IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2011) 2–1

Research article
erd

Sustainable Development in Indonesian Environmental
Law; Lessons from Germany’s  Sustainable  Forest  Management Practices
SRI WAHYUNIIslamic University of Riau, Riau, Indonesia
Email: sri_wahyuni6969@ymail.com
Received 16 December 2010

Accepted 15 January 2011

Abstract The work examines the impacts of rampant illegal logging practiced in Riau
Province, which has placed the province ahead of other Indonesian provinces as having thehighest rate of illegal timber exports. In addition to the problem of illegal logging, the Riau
Province is also saddled with forest fires raging in Sumatra. These have been responsible
for extensive environmental disaster experienced in this part of Indonesia – such as thedestruction of biodiversity and their habitat and the release of atmospheric polluting gases.
The illegal logging activities and the forest fires expose the affected region to soil erosion
following heavy downpours experienced in the region. In Asia, for example, there arefundamental differences between the fire-related problems in India, China, Korea,
Mongolia and Siberia on the one hand, and South-East Asia on the other. Indonesia,Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea are experiencing
ever greater problems with uncontrolled forest fire outbreaks. Key connected factors
causing fires in land and forest use: First: The opening up and exploitation of forests toserve the wood industry is an important factor in that potentially. Second: The arrival ofthe wood industry is followed by new settlers who use fire to clear the land for cultivation;
however, these settlers often lack a traditional relationship with the forests and thus haveno interest in preserving it. Third: Apart from this exploitation of the forests, anotherimportant factor is the large-scale transformation from natural forest to woods for industry
and oil palm plantations. This is highly profitable and was until recently even subsidized
by the state. The instrument of choice for doing this, although officially forbidden, is fire.
Keywords sustainable development, environemntal law, illegal logging, fire forest

INTRODUCTION
Indonesia's current forest transformation programmed is unrealistic without clearing by fire. This
leads to conflicts with the local population over land uses, which in turn are fought out with fire.
Both large and small-scale land speculation and the use of fire for other purposes in the forest (e.g.
illegal felling and hunting), together with carelessness and a lack of awareness of the problems
complete the complex picture of a network of causes in each case.
The work examines the impacts of rampant illegal logging practiced in Riau Province, whichhas placed the province ahead of other Indonesian provinces as having the highest rate of illegal
timber exports. In addition to the problem of illegal logging, the Riau Province is also saddled withforest fires raging in Sumatra. These have been responsible for extensive environmental disaster
experienced in this part of Indonesia – such as the destruction of biodiversity and their habitat andthe release of atmospheric polluting gases. The illegal logging activities and the forest fires expose
the affected region to soil erosion following heavy downpours experienced in the region (Wahyuni,2006).
All of these problems above happen in Indonesia as one of the developing countries, and Riau
Province is one of from the 33 Provinces in Indonesia, that have a wide resources but it have thebig problems to manage their environmental resources. For example, every year, Riau Province© ISERD

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meets  the  flood  and  the  fire  of  forest.  That’s  why,  the  people  and the government of Riau Province
ask about the sustainable development to solve the problem above.
The genesis of the concept of sustainable development is commonly reported to the 1987
Brundtland Report, which contains the well-known   definition   of   “sustainable   development”   as:  development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Report, 1987).
In an era of increasing economic globalization, the traditional environmental and social
challenges seem to have gained a new dimension which must be taken into account. However,pursuant  to  the  Johannesburg  Declaration,  “the  rapid  integration  of  markets,  mobility  of  capital  and  significant increase in investment flows around the world has opened new challenges andopportunities  for  the  pursuant  of  sustainable  development  (Massimiliano  Montini,  2008).”
The basic and traditional definition of the principle of sustainable development was partiallyreviewed and updated at the Johannesburg Conference. In fact, the Johannesburg Political
Declaration underlines that the principle of sustainable development is based on three:interdependent   and   mutually   reinforcing   pillars,   namely   ‘economic   development,   social  development and environmental  protection’,  which  must  be  collectively  promoted  and  advanced  at  local, national, regional and global levels.
The Federal Republic of Germany is located in Central Europe, bordering Poland and theCzech Republic to the east, Switzerland and Austria to the south, the Netherlands, Belgium,
Luxembourg and France to the west, Denmark, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north. With
its  high  population  density  and  it’s  environmentally  detrimental  heavy  industry.
With its high population density and its environmentally detrimental heavy industry, Germany
is a country with a long tradition in air and water pollution control. Driven by a strong
environmental movement, the country was among the international front-runners in a number ofareas such as regulating emissions from large combustion plants (e.g. coal power stations) orintroducing car emission standards, later on also in the fields of climate protection and waste
management. At the beginning of the 1970s, Germany was already an early pioneer in strategic
environmental planning. At that time, a number of innovative institutional arrangements andmechanisms for setting long-term environmental objectives as well as concrete action goals (1971
Environmental Program) and for integrating environmental considerations into the decision makingof other sectors (notably   a   “Green   Cabinet”)   were   introduced.   However,   in   spite   of   these   early  achievements and an altogether relatively successful environmental policy at present Germany
seems to lag behind more pro-active European governments in its efforts to implement the more
recent concept of sustainable development. The fact that Germany will be one of the last OECD
countries to introduce a national strategy for sustainable development illustrates this point.
Similarly, at the international level, Germany has been active in promoting concrete environmental
initiatives, for example in the field of climate policy, rather than with regard to general issues ofsustainable development (Jänicke & Jörgens (eds.) 2000).
In terms   of   sustainable   development,   Germany’s high degree of industrialization and its
central location in Europe are factors generating high traffic volumes, which have increased
considerably due to the German reunification, the economic opening of Eastern Europe and thecreation of an internal European market.
METHODOLOGYThis workpaper is the first of its kind to address the similarities and differences in the role of theconcept of sustainable development and its central role in environmental regulation in theframework of forest fire management policies of Germany and Indonesia. It will help fill in theinformation  gap  of  how  Germany’s  experience  can  be  adapted  to  developing  country  contexts.  By  doing this, it will contribute to improve developing countries’  capacity  to  deal  with  the  global  issue  of forest fires and forestry management. In addition, it concerned a correspondence with the people
who live in the region that forest fire happened. These information and documents were very
valuable things. Methodically this study was so put on the fact that the qualitative and quantitative© ISERD84

