From 'Fortress' to 'People's Forest': Indonesia's New Conservation Paradigm

The Peoples’ Conservation Summit (PCS), held at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia from September 1-3, 2026, presented a new perspective on environmental conservation amidst a deepening global ecological crisis. Amidst the tangible threats of global climate change and massive biodiversity loss, humanity is compelled to re-examine the fundamental essence of environmental preservation efforts. Ecosystem preservation can never be detached from the struggle to uphold human rights and social justice. This fundamental idea emerged at the Peoples’ Conservation Summit (PCS) 2026 at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, on September 1–3, 2026. The convergence of indigenous peoples, local communities, farmers, fishermen, women, youth, academics, and civil society activists gave birth to an important political and moral manifesto, the “Indonesian Peoples’ Conservation Declaration” with the title “Restoring the Earth, Upholding Justice: Returning Conservation to the People.” The main message of this conference was a fundamental critique of the state-sponsored mainstream conservation model. Conventional conservation practices have tended to alienate humans from nature, separate living spaces from their ecosystems, and produce recurring agrarian injustice. A woman from Nagari Kamang Mudiak, West Sumatra, sorts cloves from her harvest. Photo: Novia Harlina/Mongabay Indonesia. Epistemic Roots: Colonization of Knowledge and State’s Conservation Fortress Theoretically, the critique in the Yogyakarta Declaration strips bare the sustainability of the fortress conservation scheme, a legacy of colonial scientific rationality. This model views forests and natural landscapes as "terra nullius" (unoccupied land) or merely as commodities and timber stands. The implication is that the state emerges as the absolute owner, entitled to determine land allocation while sidelining local communities as spectators in their own birthplaces. The concept of fortress conservation or the mainstream conservation model is an approach to nature protection rooted in the legacy of colonial knowledge and places...