Traditional Land Clearing in Indonesia: The Local Wisdom Exception for Burning-Based Agriculture Under PP 22/2021

Executive Summary

Government Regulation No. 22 of 2021 (PP 22/2021) establishes environmental damage criteria for fire-related impacts while simultaneously creating a specific exception for traditional land clearing practices. Through Pasal 273 in BAB VI (Environmental Damage Control), the regulation recognizes that burning-based land clearing when conducted according to local wisdom principles (kearifan lokal) serves different policy objectives than uncontrolled fires or commercial land clearing.

The exception applies to community members clearing their own land using fire, subject to four conditions: the land must be personally owned, maximum clearing is 2 hectares per household head, firebreaks must surround the burning area, and the cleared land must be planted with local variety crops. This framework acknowledges traditional agricultural practices while maintaining safeguards against uncontrolled fire spread.

Government support obligations accompany this exception. National and regional governments must provide recommendations, facilitation, guidance, and accompaniment to communities utilizing this provision. The regulation thus balances environmental protection with recognition of indigenous and traditional agricultural practices that predate modern fire prohibition policies.

Background & Context

Indonesia has struggled with forest and land fires for decades, with periodic episodes causing regional haze crises affecting neighboring countries. Policy responses have increasingly focused on fire prevention and prohibition, culminating in criminal penalties for burning-based land clearing. However, these broad prohibitions created tensions with traditional agricultural communities who have practiced controlled burning for generations.

Slash-and-burn agriculture, known locally as ladang berpindah or swidden farming, represents a traditional cultivation method practiced across Indonesia's outer islands. Communities rotate cultivation areas, clear vegetation through controlled burning, plant crops, and allow areas to regenerate over multi-year cycles. When practiced at appropriate scales with adequate fallow periods, this system can be ecologically sustainable.

The challenge lies in distinguishing traditional small-scale burning from commercial plantation clearing or fires that escape control. Large plantation companies clearing vast areas through burning caused most of the catastrophic haze events, but broad fire prohibitions affected traditional farmers whose practices posed minimal regional risk. This created environmental justice concerns when subsistence farmers faced legal consequences designed for large commercial operators.

PP 22/2021 addresses this tension by maintaining fire-related damage criteria for general application while carving out a specific exception for traditional community practices meeting defined conditions. This approach attempts to protect both environmental quality and traditional livelihoods within a single regulatory framework.

Key Provisions

Environmental Damage Criteria Framework

The regulation establishes nine categories of environmental damage requiring standard criteria, including fire-related environmental damage.

Pasal 272:

"(1) Untuk menentukan terjadinya Kerusakan Lingkungan Hidup, ditetapkan kriteria baku Kerusakan Lingkungan Hidup. (2) Kriteria baku Kerusakan Lingkungan Hidup sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) meliputi kriteria baku kerusakan: a. Terumbu Karang; b. Mangrove; c. Padang Lamun; d. tanah untuk produksi biomassa; e. gambut; f. karst; g. lingkungan yang berkaitan dengan kebakaran hutan dan/atau lahan; h. lahan akibat Usaha dan/atau Kegiatan pertambangan; dan i. kriteria baku Kerusakan Lingkungan Hidup lainnya sesuai dengan perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi."

Environmental damage criteria cover coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, biomass production soil, peatland, karst, fire-related damage to forest and land, mining-related damage, and other categories per scientific development. Fire-related damage criteria established under category (g) apply to general fire incidents affecting environmental quality.

Local Wisdom Exception

The regulation creates a specific exception from fire-related damage criteria for traditional community burning practices.

Pasal 273 Ayat 1:

"(1) Ketentuan mengenai kriteria baku Kerusakan Lingkungan Hidup sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 272 ayat (2) huruf g, dikecualikan terhadap kegiatan pembukaan lahan dengan cara pembakaran yang dilakukan masyarakat di lahan miliknya sendiri."

Fire-related environmental damage criteria are excepted for community land clearing using burning conducted on their own land. This creates a carve-out from general fire damage provisions specifically for traditional agricultural practices where community members clear land they own for cultivation purposes.

Four Conditions for Local Wisdom Burning

The exception applies only when land clearing meets all specified conditions based on local wisdom principles.

