sustainable palm oil production.
Some other objectives of this
initiative are enhancing Indonesian
palm oil competitiveness in the
world market as well as
participating in reducing green
house gas emission and pay more
attention on environmental issues.

SAs the basis of the policy to
implement this initiative, in 2011,
the Ministry of Agriculture issued a
Minister of Agriculture's Regulation
(Permentan) No.
19/Permentan/OT.140/3/2011 on
Guidance for Indonesian
Sustainable Palm Oil/ISPO dated 29
March 2011 in Medan, North
Sumatera, which coincides with the
a iversary of the O e Hu dred
Years of Indonesian Palm Oil
I dustry .
The Minister of Agriculture's
Regulation consists of 7 principles,
41 criteria, and 128 indicators. The
seven ISPO principles are: (1)
plantation licensing and
management system, (2)
implementation of technical
guidelines for palm oil cultivation
and processing, (3) environmental
management and monitoring, (4)
responsibility toward workers, (5)
social and community responsibility,
(6) community economic activities
empowerment, (7) sustainable
business development.

After the Minister of
Agriculture's Regulation No.
19/Permentan/OT.140/3/201
1, in 2015, the Ministry of
Agriculture issued another
Minister of Agriculture's
Regulation No.
11/Permentan/OT.140/3/201
5 on Indonesia Sustainable
Palm Oil Certification
System/ISPO. The newer
Minister of Agriculture's
Regulation accommodates
the previous Minister of
Agriculture's Regulation
Number
98/Permentan/OT.140/9/201
3 on Guidelines for Plantation
Business License, Law of the
Republic of Indonesia
Number 39/2014 on
Plantation (article 62), and
Presidential Instruction No.
6/2013 on Suspension of New
License and Refinement of
Governance of Primary
Natural Forest and Peatland.
ISPO certification is
mandatory for any estate
company which operates a
plantation cultivation
business which is integrated
with processing business,
estate company which
conducts plantation
cultivation business, and
estate company which
conducts plantation products
processing business.
Oppositely, it is voluntary for
Smallholding which land
originates from government's

16

land allocation, Estate Company
, smallholder plantation, as well
as smallholder's land which
receive facility from an Estate
Company, Independent
Smallholdings which plantation
is built and/or managed
independently by the
Smallholder, or Estate Company
which produces palm oil for
renewable energy which
comply with the requirements.
The data from the Ministry of
Agriculture until June 2017
shows that 266 ISPO certificates
have been issued, 264 of which
were given to estate companies,
one for smallholding, and
another one for independent
smallholders. However, the
data collected by the ISPO
Commission Secretariat differ,
as it shows that until May 2017,
there were 225 ISPO-certified
companies. These consist of
142 certificates issued for
companies in Sumatera island,
75 certificates for Kalimantan
island, while other 8 for
Sulawesi island.

Vision for Improvement and
Multi-Stakeholders Roles

T

he ISPO Certificate currently
owned by the palm oil
companies have not brought
any significant impact to the
sustainability and preservation of
plantation management. Various
problems remain in relation with
legality aspect, which causes
deforestation of natural forest and
peatland, which endangers biodiversity (flora and fauna), causes
fire and land fire, as well as trigger
human rights violation and conflict
in local/indigenous community.
This problem has costed the
Government of Indonesia billions
of rupiahs.
The aforementioned problems lead
to a serious question on the
effectiveness of ISPO
implementation, and in response,
in June 2016, the Government of
Indonesia through the
Coordinating Ministry of Economic
Affairs formed the ISPO
Strengthening Team which aims to
implement fundamental
improvements in certification and
standardization for Indonesia's
sustainable palm oil industry. This
momentum is a big opportunity for
environment and human rights
observers and practitioners to give
feedbacks pertaining to
improvement of palm oil industry
governance in Indonesia, including
JPIK, which has been experienced
in advocating for the SVLK issues.
Jointly with the Indonesia's Civil
Society Group, currently JPIK is
actively invoved in a series of
discussions with other
stakeholders to promote and
formulate the re-designing of ISPO.
Until the end of December 2016,

