GOVERNMENT LAND PROTECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF LEGAL PLURALISM: EVIDENCE FROM INDONESIA'S INDIGENOUS AND PERIPHERAL REGIONS

Abstract

Government land is a strategic public asset whose safeguarding is particularly complex in regions with strong customary land tenure systems. In Eastern Indonesia, especially Papua, land is embedded not only in administrative and legal frameworks but also in indigenous social and cultural structures. This study examines the safeguarding of government land in Jayapura City using a qualitative legal-empirical approach grounded in a post-positivist paradigm. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with local government officials, customary leaders, academics, and land authorities, complemented by document analysis and field observations. The findings show that legal insecurity constitutes the most fundamental and systemic challenge. The absence or contestation of customary land release documents undermines formal land certification, weakens administrative registration, and exposes government land to recurring disputes and encroachment. These conditions reflect persistent tensions between formal state law and customary land governance rather than isolated administrative failures. This study argues that safeguarding government land in Papua requires a hybrid land governance framework that recognizes legal pluralism as an operational reality, supported by the institutional integration of customary mechanisms, participatory mapping, and strengthened inter-agency coordination. This study contributes to land governance literature by positioning legal pluralism not as a constraint but as an operational governance variable.