Pasal 273 Ayat 2:

"(2) Pelaksanaan pembukaan lahan dengan cara pembakaran dilakukan berdasarkan kearifan lokal yang meliputi: a. luas lahan maksimal 2 (dua) hektare per kepala keluarga; b. dikelilingi oleh sekat bakar sebagai pencegah penjalaran api ke wilayah sekelilingnya; dan c. ditanami tanaman jenis varietas lokal."

Burning-based land clearing under local wisdom requires: maximum 2 hectares per household head, firebreaks surrounding the burn area to prevent fire spread, and planting with local variety crops. These conditions ensure the exception covers only small-scale traditional agriculture with appropriate safety measures rather than becoming a loophole for larger clearing operations.

Government Support Obligations

Traditional communities utilizing this exception receive mandated government support.

Pasal 273 Ayat 3:

"(3) Pemerintah dan/atau Pemerintah Daerah memberikan rekomendasi, fasilitasi, pembinaan, dan pendampingan bagi masyarakat sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1)."

National and regional governments must provide recommendations, facilitation, guidance, and accompaniment to communities clearing land under local wisdom provisions. This support framework transforms the exception from mere permission into active engagement ensuring communities receive technical assistance for safe burning practices.

Ministerial Regulation Authority

Detailed procedures are delegated to ministerial regulation.

Pasal 273 Ayat 4:

"(4) Ketentuan lebih lanjut mengenai tata cara pelaksanaan pembukaan lahan dengan cara membakar berdasarkan kearifan lokal sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (2) diatur dalam Peraturan Menteri."

The Minister establishes further provisions on burning-based land clearing procedures under local wisdom. This delegation allows operational details to be specified without requiring government regulation amendment while ensuring national consistency in implementation.

Implementation & Compliance

For Traditional Communities

Community members wishing to utilize the local wisdom exception must verify they meet all four conditions. Ownership of the land being cleared must be established, not merely customary use rights that might not qualify as ownership under the provision's language. The 2-hectare limit applies per household head, potentially allowing larger total clearing where extended family members each hold legitimate land parcels.

Firebreak construction requires adequate cleared or non-flammable buffer zones surrounding the burn area. The width and construction standards for effective firebreaks may be specified in ministerial implementing regulations. Communities should coordinate with local government before burning to document compliance and receive the mandated support services.

Local variety crop planting after clearing ensures the exception serves agricultural rather than speculative land use purposes. Communities should be prepared to demonstrate what crops they intend to plant and that these represent recognized local varieties.

For Regional Governments

District and provincial governments bear support obligations toward communities utilizing local wisdom burning. This requires establishing mechanisms for communities to notify authorities before burning, receive recommendations on safe practices, and access guidance and accompaniment services.

Implementation may require identifying which communities practice traditional burning-based agriculture, establishing notification and support procedures, and training extension personnel in local wisdom principles. Governments cannot merely permit burning but must actively support safe implementation.

For Environmental Enforcement

Enforcement personnel must distinguish between legitimate local wisdom burning meeting all conditions and prohibited burning that falls outside the exception. Documentation of land ownership, area measurements, firebreak adequacy, and crop planting intentions becomes relevant to compliance determinations.

The exception does not protect fires that escape control regardless of whether the initial burn attempted compliance. Communities remain responsible for preventing fire spread, and the exception covers only the planned burning itself, not damages from escaped fires.

Conclusion

PP 22/2021's local wisdom exception represents a calibrated approach to reconciling fire prohibition policies with traditional agricultural practices. By specifying conditions including area limits, firebreak requirements, and local variety planting, the regulation ensures the exception covers only genuine traditional practices rather than creating broad permission for burning-based clearing.

The mandatory government support framework transforms passive permission into active engagement, requiring authorities to assist communities in implementing safe burning practices. This approach acknowledges that fire prohibition alone may prove impractical or unjust for communities whose livelihoods depend on traditional land clearing methods.

The exception's placement within the environmental damage control chapter signals that traditional burning under proper conditions does not constitute environmental damage triggering the standard criteria framework. This legal characterization protects communities from both civil damage liability and administrative sanctions that might otherwise apply to fire-based clearing activities.

Official Source

This article analyzes Government Regulation No. 22 of 2021 on Environmental Protection and Management Implementation (PP 22/2021), specifically BAB VI (Pasal 272-273) on Environmental Damage Control and the Local Wisdom Exception for Land Clearing.

The official regulation text can be accessed at:

Primary Source:
PP No. 22 Tahun 2021 - BPK Regulation Portal

Alternative Sources:
- JDIH Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan

Official Gazette: Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 2021 Nomor 32

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