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Information, which from official side over forest fire, with which particularly by interviews. In
particular still the many thematic analyses could be mentioned, on the regional, national and local
levels are accomplished and by Correspondent completed. The moreover one a number ofinstitutions became visits in the context of this study, in which discussions and discussions withspecialists took place.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In the developing countries, most of the environmental problems are caused by under-development.
Millions continue to live far below the minimum levels required for a decent human existence,
deprived of adequate food and clothing, shelter and education, health and sanitation. Therefore, thedeveloping countries must direct their efforts to development, bearing in mind their priorities andthe need to safeguard and improve the environment. For the same purpose, the industrializedcountries should make efforts to reduce the gap themselves and the developing countries. In theindustrialized countries, environmental problems are generally related to industrialization andtechnological development.
The natural growth of population continuously presents problems for the preservation of theenvironment, and adequate policies and measures should be adopted, as appropriate, to face theseproblems. Of all things in the world, people are the most precious. It is the people that propel socialprogress, create social wealth, develop science and technology and, through their hard work,
continuously transform the human environment. Along with social progress and the advance ofproduction, science and technology, the capability of man to improve the environment increases
with each passing day.
The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, having met at Stockholm from 5
to 16 June 1972, having considered the need for a common outlook and for common principles toinspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the humanenvironment.
In Germany, the rise of the concept of sustainable development challenges traditional policy
making in a number of ways. Access to information and public participation are essential building
blocks for sustainable development, preparing citizens to become informed decision makers,
offering a basis for stimulating creative solutions to environmental, social and developmental
problems, and providing a foundation for building consensus on critical priorities. Transparency
and public participation are the basis for elaborating and working towards more sustainable.
Transparency and public participation form the basis for an informed discussion as to how toaddress challenges relating to the intersection between economic developments on the one handand social aspects and environmental protection on the other.
Both aspects of man's environment, the natural and the man-made, are essential to his wellbeing and to the enjoyment of basic human rights the right to life itself. The protection andimprovement of the human environment is a major issue which affects the well-being of peoples
and economic development throughout the world; it is the urgent desire of the peoples of the wholeworld and the duty of all Governments.
Governments and institutions governed by transparency, openness, accountability andcommunity participation are more capable of reconciling the needs of present and future
generations, of balancing private and public interests, and harmonizing economic development withsocial and environmental needs. Thus, improved access to information and participation indecision-making will more likely lead to overall sustainable development.
Not only have access to information and participation been recognized as essential toachieving the goal of sustainable development, they have increasingly been recognized as humanrights.   All   of   these   developments   relate   to   a   more   general   trend   towards   promoting   “good  governance”.   All   attempts   to   define   the   notion   of   good   governance include the elements oftransparency, participation, and accountability.
Changes in the political decision-making process and the institutional framework required bythis concept relate to three main issues: the coherent integration of policies in the environmental,© ISERD

