The Embassy of The Republic of
Indonesia in Berlin

The Indonesian Government has expressed a strong commitment in achieving the democratization of the management and utilization of forest resources and has in recent years intensified its commitment and implement prevention of deforestation and the degradation of forests with some recent positive results; and implemented a system for the certification of sustainable management of forests also aimed at stopping illegal logging; and implemented a system to resolve con icts related to forest tenure involving communities and surrounding areas, including Adat communities.

The government is committed to addressing the role of forestry in climate change mitigation through its Nationally Determined Contribution and has intensi ed its commitment to resolve tenurial con icts related to forest land. It has achieved this through a shift from a corporate-oriented approach to a more community-oriented approach intended to improve sustainable community-level economic development by ensuring more equitable access to land and forest resources, and thus promoting community prosperity.

Indonesia is a big nation, with 120.6 million hectares or 63 percent of the nation’s entire land area designated as the Forest Area (Kawasan Hutan). Most of Indonesia’s remaining land area is made up of non- forest public lands, known as Areas for Other Purposes (Areal Penggunaan Lain, or APL).

The Forest Area is managed in accordance with three functions. Production Forests (Hutan Produksi, HP), covers a total area of 68.8 million hectares, or 57 percent of the Forest Area. Conservation Forests (Hutan Konservasi), covers a total area of 22.1 million hectares or 18 percent (with an additional 5.3 million hectares of marine conservation areas). Protection Forests (Hutan Lindung) have watershed functions and cover the remaining 29.7 million hectares or 25 percent.

One of Indonesia’s more famous conservation Forest Areas is Komodo National Park, a UN World Heritage Site and the home of the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis). Indonesia is located in the Coral Triangle, which is the most biologically-diverse area of ocean on the planet. Two of the nation’s more well-known marine conservation areas are Wakatobi Marine, and the Raja Ampat Marine Protected Area.

Blessed with a tropical climate, Indonesia 17,000+ islands are located between two continents, Asia and Australia, and between two oceans, the Paci c Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Because of its geographical location, Indonesia has an extremely high level of biodiversity, and endemicity, and has a higher level of biodiversity than any other country in the world except Brazil and Colombia. Animal species consist of such well-known fauna as the Sumatran tiger, the Sumatran elephant, Sumatran and Javan rhinoceros, Kalimantan and Sumatran orangutan, midget buffalo, Komodo dragon and bird of paradise (Paradisaea apoda).

Indonesia’s national development plan for 2015 to 2019 reiterates the status of Indonesia as a sovereign, independent and principled nation based on mutual cooperation. Nine priority agendas for national development are known as NAWACITA. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) is directly involved in at least three of these agendas.

1. Strengthening and implementing Indonesia’s commitment to reforming its law enforcement and other systems to ensure that they are free of corruption, trustworthy, and in keeping with the dignity of the nation.
2. Increasing the nation’s productivity at the community level and increasing its ability to compete in international markets.
3. Achieving economic autonomy by stimulating strategic sectors in the domestic economy.

As part of the global effort, the Government of Indonesia is committed and implemented to the International Agreement on Climate Change and showing progress in the implementation of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), including aspects of mitigation and adaptation, whereby Indonesia’s 2030 NDC targets for reducing emissions are 29 percent through its own efforts, and up to 41 percent depending upon levels of international cooperation.

Indonesia has over 15 million ha of peatlands, which cover 12 percent of its forest land and are found right across Indonesia’s four major Outer Islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua. These peatlands, together with another 9.14 million hectares in associated landscapes, are managed under an area of land that is administratively designated as the Peat Hydrological Unit (Kesatuan Hidrologis Gambut, KHG), which covers a total area of 24.14 million hectares.

Protection Forests play a major strategic role in protecting environmental life- support systems by regulating water supplies; preventing goods; controlling erosion; preventing sea water intrusion; and maintaining soil fertility, as well as providing adequate food supply, energy supply for human life and germplasm for future use. In recognition of this vital role, the management of these forests by dedicated Protection Forest Management Units (Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan Lindung, or KPHL) is required at the ground level. With Indonesia’s high level of biodiversity, appropriate management is required to ensure that all elements of the community bene t from these resources.

For more than five decades, forest resources have played a signi cant role in facilitating Indonesia’s economic development. However, the performance of forest management in Indonesia has declined, and the economic contribution of forests has declined drastically, particularly since the advent of the reform era, with the associated implementation of regional autonomy policies. The Government has now begun to introduce a number of new measures to increase the sustainability of the nation’s forests, including systems for the certi cation of forests and chains of custody to ensure the legality of timber.

