ICRAF Publication Detail Page

  • Contact persons
  • Melinda Firds
    Program Management Unit Assistant
    World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
    Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede, Sindang Barang,
    Bogor Barat - Indonesia 16115
    Tel: +62 2511 8625415
    Fax: +62 2511 8625416
    Email: icrafseapub@cgiar.org

Publication Details

Journal Article
JA0362-10
Article TitleA Discourse on Dutch Colonial Forest Policy and Science in Indonesia at the Beginning of the 20th Century
AuthorGamma Galudra and Martua T Sirait
Year2009
Journal TitleInternational Forestry Review
InstitutionThe Commonwealth Forestry Association
Volume11
Issue4
Pages524-533
Call NumberJA0362-10
Keywordshistory, land tenure, hydrology, adat, reforestation
Abstract:
Dutch foresters asserted that upland forest cover was essential to maintain balanced hydrological cycles. They sustained this argument despite contrary empirical evidence and resistance from the colonial administration who were concerned more on local livelihoods. Underpinning this belief was a conviction that customary systems of land tenure and use were inappropriate and destructive. The Dutch foresters used scientific discourse to justify the State’s control of 120 million hectares of land as forest reserves, instigating a pattern of land control that has endured to this day. The ongoing application of past designations is the driver of this paper to explore the arguments behind the decisions of Dutch Colonial Government and its implications to current policy framework. The objective of the paper is to show that science became an instrument of the Forest Service during the Dutch colonial era, as a means of exerting greater power and control over the forested land.
Download file(s): Click icon to download/open file.
  File Size Description
GRP 6: Developing policies and incentives for multifunctional landscapes with trees that provide environmental services
Viewed in 2066 times. Downloaded in 0 times.