Provincial autonomy and forest management unit legislation in Aceh Province, Indonesia: A review of regulatory asynchronies

Forest utilization in Aceh is governed by the provincial authority in line with Aceh’s special autonomy status (Law No. 24/1956). The issuance of National Law No. 5/1967 (subsequently replaced by Law No. 41/1999) was intended to bring national policy into sub-national. This study focuses on the analysis of forest regulations and argues that the regulatory context is constraining (as opposed to encouraging) in the efforts to pursue sustainable forest management. An exploratory approach is adopted to describe the context and a path analysis is used to track how regulations have evolved through time and indicate the gaps or synchronicities. This study finds that the newer regulations generally consider the existence of previous ones. The detail as shown in the regulation articles is not always consistent as measured by fit, flow, and share criteria. There are issues regulated differently in National Laws and Acehnese Laws. The research also brings to light some incompleteness, lack of clarity over roles and responsibilities. We recommend taking steps to clear up inconsistencies within regulations. The efficient operation of FMUs to effectively pursue sustainable forest resources including those of the outstanding Leuser and Ulu Masen ecosystems is entirely dependent on the attainment of regulatory clarity. © 2021 Elsevier Inc.