WGII Holds First Member Assembly, Appoints New Coordinator and Supervisory Board

Bogor, the Working Group ICCAs Indonesia (WGII) officially held its first Member Assembly on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at the WGII Secretariat, Bogor. The forum, which serves as the highest decision-making body in this network, was attended by eight out of nine member institutions and established new leadership for the upcoming period.

"After 13 years of WGII's journey, through the processes we have faced, it is hoped that its governance will become more visible, and its work program will be increasingly well-structured," said Kasmita Widodo, WGII Coordinator for the 2011–2025 period.

The eight WGII member institutions present—namely the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), Participatory Mapping Network (JKPP), Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), Sawit Watch Association, HuMa Indonesia Association, People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice (KIARA), NTFP-EP Indonesia/Indonesian Forest Resource Development Foundation, and Indigenous Territory Registration Agency (BRWA)—unanimously agreed on the new institutional form of WGII. This agreement marks an important milestone after 13 years of the network's journey in a fluid form.

This institutional transformation process did not occur instantly but through careful preparation by the Transition Team and WGII secretariat over the past six months. This team was tasked with drafting the statute, designing organizational governance, and preparing election and decision-making mechanisms.

The Transition Team, chaired by Fickerman (KIARA), presented a report on the work results over the past six months. "The transition team was given a six-month mandate to prepare everything. At the beginning, we already set a work plan timeline. Then, assisted by the secretariat, we held preparatory meetings, discussing the secretariat office, institutional management, and WGII's institutional model, all of which were discussed together with the organization's leaders or member organization representatives," said Fickerman.

After the report presentation, the WGII Member Assembly officially began with the agenda of discussing the Statute, led by Fickerman as the session chair. The agreed Statute document becomes the legal basis and main governance rules for WGII going forward, marking the transition from a fluid network to a more structured institutional form.

The first WGII Member Assembly resulted in several important decisions, namely:

• Ratifying the Statute of the Working Group ICCA Indonesia and agreeing that WGII's legal entity will take the form of an association
• Appointing the WGII Supervisory Board for the 2025–2029 period, consisting of WALHI, KIARA, and NTFP-EP Indonesia/Indonesian Forest Resource Development Foundation
• Appointing Cindy Julianty as the Executive Coordinator of WGII for the 2025–2029 period

The selection process for the Supervisory Board and Executive Coordinator was conducted through consensus. Three organizations were elected as the Supervisory Board, namely WALHI, KIARA, and NTFP-EP Indonesia/Indonesian Forest Resource Development Foundation.

"Hopefully, communication between members will be increasingly established so that many good ideas and concepts can be jointly expressed to promote human rights-based, inclusive conservation that prioritizes the lives of indigenous peoples and local communities," said Erwin from KIARA representing the elected Supervisory Board.

This assembly also appointed Cindy Julianty as the new Executive Coordinator of WGII. "For continuity, we chose Cindy Julianty as the coordinator," added Erwin from HuMa.

All members present agreed that the leadership baton of WGII is deservedly carried by Cindy Julianty, who over the past nearly seven years has been consistently strengthening the network, collaboration, and promoting the recognition of indigenous peoples' and local communities' management areas through WGII's work.

The symbolic moment of leadership transition was marked by the handover of a tumpeng from the WGII Coordinator for the 2011–2025 period to the Executive Coordinator of WGII for the 2025–2029 period.

"I hope we can work together, between member institutions and the secretariat, in increasingly better and forward-moving collective work," said Cindy Julianty at the start of her leadership.

(***)