Soeryo Adiwibowo, Yuli Prasetyo Nugroho, and Rhyta Tambunan

In 2021, three proposals for the recognition of customary forest in Central Sulawesi (CS) verified by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MEF). One year later, 18 customary forest proposals from North Sumatra (NS) Province entered the verification process. The proposal contained two subject matters, the existence of the customary community, and the presence of the customary forest. The Alliance for The Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago (or AMAN) and local NGO actively assisted the customary community to record the history, the traditions, values, norms and structure of the adat community, as well as the customary areas and its proposed boundaries of customary forest. In CS Province, around 25 to 40 percent of each proposed customary forest overlapped with the protected forest (the Lore Lindu National Park, LLNP). Meanwhile, in NS, around 60 to 70 percent of each proposed customary forest overlapped with the timber estate concession of the private company (PT TPL). The area and the boundaries of the customary forest become a contested arena and politized environment between and among the interested parties. In Central Sulawesi three actors are struggle over the access to customary forest i.e. the AMAN and the three customary communities, the Directorate General of Nature Conservation and the Ecosystem,  and the Directorate General for Social Forestry of the MEF. In North Sumatra, the situation is more complex as four interested actors are struggle over access to the customary forest i.e. the NGOs (AMAN, and the KSPPM) and 18 customary communities, the private company of PT TPL, and the Directorate General for Social Forestry. The initiative to propose the customary forest are intertwined and can not separated with the civil society movement surround the Toba Lake to stop the operation of PT TPL.

Keywords: Customary Forest, Customary Community, Recognition, Private Company