Anis Mashdurohatun (1), Abdul Hanis Embong (2)
Indonesia has established numerous legal frameworks governing land ownership and land use in coastal areas; however, ineffective enforcement, overlapping institutional authorities, inconsistent regional implementation, and limited protection of community rights continue to undermine their effectiveness. This study examines the regulation and management of land tenure rights for coastal communities and identifies normative weaknesses that generate legal uncertainty and social injustice. The research applies a normative juridical method, employing statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches, with a focused comparison on the Philippine legal framework. The findings reveal that unequal access to land, fragmented institutional authority, and the dominance of a legalistic-positivist regulatory paradigm actively marginalize coastal communities, particularly indigenous peoples, and expose them to a heightened risk of displacement. By contrast, the Philippines adopts an integrated and participatory legal approach that positions coastal and indigenous communities as primary stakeholders in natural resource governance through constitutional recognition, public land regulation, indigenous rights protection, and fisheries management. This framework strengthens community participation through community-based coastal resource management and promotes shared responsibility for ecosystem sustainability. The study concludes that Indonesia must reform its coastal land tenure regulations by adopting a rights-based and participatory legal approach that enhances legal certainty, advances social justice, and ensures a balanced relationship between environmental protection and the socio-economic sustainability of coastal communities.
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Moffette, Fanny, Daniel Phaneuf, Lisa Rausch, and Holly K. Gibbs, ‘The Value of Property Rights and Environmental Policy in Brazil: Evidence from a New Database on Land Prices’, Global Environmental Change, 87 (2024), 102854 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102854>
Muawanah, Umi, Michael De Alessi, Robert Pomeroy, Nendah Kurniasari, Nensyana Shafitri, and Christina Yulianty, ‘Going into Hak: Pathways for Revitalizing Marine Tenure Rights in Indonesia’, Ocean & Coastal Management, 215 (2021), 105944 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105944>
Pulhin, Juan M., Mark Anthony M. Ramirez, Josephine E. Garcia, Millicent Joyce Q. Pangilinan, Mary Beatrice S. Evaristo, Ma.Louiella Rose O. Catudio, and others, ‘Contextualizing Sustainable Forest Management and Social Justice in Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) Program in the Philippines’, Trees, Forests and People, 16 (2024), 100589 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2024.100589>
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Ramirez, Jacobo, Eleonora Costantino, Christiane Durach, Jury Flickenschild, Han Chen Sun, Ikal Ang’elei, and others, ‘Conflicting Injustices in Decolonization and Indigenous Land Rights: The Case of the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project’, Energy Research & Social Science, 120 (2025), 103912 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103912>
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Wang, Weixin, Xukang Yin, Chenguang Wang, and Mengying Zhuo, ‘Urban Expansion and Agricultural Carbon Emission Efficiency: The Moderating Role of Land Property Rights Stability’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 486 (2025), 144488 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.144488>
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Wicaksono, Arditya, Rosita Novi Andari, Ulfa Sevia Azni, Reza Amarta Prayoga, Intan Hapsari Surya Putri, Eko Wahyono, and others, ‘Actor Collaboration in the Implementation of Business Licensing Integrated with the Land Use Framework: Indonesian Case Study’, Urban Governance, 2025 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ugj.2025.10.003>
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Xu, Jinhai, Junming Zeng, and Yuan Hu, ‘Property Rights System and Market Evolution: Plot-Level Evidence from China’s Land Titling’, Land Use Policy, 145 (2024), 107253 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107253>
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Zhou, Yifan, Caixia Xue, and Rasoul Yousefpour, ‘Forest Land Property Rights and Forest Ecosystem Quality: Evidence from Forest Land Titling Reform in China’, Journal of Environmental Management, 373 (2025), 123744 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123744>