Model of Swamp and Peat Area Protection Policy Based on Justice and Local Community Empowerment

Abstract

Peatlands are a strategic ecosystem in maintaining environmental balance, playing an important role in climate change mitigation and ecological disaster prevention. In Kutai Kartanegara (Kukar), East Kalimantan, peatland protection is regulated through Regional Regulation (Perda) Number 1 of 2016. This regulation aims to protect the environment and empower local communities through sustainable land management. However, the rapid development of the mining industry presents new challenges for the effectiveness of the Regional Regulation. This study evaluates the effectiveness of Regional Regulation Number 1 of 2016 using the John Rawls distributive justice theory approach, focusing on the fair distribution of benefits and burdens between environmental conservation and economic interests. The method used is normative legal research with analysis of legislation, theory of justice, and historical approaches to understand socio-economic dynamics that affect the relevance of Regional Regulations. The results of the analysis show that the 2016 Regional Regulation has not been fully able to answer the challenge of increasing exploitation of natural resources, so it is necessary to revise regulations that are more adaptive to social and economic changes. The study offers recommendations for more inclusive and oriented policy formulation towards ecological justice and the empowerment of local communities, in line with Rawls' principles of distributive justice.