Local policy-making mechanisms - Forest Climate Center

4MECHANISMS FOR FORMULATING DISTRICTPOLICIES ON FORESTRY4.1 Forestry Policy Making atthe District LevelIn practice, at both central and district levels ofgovernment there are very limited opportunitiesfor public involvement in decision makingconcerning the forestry sector. The processesdo not involve those stakeholders who maybe directly or indirectly affected by policyoutcomes. Universities, NGOs, civil societygroups and the business community are still notconsidered an important source of informationand views to guide policy making. Remotecommunities who are dependent on forests fortheir entire livelihoods are almost completelyexcluded. To date, neither central governmentnor the Tanjung Jabung Barat (Tanjabbar)District Government has issued a regulationsetting out standards and mechanisms forpublic involvement in policy making at thedistrict level.Generally, there are two processes for localpolicy making in Jambi Province. The firstoption is that members of parliament proposea draft regulation, which is then debated inparliament (Figure 4). This process is governedunder the standing orders of the respectivedistrict parliaments 40 . This route is possibleonly if members of parliament actually havethe expertise and experience required to initiatea draft regulation.The second option allows local executivebodies to initiate the process. They prepareand submit a draft regulation to the districtparliament, with an introductory note writtenby the District Head (Figure 5).With generally poorly qualified localmembers of parliament, all policy making inTanjabbar follows the second method. Local staffwithin executive offices generally know moreabout sectoral issues and hold responsibilityfor implementing final regulations.The mechanisms used are based on oldLocal Government Decrees issued in 1992and 1993 41 : they refer to a law introduced inthe 1970s (Law No.5/1974), and largely followthe process set out in this law, apart from somesmall (partial) adjustments 42 .The second method comprises four phases.During the policy drafting phase, governmentoffices initiate the first draft of the policy. Aspecific institution takes the lead in preparinga draft and convening a series of internalmeetings to deliberate on the draft and submitit to the Legal Section under the DistrictSecretariat. The initiator further discusses thedraft during the synchronization phase with alegally qualified person from the latter office.Issues related to legal norms and principles,potential stakeholders to be invited during thedeliberation and other strategies for submittingthe draft to the parliament are discussed duringthis phase. Once the draft is submitted toparliament, the next phase, the pre-hearingsession, begins. The local parliamentarycommittee sets and publicly announces anagenda for deliberating the draft. During thisphase, the committee also disseminates the draftto interested parties for comments and input.A final hearing, the last phase, comprises fiveplenary sessions in which the District Head and20