Natural Resources Governance in indonesia from a Political Perspective: The Marine, Fisheries, and Forestry Cases

While Indonesia has abundant natural resources, until the current socio-ecological crisis it has been ignoring the environmental degradation consequences of full exploitation of its natural resources. There has been no suitable natural resources governance in the past, and Indonesia needs a strong commitment to adopting a natural resources governance framework in order to guarantee a sustainable environment as the basis for sustainable development, given Indonesia’s current status as a high-middle-income country. This chapter aims to evaluate some of Indonesia’s natural resources governance initiatives over the period 2004‒2022. This evaluation is based on a qualitative framework in which data have been collected from secondary sources. Some stakeholders, especially the national government and civil society, still have low ideological bases and are the most practical in applying good governance in some natural resource sectors. Indonesia remains oligarchic in character, but it is time to formulate a multi-level natural resources governance framework based on the interests of the people. This framework should consist of norms, institutions, structures, and processes that determine how power over and responsibility for natural resources are regulated, exercised, and distributed, how decisions are taken, and how all the people can participate in and benefit from the management of natural resources.