Sulawesi Selatan menghadapi paradoks pertumbuhan yang akut: di balik laju ekonomi 4–7% per tahun, kejadian bencana melonjak dari 47 kasus (2015) hingga mencapai puncaknya 267 kasus pada 2023 cerminan dari kebijakan yang secara struktural mendahulukan akumulasi kapital atas keberlanjutan ruang hidup. Tiga bentang alam strategis pesisir Makassar, karst Maros–Pangkep, dan hutan Luwu Timur—menunjukkan pola kontradiksi yang seragam: krisis ekologis diakui secara normatif dalam dokumen perencanaan, namun model ekonomi ekstraktif yang memproduksi krisis tersebut tidak disentuh. Dokumen-dokumen ini masih berada dalam kerangka environmental managerialism, bukan transformasi ekologis yang substantif, sementara sejumlah daerah seperti Makassar, Luwu Timur, dan Gowa telah masuk dalam Zona Risiko Tinggi berdasarkan Indeks Kerentanan dan Ketahanan Demokrasi Ekologi (IKKDE) WALHI Sulsel.
South Sulawesi faces an acute paradox of growth: behind an annual economic growth rate of 4–7%, disaster incidents have surged from 47 cases (2015) to a peak of 267 cases in 2023 — a reflection of policies that structurally prioritize capital accumulation over the sustainability of living space. Three strategic landscapes — the Makassar coast, the Maros–Pangkep karst, and the East Luwu forest — display a uniform pattern of contradiction: the ecological crisis is acknowledged normatively in planning documents, yet the extractive economic model that produces this crisis remains untouched. These documents still operate within a framework of environmental managerialism rather than substantive ecological transformation, while a number of regions such as Makassar, East Luwu, and Gowa have entered the High-Risk Zone based on WALHI South Sulawesi’s Ecological Democracy Vulnerability and Resilience Index (IKKDE).
Krisis ini diperparah oleh tiga lapis hambatan struktural yang saling menopang. UU Cipta Kerja melemahkan rezim hukum lingkungan melalui pergeseran dari primum ke ultimum remedium, penghapusan strict liability dari batang tubuh Pasal 88, dan penyempitan partisipasi publik dalam AMDAL. KUHAP Baru (UU 20/2025) menambah hambatan birokrasi penyidikan melalui monopoli Polri atas upaya paksa. Di lapangan, praktik tokenisme mengubah konsultasi publik menjadi stempel legitimasi—sebagaimana dialami komunitas Loeha Raya dan Masyarakat Adat Rampi yang justru dikriminalisasi saat menolak ekspansi tambang. Jajak pendapat WALHI Sulsel (2025) mengonfirmasi bahwa 59,5% responden menyatakan kebijakan lingkungan didominasi pemerintah dan korporasi, sementara ruang warga hanya 6,5%. Bertumpu pada asas In Dubio Pro Natura—dalam keraguan, lindungi alam—policy brief ini merekomendasikan tiga pilar tindakan: adopsi Green Constitution dan Perda Anti-SLAPP (legislatif), pemandatan FPIC dan transparansi AMDAL secara real-time (implementasi), serta penerapan prinsip In Dubio Pro Natura oleh aparat dan hakim disertai penguatan hak gugat di PTUN (yudisial).
This crisis is compounded by three mutually reinforcing layers of structural obstacles. The Job Creation Law weakens the environmental legal regime through a shift from primum to ultimum remedium, the removal of strict liability from the body of Article 88, and the narrowing of public participation in environmental impact assessments (AMDAL). The New Criminal Procedure Code (Law 20/2025) adds bureaucratic obstacles to investigation through the National Police’s monopoly over coercive measures. On the ground, tokenistic practices turn public consultation into a rubber stamp of legitimacy — as experienced by the Loeha Raya community and the Rampi Indigenous Peoples, who were instead criminalized for rejecting mine expansion. A WALHI South Sulawesi survey (2025) confirms that 59.5% of respondents stated environmental policy is dominated by government and corporations, while citizen space accounts for only 6.5%. Grounded in the principle of In Dubio Pro Natura — in doubt, protect nature — this policy brief recommends three pillars of action: adopting a Green Constitution and an Anti-SLAPP regional regulation (legislative), mandating FPIC and real-time AMDAL transparency (implementation), and applying the In Dubio Pro Natura principle by law enforcement officers and judges alongside strengthened standing to sue before the Administrative Court (PTUN) (judicial).
