Providing Incentives for a Sustainable, Prosperous Papua – A Study of Possible Economic and Development Instruments

Abstraksi

Papua and West Papua’s Special Autonomy has not translated into better lives for the Papuans. With IDR 53,48 trillion disbursed up to 2017, one of four Papuans still live under poverty (27.72% in Papua and 25.10% in West Papua are poor, compared to national average of 10.12%). The provinces are also facing immense pressure to clear forest to give way for infrastructure and growth. Almost 69% of Papua’s territory is already divided into 443 mining, timber, and palm oil concessions: this constitutes a threat for 466 indigenous tribes whose lives are dependent on the forest. A study is conducted by Kemitraan to look for alternative development models for Papua, building upon environment carrying capacity study undertaken by Ministry of Environment and Forestry. An analysis of incentives aligning sustainability and prosperity begins with stakeholder mapping of actors at national and local levels influencing Papua’s development trajectory, then combined with a simple modelling of possible economic incentives under prevailing laws. While still preliminary, the study reveals that while fiscal incentives, payment for environmental services and off set market instruments may help incentivizing a ‘greener’ Papua, establishing mechanisms ensuring that indigenous Papuans are active players and direct recipients to development, is paramount.