Legal Risks of Conservation–Exploitation Imbalance in the Merangin UNESCO Global Geopark

This study aims to assess the legal risks arising from the conservation–exploitation imbalance in the governance of the Merangin UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp), Indonesia, by examining how international, national, and regional legal frameworks regulate licensing, zoning, supervision, and institutional coordination. The study employs a normative-empirical legal research approach, combining statutory and conceptual analysis with field observations and interviews involving the Merangin Geopark Management Agency, local government, and community stakeholders. The findings demonstrate that the existing regulatory framework is formally complementary but remains institutionally fragmented and uneven in enforceability. In particular, vertical legal risks arise from the divergence between UNESCO’s conservation-oriented standards and national and regional regulatory frameworks that accommodate economic utilization, while horizontal legal risks emerge from overlapping authority in licensing, zoning, and supervision. Empirical manifestations include illegal mining encroachment, geosite vandalism, and weak inter-institutional coordination. This study's novelty lies in conceptualizing geopark governance through a legal-risk perspective, showing that the main vulnerability is not the absence of regulations but the asymmetry among conservation standards, legal enforceability, and decision-making authority. The study further reveals an effectiveness gap in which the strongest conservation standard has the weakest domestic enforceability, while actors with binding licensing authority have comparatively limited conservation-oriented mandates. The study recommends integrating Geopark zoning data into national licensing systems, granting the Geopark Management Agency a binding co-decision role, establishing joint central–regional supervision, and adopting UNESCO’s conservation threshold as a substantive standard for permit evaluation. These measures are essential to strengthen regulatory coherence and secure sustainable Geopark governance while supporting local community welfare.