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social and economic spheres; the wide-ranging participation of civil society in decision making;and a long-term view of problems and resulting strategies.
Numerous international documents have affirmed the importance of transparency and public
participation, and the need to institutionalize these elements in the move towards sustainable
development. Much of the progress towards increased transparency and public participation so far
has been mad at the domestic levels. However, in an increasingly inter-connected world, somedecision-making is shifting from the national to the international level, and to institutions andprocesses that largely remain secretive and inaccessible to the public.
Environmental policy in general has also at a relatively early stage been connected to socialand economic aspects such as employment, technology and competitiveness. Here, a link can befound between German environmental policy and the broader international debate on sustainabledevelopment. This could be the entry point to a broader definition of sustainable development. An
important driving force of environmental policy integration can be seen in the Social
Democrat/“Green”  government  coalition  with  its programm of ecological modernization, which isan innovation-oriented concept aimed at integrating environmental considerations into a wide rangeof different policies.
Important steps have been taken in the development and operationally of environmental
indicators. Since 1989, the Federal Statistical Office has been developing an Environmental
Economic Account, which integrates into the economic data environmental burdens such asemissions, utilization of materials and energy and pressures on soils. In 1990, the Federal Ministryfor the Environment appointed a scientific advisory council to work on refining the Environmental
Economic   Account.   In   its   1998   draft   program   “Sustainable   Development   in Germany”,   the  Ministry for the Environment proposed the introduction of an Environmental Barometer. Its aim isto create an environmental equivalent to the already-existing aggregate indicators in the economic
and social sphere, such as gross national product, unemployment rate or rate of inflation. The
environmental indicators included in the Environmental Barometer are intended to cover the mostimportant issues of environmental protection and align them with key environmental medium- andlong-term targets. Six indicators have been formulated for the fields of climate, air, soil, water, anduse of energy and raw materials. Environmental developments can be described and the success orfailure of environmental policy can be measured by means of a small set of widely known andeasy-to-understand indicators.
Germany has a complex network of organized interest groups in the environment sector.
Between 5 and 7 per cent of the population are organized in environmental NGOs. The number ofenvironmental groups is estimated at a total of 400. Environmental organizations have been astrong driving force, both for environmental policy integration and a German strategy forsustainable development. The BUND, the German section of Friends of the Earth (230,000members), together with the umbrella organization The German Nature Conservation Council (5.2million members) supported the idea of a German Environmental Policy Plan in the 1998 election
campaign.
In Germany, early Local Agenda 21 processes originated by and large from non-governmental
players such as environmental and development organizations, church and youth groups, and to alesser degree from local politics. Rather seldom were they initiated by business associations.
Among the main measures outlined in the coalition agreement are the elaborations of a nationalsustainable development strategy, as well as institutional innovations to promote and organize thedrafting of this strategy. In July 2000, the National Council for Sustainable Development wascreated by Cabinet decision. It is designed as an independent and pluralistic advisory body onsustainability issues and will be composed of 17 individual members representing all major societalgroups and actors (e.g. industry, trade unions, NGOs, science) which – after some delay –wereappointed in February 2001. Among its tasks are the promotion of societal debate on sustainable
development at the national and international levels (stakeholder dialogue) and the development of
concrete projects for implementing a national sustainability strategy. The federal government may
assign further tasks to the Council and ask for statements on specific issues.

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CONCLUSION
The following lessons can be drawn from the German case study on governance for sustainable
development:
1. Communicate the results to the general public as well as to relevant interest organizations toraise the necessary awareness.
2. The sustainable development strategy should be an extension and step-by-step enlargement ofthe environmental strategy, rather than replacing it, towards a broader understanding ofsustainable development.
3. As shown above, the key elements of this climate-protection strategy are: high-level politicalcommitment for the formulation and implementation of ambitious goals; integration ofenvironmental policy objectives into other sectors; voluntary agreements; pioneer activities oflocal communities; and broad public participation.
4. Non-environmental policy sectors should be mandated to develop their own sectoral strategies.
The leading role of Cabinet – or  the   “Green   Cabinet”   – should be clear and accepted by allministries. This should include a critical evaluation of both the formulation of sectoral
strategies and their implementation. The Federal Environment Agency and the Ministry for theEnvironment should play an important, mainly supportive; role in this process (so far these
institutions have been rather cautious and have adopted a policy of “wait-and-see”).
5. At the local level, general orientation for Agenda 21 processes, for example in the form of acompetitive investment program for local sustainable development initiatives (as practiced inSweden), should be provided.
REFERENCES
Brundtland Report (1987) Report of the world commission for environment and development, our commonfuture. OUP, Oxford, 1-10, UK.
Weiss, B. (1999) Our rights and obligations to future generations for the environment. 84 AJIL 1990, 200220.
Jänicke, M. & Helge, J. (2000) Umweltplanung im internationalen Vergleich Strategien. 55-60.
Massimiliano, M. (2008) Sustainable development within the climate change regime. in sustainable
development in international and national law, edited by Hans Christian Bugge & Christiana Voigt.
Europa Law Publishing, Netherlands, 20-30.
Sands P. (2003) Principles of international environmental law. Cambridge University Press, 120-130.
Wahyuni, S. (2006), Dissertation, Rechtsprobleme der Tropenwaldbewirtschaftung in Indonesien,
Bundesverlag, 55, Germany.

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