Having a PhD in Forest Politics from University of Göttingen (Germany), I am an environmental and political researcher, specializing at forest policy in Indonesia
Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively ... more Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively field of empirical research, peaking in the conception of certification as a “non-state market-driven governance system,” which is gaining rule-making authority domestically and internationally as a private governance institution and a transnational regime. Recent findings, however, suggest that state actors also play a decisive role in private certification governance. Questions relating to who within the state, however, so far remain unaddressed. Very recent empirical trends in the fields of timber and palm oil certification in Indonesia suggest that it is distinct public bureaucracies who start reclaiming certification authority through state-led mandatory schemes, challenging the private and transnational certification institutions in support of government-driven international certification regimes. Against this background, the objective of this paper is to substantiate the trend fro...
Over the last 20 years a considerable number of international forest-related policies has evolved... more Over the last 20 years a considerable number of international forest-related policies has evolved, collectively referred to as the international forest regime complex. The objectives of this study are to identify the most relevant international forest-related issues discussed in Indonesia as well as the most active actors and their positions on these issues. The empirical methods used include content analysis of Indonesian newspapers, national expert journals, expert mailing lists, and international organizations' position papers. In addition, experts were interviewed to verify and complement the data. As a result, three primary forest-related international issues in Indonesia are identified, namely: timber legality; climate change including REDD initiative; and oil palm plantation and its environmental aspects; and the other four considered as secondary issues, namely: harmonization of wood and forest certification schemes; land use change; forest and species conservation; and deforestation and decentralized forest governance. Public and expert deliberations are found to differ regarding the depth of information as well as their immediate importance for the people and their long-term objectives. The Ministry of Forestry and, surprisingly, the Ministry of Trade are the most active actors in these issues. The main lines of conflict lie between forest utilization interests which are supported by the Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Trade, oil palm and wood industry associations face-to-face with forest conservation interests powered by WWF and Greenpeace.
The political contention that considers forests to be mere economic assets to achieve state welfa... more The political contention that considers forests to be mere economic assets to achieve state welfare has slowly changed into a more conservative view since the Ninth World Forestry Congress in Mexico in 1985 rightly acknowledged that there has been severe tropical forest destruction and environmental deterioration around the globe. Several international agreements to address specific forestry issues have been established and new forms of forest governance have been formed, and an alliance of domestic and international actors have to implement these, mostly in forest-rich countries.. These attempts have sometimes met with difficulty, due to the domestic forest-related bureaucracies’ own programmes and goals. Here, various interests in domestic politics compete for international support, resulting in the acceptance, rejection of, or changes to, those forest governances. Consequently, international forest governance may be adopted in a country in a form that is different from its origin...
Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively ... more Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively field of empirical research, peaking in the conception of certification as a ''non-state market-driven governance system,'' which is gaining rule-making authority domestically and internationally as a private governance institution and a transnational regime. Recent findings, however, suggest that state actors also play a decisive role in private certification governance. Questions relating to who within the state, however, so far remain unaddressed. Very recent empirical trends in the fields of timber and palm oil certification in Indonesia suggest that it is distinct public bureaucracies who start reclaiming certification authority through state-led mandatory schemes, challenging the private and transnational certification institutions in support of government-driven international certification regimes. Against this background, the objective of this paper is to substantiate the trend from transnational private to international state-driven governance by analyzing the role of distinct state bureaucracies in the emergence, diffusion, and reshaping of private natural resource governance systems. To achieve these objectives, we develop our propositions by combining insights from political certification studies, regime theory, as well as bureaucratic politics theory. Methodologically, we employ a qualitative case study design on recent developments in forest, timber, and palm oil certification systems in Argentina and Indonesia. Our results substantiate the observation that distinct state actors play a key role in private governance systems and, in the case of Indonesia, even reclaim labelling authority from private institutions by attempting to outcompete them through employing their exclusive regulatory power. The results further indicate a strong, self-interested support from domestic state bureaucracies to state-driven international rather than to transnational certification regimes, supporting the temporary governance hypothesis. We discuss and conclude on our results in light of literatures on private governance, policy sectors as well as international relations theory on the emergence of international and transnational regimes.
Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively ... more Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively field of empirical research, peaking in the conception of certification as a “non-state market-driven governance system,” which is gaining rule-making authority domestically and internationally as a private governance institution and a transnational regime. Recent findings, however, suggest that state actors also play a decisive role in private certification governance. Questions relating to who within the state, however, so far remain unaddressed. Very recent empirical trends in the fields of timber and palm oil certification in Indonesia suggest that it is distinct public bureaucracies who start reclaiming certification authority through state-led mandatory schemes, challenging the private and transnational certification institutions in support of government-driven international certification regimes. Against this background, the objective of this paper is to substantiate the trend fro...
Over the last 20 years a considerable number of international forest-related policies has evolved... more Over the last 20 years a considerable number of international forest-related policies has evolved, collectively referred to as the international forest regime complex. The objectives of this study are to identify the most relevant international forest-related issues discussed in Indonesia as well as the most active actors and their positions on these issues. The empirical methods used include content analysis of Indonesian newspapers, national expert journals, expert mailing lists, and international organizations' position papers. In addition, experts were interviewed to verify and complement the data. As a result, three primary forest-related international issues in Indonesia are identified, namely: timber legality; climate change including REDD initiative; and oil palm plantation and its environmental aspects; and the other four considered as secondary issues, namely: harmonization of wood and forest certification schemes; land use change; forest and species conservation; and deforestation and decentralized forest governance. Public and expert deliberations are found to differ regarding the depth of information as well as their immediate importance for the people and their long-term objectives. The Ministry of Forestry and, surprisingly, the Ministry of Trade are the most active actors in these issues. The main lines of conflict lie between forest utilization interests which are supported by the Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Trade, oil palm and wood industry associations face-to-face with forest conservation interests powered by WWF and Greenpeace.
The political contention that considers forests to be mere economic assets to achieve state welfa... more The political contention that considers forests to be mere economic assets to achieve state welfare has slowly changed into a more conservative view since the Ninth World Forestry Congress in Mexico in 1985 rightly acknowledged that there has been severe tropical forest destruction and environmental deterioration around the globe. Several international agreements to address specific forestry issues have been established and new forms of forest governance have been formed, and an alliance of domestic and international actors have to implement these, mostly in forest-rich countries.. These attempts have sometimes met with difficulty, due to the domestic forest-related bureaucracies’ own programmes and goals. Here, various interests in domestic politics compete for international support, resulting in the acceptance, rejection of, or changes to, those forest governances. Consequently, international forest governance may be adopted in a country in a form that is different from its origin...
Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively ... more Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively field of empirical research, peaking in the conception of certification as a ''non-state market-driven governance system,'' which is gaining rule-making authority domestically and internationally as a private governance institution and a transnational regime. Recent findings, however, suggest that state actors also play a decisive role in private certification governance. Questions relating to who within the state, however, so far remain unaddressed. Very recent empirical trends in the fields of timber and palm oil certification in Indonesia suggest that it is distinct public bureaucracies who start reclaiming certification authority through state-led mandatory schemes, challenging the private and transnational certification institutions in support of government-driven international certification regimes. Against this background, the objective of this paper is to substantiate the trend from transnational private to international state-driven governance by analyzing the role of distinct state bureaucracies in the emergence, diffusion, and reshaping of private natural resource governance systems. To achieve these objectives, we develop our propositions by combining insights from political certification studies, regime theory, as well as bureaucratic politics theory. Methodologically, we employ a qualitative case study design on recent developments in forest, timber, and palm oil certification systems in Argentina and Indonesia. Our results substantiate the observation that distinct state actors play a key role in private governance systems and, in the case of Indonesia, even reclaim labelling authority from private institutions by attempting to outcompete them through employing their exclusive regulatory power. The results further indicate a strong, self-interested support from domestic state bureaucracies to state-driven international rather than to transnational certification regimes, supporting the temporary governance hypothesis. We discuss and conclude on our results in light of literatures on private governance, policy sectors as well as international relations theory on the emergence of international and transnational regimes.
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