Integrated coastal management in the current regional autonomy law regime in Indonesia: context of community engagement

ABSTRACT

This study reviews integrated coastal management (ICM) practice in Indonesia's regional autonomy law regime, particularly community engagement. It examines several laws on ICM in the current regional autonomy era and discusses various achievements and issues affecting Indonesia's program. This is legal research examines various ICM-related legislation, secondary literature, policy plans, and the interview conducted at the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. The results show that the ICM program has a legal basis in various legislation, yet it faces various implementation problems. Many legal loopholes in regulation, dependence on funding institutions, environmental pollution, mismanagement, and lack of coordination and collaboration in community engagement should be instantly resolved. Also, the local community, as ecosystem users, are powerless and often ignored. Therefore, the local communities need to be informed, their ability to manage coastal areas be improved, their livelihoods protected, and be more engaged in decision-making, especially in establishing regulations and legislations. Active community engagement in the decision-making process may improve regulatory compliance and achieve a more sustainable and democratic ICM.

KEYWORDS:

• Integrated coastal management
• Regional autonomy
• Community engagement
• Sustainability
• Justice
• Democratization

Acknowledgments

The authors express gratitude to Mrs. Iim Naimah from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (Indonesia) for data and interviews and the comments given in this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Education.

Notes on contributors

Adrian Nugraha

Adrian Nugraha is a lecturer at Faculty of Law Sriwijaya University, Palembang, Indonesia. He is also a researcher in the field of marine environmental law at the Center for Environmental Research, University of Sriwijaya, Palembang, Indonesia.