More information about the Indonesian forestry sector can be found in the document of State of Indonesia’s Forests 2018 issued by the Ministry of Enrivonment and Forestry (MoEF) through the link:

http://www.menlhk.go.id/site/download , or:

http://perpustakaan.bappenas.go.id/lontar/file?file=digital/191959-%5B_Konten_%5D-Konten%20E2337.pdf

SVLK – Indonesia’s timber legality assurance system

What and How SVLK

What is the SVLK?

Timber Legality Assurance System (SVLK) is a tracking system whose development was made by involving multi-stakeholders to assure the legality of sources from which timber being traded in Indonesia originates. SVLK is also meant to encourage the implementation of the existing Government’s regulations related to trade and availability of legal timber in Indonesia.

Why the SVLK?

SVLK is developed and applied in Indonesia to assure that all timber products which are available and traded in Indonesia have convincing legality status. Consumers abroad also need not to be doubtful about the legality of timber from Indonesia. At the same time, forest management units need not to be worried about the legality of timber that they produce. With the SVLK in place, timber-based industries are convinced about the legality of the timber sources so it will be easier for them to assure the consumers abroad.

On what ground the SVLK is applied?

The SVLK springs from the Government’s commitment to fight illegal logging and illegal timber trade. Good forest governance toward sustainable forest management (SFM). Demands for timber legality guarantee in the form of ncertification from international market, particularly from the European Union, the United States, and Australia. The SVLK is a “national incentive” in anticipating the incresing demands for timber legality certification schemes from aborad, such as FSC and PEFC.

Advantages of SVLK

• The SVLK helps develop an efficient and fair legality assurance tool as a part of efforts in curbing the illegal logging.
• The SVLK provides assurance to the market in the EU, USA, Australia, and other countries about the legality of timber and timber products all of which originate from legal sources.
• The SVLK improves governance of forest timber effectively.
• The SVLK is the only system in Indonesia in assuring timber legality.
• The SVLK helps shred high cost economy.
• The SVLK provides opportunity to skip due diligence which poses high cost economy.

Aim of SVLK

• To develop a credible, efficient, and fair legality assurance tool as a part of efforts in finding a solition over problem of illegalvlogging.
• To improve forest governance in Indonesia and to enhance competitiveness of Indonesia’s timber products.
• To deter illegal logging and illegal timber trading.
• To elevate community’s welfare.

Principles of SVLK

1. A good forest governance.
2. Representative.
3. Transparency and credibility.

Key players in the SVLK

1. The Ministry of Forestry that plays its part in producing regulations, development functions, legalizing the LP-PHPL or LV-LK, VLK information management unit.
2. National Accreditation Committee, accrediting the LP-PHPL and LV-LK.
3. LP-PHPL & LV-LK, monitoring the PHPL performance and/or making timber legality assurance based on systems and standards that the Government stipulates.
4. Auditee (Managemen Unit), over concession holders or people’s forests that are subject to necessity to obtain PHPL Certificate (S-PHPL) or Timber Legality Certificate (S-LK).
5. Independent Monitoring, civil communities either individual or legal organisation in Indonesia, with monitoring functions over forestry-related public services such as S-PHPL/S-LK.

Validity of a legality certificate

• SVLK Certificate for holders of Timber Forest Utility in Natural Forests, Industry Plantation Forests, and Ecological Rehabilitation (IUPHHK-HA/HT/RE) management concesion holders, Timber Legality Assurance Standards in state forests managed by community (IUPHHK-HTR/HKM/HD/HTHR/IPK), Concession Holders of Forest Primary Industry Enterprise (IUIPHHK) and Continued Industry (IUI) with investment over IDR 500,000,000 excluding land and buildings, and TPT is valid for three years since the date of its issuance and must perform a surveilance at least once in every 12 months.
•  LK Certificate for IUI with investment up to IDR 500,000,000 excluding land and buildings, TDI, and home indusry/artisans and exporters is valid for 6 months since its issuance and must perform a surveilance at least once in every 24 months.

Certification and re-certification processes

•  Re-certification is made before the due date of of the LK Certificate;
• For a collective S-LK ownership, verification of re-certification is made over the group’s members who have been verified at the beginning and during inspection, where the number of the members remain the same, and are selected randomly.
• Registration of LK re-certification at least six months before the expiring date.
• Concession holders are subject to re-certification fees.

V- Legal Logo

The V-Legal logo is stamped on timber, timber products, or the packaging, stating that the timber and the timber products have complied with the PHPL standards or VLK standards by proving the ownership of S-PHPL or S-LK. The use of V-Legal logo is regulated in guides to the V-Legal usage.

V-Legal Document

License document of timber products for export applied for 48 HS Codes. The document is issued by the LVLK for every single, for ETPIK which has obtained S-LK or a necessity to perform an inspection for ETPIK which has not obtained the S-LK. The V-Legal Document is valid for 4 months since its issuance.