Bogor – Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia organized a three-day capacity-building workshop from February 9 to 11, 2026, in the Bogor area. This activity aims to improve the
skills of civil society organizations (CSOs) in law enforcement within the natural resources (SDA) sector at the national level. On this occasion, the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) acted as the facilitator for materials concerning evidence-based violations in the natural resources sector.
The workshop was attended by representatives from eight CSOs from various natural resource-producing regions, including Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara. Participants brought case examples from their respective regions related to the plantation, forestry, and mineral and coal mining sectors, serving as practice material for using permit review instruments. The main focus of the discussion was violations in forest areas, which are currently receiving greater attention at the national level through the Task
Force for the Control of Forest Areas (Satgas PKH).
This task force involves several technical ministries, whose roles need to be mapped and whose implementation monitored. On the ground, civil society observes that the presence of the Satgas PKH has actually created ambiguity of authority and weak coordination due to the shifting of responsibilities among the involved ministries. Furthermore, future law enforcement must be prioritized towards achieving genuine environmental recovery.
On the first day, participants exchanged views on the law enforcement situation and various field-level problems, particularly concerning reporting to law enforcement officers (APH).
These field findings formed the basis for further discussion and were enriched by material on the typology of natural resources-sector violations in forest areas, presented by ICEL.
This material helped participants understand the position of licensing documents within the regulatory framework and the law enforcement process more comprehensively.
Discussions on the second and third days were guided by Adam Putra Firdaus, a Researcher at ICEL, focusing on deepening the understanding of cases based on applicable
sectoral laws.
Participants questioned how to map violations while accounting for diverse local contexts. The discussion covered issues related to the selection of permit recipients, including cases of companies with two different entities holding different permits; the ownership of plantation HGU (cultivation rights) largely held by officials; the involvement of local figures in permitting, such as in sultanate regions; spatial planning problems; the lack of accountability of third parties (e.g., cooperatives) in permit sales practices; and the integration of APR (Risk Potential Analysis) and environmental permits within existing regulations.
Furthermore, the workshop was enriched with an in-depth session on the Environmental Impact Analysis (AMDAL) document by Ridwan, Program Officer at The Asia Foundation (TAF). He explained in detail, starting from the terms of reference (KA), environmental impact analysis (ANDAL), to the environmental management plan (RKL) and environmental monitoring plan (RPL).
AMDAL was presented as a key document in the review process, as it contains comprehensive operational data of a business unit. However, despite its importance, this document remains difficult for the public to access. This workshop on enhancing the capacity of civil society in law enforcement for the natural resources sector in forest areas has opened a dialogue space that broadened participants’ insights.
This enables them to act more strategically by considering various existing limitations. The activity concluded with a discussion of follow-up plans, including strategies for further capacity building deemed necessary.
Writer: Muhammad Adzkia Farirahman
Reviewer: Meliana Lumbantoruan