Abstract:
The government of Indonesia has recently recentralised the authority over forest resources. This paper analyses
the bureaucratic politics and power struggles between central and local governments concerning the re-cen tralisation policy. This paper analyses the local initiative by Tambrauw District of West Papua in integrating
management of conservation areas into district governance through so-called “conservation district” policy. We
asked what are the specific real interests of the local government in implementing the environmentally-minded
policy? How does the accumulation of power by the local government help it pursue its interests? We found that
by using the environmentally-minded policy narrative, the district masks its true interests of economic gains
from the forests. We further identified the power sources and strategies employed by the district government of
Tambrauw in achieving its interests. The district successfully used the issue of local wisdom, customary rights
and communities. Nuancing the narrative importance of specific socio-cultural realities, customary rights, and
tenurial systems of indigenous people has paid off; the district successfully built coalitions with an array of
actors, i.e. NGOs, higher bureaucracies, and indigenous groups. The coalitions provide opportunities for actors to
realise their goals.
