Formalization and Community Forestry in Jambi, Indonesia: Indigenous Rights, Rural Migrants, and the Informal Divide

Recent literature lauding indigenous ‘localism’ has led to the proliferation of local resource management institutions which has subsequent implications regarding the developmentconservation nexus: this localist paradigm risks entrenching a rigid definition of ‘local’, especially within the rural sector. Mobility is a fundamental tenet of a liberal democratic society while migration occurs for myriad reasons; migrant communities often remain marginalized and susceptible to human rights abuses. Similar to mass property titling programs instigated by Hernando de Soto’s policy prescriptions, state-driven, community resource management programs may also exacerbate the indigenous-migrant divide. In Jambi, Indonesia, the village forest designation (hutan desa) is a promising institution with the potential to impact positively the livelihoods of communities, although a gap in academic literature on migrant communities hinders the ability of the Indonesian government and NGOs to engage with rural settlers to bridge the informal divide