Coalition Questions Biodiversity Action Plan, Note for the Indonesian Delegation at COP17

Civil society coalition JustCOP assesses Indonesia's biodiversity commitment as strong on paper but weak in practice. The Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP) 2025–2045 has good content but lacks standing in the hierarchy of laws and regulations. Giorgio Budi Indrarto, Head of the Sustainable Madani Board, said that Indonesia has a biodiversity strategy reference with good content but lacks strong authority. IBSAP should be the document that determines the direction of development. The Working Group on Indigenous People and Community Conserved Areas Indonesia (WGII) stated that the civil society coalition produced 10 recommendations for the Indonesian Government delegation attending COP17. COP17 was an important moment because for the first time, the parties conducted a global review of the progress of implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). Biodiversity protection, the climate crisis, and development cannot be separated as Indonesia faces a multidimensional crisis. The civil society coalition JustCOP assesses Indonesia's biodiversity commitment as strong on paper but weak in practice. The Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP) 2025–2045 has good content but lacks standing in the hierarchy of laws and regulations. “Indonesia has a biodiversity strategy reference with good content, but lacks strong authority,” said Giorgio Budi Indrarto, Head of the Sustainable Madani Board, in a release to the media regarding discussions in Jakarta, ahead of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, October 19-30, 2026. IBSAP should be the document that determines the direction of development. In agreement, Syahrul Fitra, Senior Advocate for Forest Issues Greenpeace Indonesia, said that IBSAP does not bind regional governments and is not a reference at the ministerial/agency level. “Commitments from conventions are not automatically implemented. They must be down to regulations and policies,” he said. Andi Muttaqin, Executive Director of Satya Bumi, also has a similar view. When IBSAP lacks authority, good aspirations are easily undermined by destructive investment projects. Giorgio said that COP17 was an important moment because for the first time, the parties conducted a global review of the progress of implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). According to him, biodiversity protection, the climate crisis, and development cannot be separated because Indonesia faces a multidimensional crisis. Key Notes for the Indonesian Delegation Previously in Yogyakarta, various civil society organizations held a national consolidation meeting through the Working Group on Indigenous People and Community Conserved Areas Indonesia (WGII). This coalition focused on mapping community conservation areas in Indonesia. WGII stated that the meeting produced recommendations for the government, specifically for the Indonesian delegation attending COP17. They assess that the global review of the implementation of KM-GBF is a strategic agenda item in the COP17 meeting. “This will be the first momentum to review the collective progress of implementing the KM-GBF globally,” said Cindy Julianty, Coordinator of the Working Group ICCA’s Indonesia (WGII), in a written statement on Friday, (9/10/26). Several world delegations, including Indonesia, attended the biodiversity convention hosted by the United Nations (UN). WGII grouped key recommendations for the Indonesian Government delegation. First, the Indonesian delegation needs to ensure the implementation of the KM-GBF based on the principles in section C–specific to the KM-GBF agreement. These principles affirm that nature cannot be preserved without respecting human rights. This means the state must respect indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and the younger generation. In fact, Cindy said that Indonesia has built a more participatory approach in information gathering and the preparation of the Seventh National Report (Natrep 7). This is an official report that the government must prepare and submit to the UN, to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). “This step needs to be maintained and enhanced until participation does not stop at involvement, information dissemination, and consultation,” she said. The enhancement can be made through full and effective participation in determining the substance, priorities, achievements, and follow-up of the implementation of the KM-GBF and the Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP). The way, according to Cindy, can be by strengthening the existence of the Coordination Team for the Advancement of Protection and Recognition of Local Wisdom in Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Management within the government as a platform channel. “The goal is to strengthen the aspects of Section C of the KM-GBF and other targets related to the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, local women, and the younger generation.” Second, recommending the delegation to strengthen national reporting as accountability for all government agencies and community elements. National reporting, according to Cindy, should be understood not only as the obligation to report to the CBD. However, as a mechanism of state accountability to the community. COP 17 opened up space for contributions from actors other than the government, including indigenous peoples, local communities, women, youth, and local governance actors. Cindy urged that national reporting can document the contributions, knowledge, practices, experiences, impacts, priorities of indigenous peoples and local communities. She hoped that national reporting can also show the process of achieving targets, who contributed, the costs, and the extent of influence of that group on government decisions. Third, requesting the government to recognize the community's contribution