Changing Policy Narratives in Addressing Indonesia's Deforestation

ABSTRACT Indonesia's forests stand at the crossroads of economic prosperity and ecological preservation, where the demand for timber and palm oil clashes with the urgent need to protect biodiversity and mitigate climate change. The dual role of Indonesia's forests has led to decades of policy tension, primarily contesting their function as engines of economic growth and vital ecological safeguards. The vast timber products generated by Indonesia's forests have played an essential role in the national economy, especially during periods of economic turmoil, such as the colonial and reform periods. However, the economic benefits triggered considerable deforestation due to excessive logging and land clearing, primarily for palm oil plantations. Addressing deforestation, Indonesia's government has enacted various policies over the last decades, each with different focuses and narratives. Even though the policies all aim to reduce deforestation, how they are framed and presented matters for gaining political support. Relatedly, this research reviews the macro policy narratives (the grand storylines associated with policymakers' belief systems that shape and influence policy paradigms) underpinning Indonesia's efforts to address deforestation. Through literature reviews, this study found that the policy narratives for addressing Indonesia's deforestation primarily center on a structural governance shift. Started from the narrative highlighting absolute government control during the new order regimes, to the political decentralization in early reform, then to the technocratic intervention embedded in people's welfare and climate sustainability discourses in the following periods.