Antara News·Indonesia·Monday, September 28, 2026 at 10:54 AM

Govt allocates 5.67 million hectares forest for food, energy, services

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Arnidhya Nur Z, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry has designated 5.67 million hectares of forest areas as eligible for business permits covering food security, energy, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and environmental services.

The decision follows the Forest Utilization Guidelines Map (PAPH) for Forest Utilization Business Permits (PBPH) in 2026.

"We aim to demonstrate that maintaining forests can generate greater economic value than converting them. The PAPH provides an important opportunity to improve spatial management in the forestry sector," Director General of Sustainable Forest Management at the ministry, Laksmi Wijayanti, said in a statement received here on Monday.

The forest utilization guidelines map includes special allocations for food and energy security, based on a joint study with the Ministry of Agriculture, including 387,641 hectares for sugar palm cultivation as a source of bioenergy and 68,454 hectares for agroforestry for rice, corn, soybeans, coffee, and cocoa.

According to Director of Forest Utilization Planning at the Forestry Ministry, C. Hendro Widjanarko, sugar palm should not be planted as a monoculture.

"Sugar palm actually grows well under shade, with forest cover of around 50 percent. So, the scheme is mixed. The forest is maintained and the yield can be harvested," Widjanarko explained.

Following up on the instruction of President Prabowo Subianto to restore degraded forests, the 2026 PAPH allocated 902,298 hectares of compact forest and land rehabilitation areas outside permitted areas.

Permit holders in the areas can run businesses that utilize environmental services, non-timber forest products, and carbon stocks while restoring the forest.

Nearly a quarter of the total designated area, comprising 1.33 million hectares of protected forests and 1.37 million hectares of production forests within the moratorium area (PIPPIB), may only be utilized without altering the landscape, with utilization limited to environmental services and non-timber forest products.

In addition, the ministry has also tightened licensing governance, where every application for a Forest Utilization Business Permit (PBPH) now requires a recommendation from the governor.

"The governor's recommendation represents a synergy between the central and regional governments, and the OSS system at the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) is needed to process PBPH applications," as informed by Oktripan Arung Langi from the ministry's Directorate of Forest Utilization Business Development.

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