to the implementation of IBSAP and KM-GBF. The way, according to Cindy, is by supporting voluntary reports and commitments made by various community groups. “In this context, local biodiversity outlook can be developed as one form of voluntary community reporting that complements national reporting,” Cindy elaborated. This aims to provide a perspective and evidence from the experience and knowledge of the community. “This approach is important so that changes in regional governance, tenure, utilization practices, knowledge, and social conditions not reflected in indicators can be included in the global review assessment.” Fourth, requesting the government delegation to operationalize the work program of Article 8(j) through national mechanisms. Article 8(j) mandates globally, and some country delegations including Indonesia, to respect, protect, and conserve traditional knowledge, local wisdom, and the practices of indigenous peoples and local communities relevant to biodiversity conservation. Fifth, the government needs to strengthen financing and fiscal reform for biodiversity. This recommendation is needed because there is a funding gap in the implementation of the KM-GBF in Indonesia. This gap, it is said, is not just in the amount of funds, but in the entire financing system and fiscal policy. “Because of this, the discussion of mainstreaming biodiversity and financial mechanisms needs to be in development planning, budgets, fiscal policies, and economic incentives,” said Cindy. Financing, through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), Cali Fund, and other sources, is said to need to run simultaneously with reforms and incentives. This includes eliminating subsidies that have adverse effects on biodiversity protection. “Thus, the flow of development financing aligns with biodiversity conservation efforts.” Cindy said that indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and youth must have fair access to those funding resources. Either through adequate, predictable, transparent, accountable, easily accessible, and rights-based mechanisms. “Including direct, special, and simplified financing.” Sixth, suggesting that the Indonesian Government delegation respect tenure security, the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, including farmers and coastal communities. Cindy explained that certainty of rights and tenure over land, territory, and resources is an important condition for the success of conservation, ecosystem restoration, and the implementation of KM-GBF in Indonesia. Conversely, uncertainty can increase the vulnerability of the region to land conversion, conflicts, and loss of habitats and livelihoods for the people. She assessed that Indonesia needs to accelerate the recognition of the rights and territories of indigenous peoples and local communities. The government, she said, must ensure spatial planning, land conversion, licensing, and development that potentially affect regions and biodiversity. Seventh, requesting the Indonesian delegation to push for conservation reform through target 3 (the 30x30 agenda). This target, she said, indicates a global commitment to protect at least 30% of land, water, coastal areas, and seas by 2030. “The 30x30 agenda is one of the most strategic spaces because it directly determines how the territories, rights, and governance systems of indigenous peoples and local communities are positioned in the conservation agenda.” Indonesia, she said, needs to push the implementation of target 3 based on principles of justice based on human rights conservation. The way, according to her, is by recognizing community conservation areas, including community-managed conservation areas (AKKM) that the community understands. She affirmed that the implementation of the 30x30 agenda should not be an expansion of state conservation areas. “But it must ensure tenure rights, traditional governance, meaningful participation, access to justice, and prevent the dispossession, eviction, and criminalization of communities.” Eighth, they asked the Indonesian government delegation to ensure justice and sovereignty of knowledge. Cindy said that the Nagoya Protocol, Article 8(j), and Digital Sequence Information (DSI) explain that traditional knowledge cannot be separated from rights, governance, and benefit-sharing. Based on this, she said, Indonesia needs to ensure the protection of traditional knowledge, community data, and information related to genetic resources according to consent, without coercion, according to community data governance and sovereignty, and fair benefit-sharing. “Traceability needs to guarantee origin, rights, permits, and consent, including the protection of sacred, secret, and limited knowledge,” said Cindy. Ninth, the Indonesian delegation needs to ensure synergy and alignment of policies in addressing the biodiversity and climate crisis. Cindy said that the implementation of the KM-GBF cannot be separated from development policies and the management of natural resources in people's livelihoods. “Therefore, the achievement of biodiversity targets needs to be placed within the framework of policy cohesion. Including achieving community resilience and protection of rights from the climate crisis pressures,” said Cindy. The implementation of the KM-GBF, she said, must be part of the strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Both those contained in nationally determined contributions (NDC), national adaptation plans (NAP), and forestry and other land use net sink (Folu) net sink. The strategy, she said, must also align with spatial planning, forestry, agriculture, fisheries, coasts, seas, mining, energy, infrastructure, and fiscal policies. Tenth, Indonesia needs to ensure that development and investment policies do not reinforce the main causes of biodiversity loss simultaneously. “Which will, in fact, result in dispossession.” Opinion: Decolonizing Conservation Fortresses, Towards People's Conservation