Horizontal Inequalities, Ethnic Separatism, and Violent Conflict: The Case of Aceh, Indonesia

human development, aid, trade, security

Crisis in Indonesia: Forests, fires and finances

The jewel in the East Asian "economic miracle" of the 1980s and 1990s came crashing to earth during late 1997 with a collapse of the currency and disintegration of the banking system. By mid-1998 Suharto was forced out of office by a tidal wave of street protests, and raging fires were ablaze throughout the land. In this paper we draw attention to the fundamentals of the finance crisis and the environmental crisis as they relate to the state of tropical rainforests in Indonesia. It is concluded that, somewhat ironically, the dramatic collapse of the Indonesian economy and the devastating forest fires of the late 1990s may lead to the preservation of one of the earth's most significant heritage sites, the tropical rainforests and biodiversity of Indonesia

Land Use Change in Indonesia

With an estimated loss of up to 20 million ha of forest over the past decade, deforestation in Indonesia has come to the forefront of global environmental concerns. Indonesia is one of the most important areas of tropical forests worldwide. In addition to providing a multitude of benefits locally, including both products and services, these forests are also of global importance because of their biodiversity and the carbon they sequester. Despite the benefits they provide, Indonesia’s forests have been under considerable threat in past decades, and the extent of forest cover has declined considerably. This paper takes advantage of new data on the extent and distribution of forest cover change in Indonesia to examine its causes and effects. The paper begins by summarizing the long-term trends in land use change in Indonesia, and the new data on loss of forest cover during the period 1985-1997. It then discusses why this land use change is likely to be undesirable in many cases. Land use change can at times be beneficial, but there are good reasons to believe that current patterns of land use change in Indonesia are in fact socially sub-optimal. The paper then reviews the incentives faced by the major actors in land use change—loggers, estate crop producers, and smallholders—and the reasons their decisions concerning land use change, while privately optimal, are likely to be socially sub-optimal. It also briefly examines the effect that the East Asian financial crisis has had on these incentives. Particular attention is paid to mangrove forests, because of their important ecological role.Deforestation, Land Use, Biodiversity, Environmental Services, Indonesia

Economic and environment impacts of mass tourism on regional tourism destinations: a case study of Ten New 'Bali' in Indonesia

In response to the increasing demands of tourism destinations, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy under the mandate from the Indonesian President in 2016 has initiated a mega project called “Ten New Bali”. The areas of destination planned to be developed are: Borobudur Temple in West Java, Mandalika in Lombok Island, Labuan Bajo in Flores Island East Nusa Tenggara, Bromo-TenggerSemeru in East Java, the Thousand Islands in North Jakarta, Toba Lake in North Sumatra, Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi, Tanjung Lesung in West Java, Morotai in North of Halmahera in maluku Islands and Tanjung Kelayang in Belitung Sumatra. This initiation is a summer breeze for some reasons knowing that Indonesia is opening so many alternative channels for economic development toward tourism. However, the concept of “Ten New Bali”, if it is referred to the actual condition of what Bali is currently suffering from at the moment, is a wake-up call for all participating social, economy and environmental investigators to fully navigate the projects from being staked out from a pull tourism destination’s perspective. The study is intended to examine and elaborate strategic answers toward the impacts on the enforcement of Indonesia’ tourism establishment particularly the aftermath likelihoods from the initiation of “Ten New Bali”, starting with the issue of locals’ economic growth and leakages within their participation in tourism development, and environmental quality’s degradation

Impact of international emission reduction on energy and forestry sector of Indonesia

We extended the MERGE model to develop a set of energy projections for a reference and various mitigation scenarios to the year 2100. We included coal as a tradable good. In Indonesia, oil imports will increase while coal exports will decrease. If the OECD countries reduce their emissions, oil price would fall, Indonesia would import more oil but less gas and its per capita income would fall slightly. With international trade in emission permits, Indonesian energy development is similar to the earlier scenario, but Indonesia would gain some income. If all countries reduce their emissions, Indonesia would export more coal and would substitute coal by gas and carbon free technologies in energy consumption. If Indonesian commits to emissions reduction, per capita income would slightly fall. Population and economic growth are the driving forces of deforestation. In the reference scenario, deforestation increase by 60% in 2020 relative to today, indicating that Indonesia has large potential to mitigate emissions in the forestry sector. International climate policy would slightly increase the deforestation rate, mainly because of more rapid economic growth. Indonesia would gain from the sale of emission permits from reduced deforestation.Emission reduction; deforestation; Indonesia

Regional labor markets during deregulation in Indonesia : have the Outer Islands been left behind?

Indonesia's labor markets, especially on the island of Java, have been transformed in the past 30 years, especially since liberalization picked up speed in the mid-1980's. The author explores the regional dimensions of that transformation. In some other countries, when labor markets changed, disparities among regions occurred. In Indonesia, when the employment structure changed markedly, real wages rose not only in Java-Bali, but also in most Outer Island provinces. Wages have grown more rapidly in Java-Bali, but labor in the Outer Island provinces has enjoyed large gains, the result of the rapid economic growth that came during deregulation. Among Outer Island provinces, Northern Sumatra and the poorer Eastern Island provinces have experienced substantial growth, while the Kalimantan provinces have lagged in manufacturing employment and wages. Labor market outcomes have also been less favorable in land-abundant provinces that received many assisted migrants during Indonesia's earlier oil boom. The author concludes that export-led industrialization concentrated in Java-Bali has helped change the labor market and income growth outside Java-Bali also. Improved wages and the shift of labor out of agriculture also partly reflect the government's continuing support for infrastructure and human resource development in the Outer Island provinces.Public Health Promotion,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Governance Indicators,Achieving Shared Growth,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies

Is Working an Empowerment Tool for Women? Case Study Indonesian Migrant Workers in Malaysia

Media baik di Indonesia maupun Malaysia seringkali menyajikan berita mengenai penganiayaan terhadap pekerja domestik Indonesia di Malaysia. Tulisan ini berupaya untuk melihat sejauh mana bekerja sebagai pekerja domestik dapat memberdayakan wanita Indonesia melalui perspektif feminisme. Studi ini menemukan bahwa bekerja sebagai pekerja domestik tidak sepenuhnya menuju pada pemberdayaan tapi juga tidak sepenuhnya mengarah pada eksploitasi. Hal ini ditunjukkan melalui pengalaman positif dan negatif yang dialami oleh para pekerja domestik. Studi ini menitikberatkan pada pencapaian yang diperoleh oleh perempuan yang bekerja di luar negeri tidak begitu saja diiringi oleh Perubahan pada norma-norma budaya, terutama dalam kaitannya dengan jender

Tapol bulletin no, 79, February 1987

Contents: The usroh movement -- Relatives of executed men speak out -- Suharto's Indonesia a 'high risk' -- A budget to stifle wages and cut jobs -- More Rapiers for Indonesia -- The Suharto family fortunes -- East Timor: population control enters a new phase -- Land, social conflict and transmigration -- Transmigration targets and the budget cuts -- At least 1500 political prisoners -- Armed Forces reshuffl