Conflict of Legitimacy Over Tropical Forest Lands: Lessons for Collaboration from the Case of Industrial Tree Plantation in Indonesia

Industrial Tree Plantation (ITP) in Indonesia has been controversial due to its significant environmental, economic, and social impacts and the severe conflicts among stakeholders. Therefore, it is crucially important to discuss the fundamental structure of the conflicts to promote going forward. We introduce the concept of “legitimacy” and discuss the (1) inequality of the landholding structure and (2) legal pluralism established by historical circumstances as the fundamental structure of the conflicts. Our discussions present some key lessons in promoting collaboration among stakeholders. The first lesson is that the degree of interest and priority for problems differs among stakeholders. Therefore, an understanding of these differences is the first step toward collaboration. The second lesson is about the importance of considering history. Awareness of the problem, interpretation of the historical facts, and evaluation of other stakeholders by a certain stakeholder change over time. Therefore, to start a collaboration, it is necessary to build a consensus among stakeholders as a time point to go back to in order to discuss the problem. The third lesson is that a procedure for data presentation agreeable among stakeholders as independent, neutral, and fair is essential for their collaborations. Especially in cases where conflicts among stakeholders are intensive, it appears that confidence in and interpretation of presented data are different for each stakeholder. Therefore, data presentation agreeable to all stakeholders is essential to promote their collaborations. Unlike conventional scientific research, scientists are required to uphold various values existing in society to collaborate with stakeholders in transdisciplinary research of Future Earth.