the ISPO Strengthening Team
has organized a series of
closed discussions with
various stakeholders to
promote and formulate the
ISPO re-designing focus. In
addition,
a series of meetings have
been also implemented by
various parties to discuss
about the Draft Presidential
Regulation (Perpres) on
Indonesia's Sustainable Palm
Oil. The Draft Presidential
Regulation aims to substitute
the Minister of Agriculture's
Regulation Number
11/Permentan/Ot.140/3/201
5 on Indonesia Sustainable
Palm Oil Certification
System/ISPO.
In order to gather feedbacks,
the government held public
consultations on the
strengthening of the
Presidential Regulation on
Indonesia Sustainable Palm
Oil in five regions, namely
Sumatera, Kalimantan,
Sulawesi, Papua, and lastly in
Jakarta. The same activity
was also held by JPIK and
Kaoem Telapak, which
consolidated different CSOs
at sub-national level to allow
them to give feedbacks and
recommendations pertaining
to the discussions on scoring
standard and the body of the
Presidential Regulation.
Currently, the CSO
consolidation and public
consultation have been
conducted in three regions.

17

They were, respectively, in
Sumatera (Pekanbaru, Riau
Province), Kalimantan
(Palangkaraya) in May 2017, and
in Sulawesi in June 2017. The
consultations for two other
regions are planned to be held
by August 2017.
Feedbacks and
recommendations from the CSO
consolidation resulted in three
Position Papers which contents
include the call for resolution for
fundamental problems that had
been delayed in palm oil sector,
moratorium of license for large
scale plantation, as well as
comprehensive improvement in
ISPO principles and criteria as a
certification system. In addition,
the agency in charge with
administering the ISPO
certification shall have
prominent credibility and
accountability as well as
transparency, so as to ensure
that improvement in palm oil
industrial governance might be
achieved as expected by all
stakeholders.

BOX:
Various products by JPIK and Kelompok Masyarakat Sipil Indonesia (Indonesia Civil Society
Group) on ISPO and palm oil can be accessed on the following link:
1. Position Paper of Indonesia Civil Society Group Skema Sertifikasi Sawit Berkelanjutan
Harus Dirancang Ulang (The Need for Re-Designing of the Sustainable Palm Oil
Certification Scheme) http://jpik.or.id/skema-sertifikasi-sawit-berkelanjutan-harusdirancang-ulang/
2. Position Paper of Indonesia Civil Society Group - Sumatera Chapter Menuju Praktek
Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit yang Berkelanjutan Secara Ekologis, Ekonomi dan Sosial
(Toward Ecologically, Economically, and Socially Sustainable Palm Oil Plantation
Practices) http://jpik.or.id/menuju-praktek-perkebunan-kelapa-sawit-yangberkelanjutan-secara-ekologis-ekonomi-dan-sosial
3. Position Paper of Indonesia Civil Society Group - Kalimantan Chapter Sistem Sertifikasi
Bukan Sekedar Label Sawit Berkelanjutan (Certification System Is Not Just a
Sustainable Palm Oil Label) http://jpik.or.id/sistem-sertifikasi-bukan-sekedar-labelsawit-berkelanjutan/
4. Policy Paper: Mengapa Pembahasan RUU Perkelapasawitan Harus Segera Dihentikan
(Why the Discussion on Palm oil Bill Must Be Stopped
Immediately)http://jpik.or.id/kertas-kebijakan-mengapa-pembahasan-ruuperkelapasawitan-harus-segera-dihentikan/
5. Position Paper of Indonesia Civil Society Group - Kalimantan Chapter Sistem Sertifikasi
Bukan Sekedar Label Sawit Berkelanjutan (Certification System Is Not Just a
Sustainable Palm Oil Label) http://jpik.or.id/kertas-posisi-cso-region-sulawesi-sistemsertifikasi-bukan-sekedar-label-sawit-berkelanjutan/

18

Editor: Nike Arya Sari
Penulis:
Dhio Teguh Ferdyan, M. Kosar, Nike Arya Sari, Yoyon Mujiono ,
Arbi Valentinus, Hendy Saputra, Wengki Purwanto, Yuafriza

Jaringan Pemantau Independen Kehutanan
Jl. Sempur Kaler No 30 Bogor INDONESIA
Telp. 0251 8574842
Email: jpikmail@gmail.com
www.jpik.or.id