Sustainable forest management : a comparative study of Indonesian and Malaysian forestry legislations

Abstract

Tropical forests—a resource of great value to humanity—are now in jeopardy. Tropical deforestation has been accelerated dramatically in the last three decades. In 1991, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that more than fifty percent of tropical forests were cut. In estimation, our planet loses 100 acres of tropical forest every minute, meaning that 40 to 50 million acres (11 million hectares) annually. Due to its potential adverse impact on social, economic, cultural and ecological aspects of human lives and other living species on the earth, deforestation has become a critical global concern. So far, no legally-binding treaty is available on the conservation and sustainable use of all types of forests and on combating deforestation. However, international community has adopted ‘The Forest Principles’ and Chapter 11 of Agenda 21 at Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992, which were followed by several international initiatives such as Intergovernmental Panel on Forest (IPF) and Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF). All of these initiatives aim at minimizing the rate of deforestation and managing tropical forests in a sustainable manner. Hundreds of years ago, Islam has also placed a very high emphasis on the conservation of natural resources, including forests. Meanwhile, Indonesia and Malaysia have formulated certain forest legal regime—containing both preventive and punitive measures—to deal with deforestation. Through library-based, descriptive, and comparative approaches, this research attempts to analyze how forest management is regulated and enforced in Indonesia and Malaysia. It also endeavors to examine whether Indonesian and Malaysian legal regimes are in compliance with global and Islamic principles. The results of the research are expected to facilitate mutual learning of both the countries for the improvement of their legal regime and the enforcement of sustainable forest management in the future.