Enviro News Asia, Denpasar – Vice Minister of Forestry Rohmat Marzuki conducted a series of working visits in Bali Province on Friday (7/10/2026), aimed at monitoring coastal ecosystem management ahead of World Mangrove Day and evaluating Social Forestry programs at the field level.
The visit opened at the Mangrove Information Center (MIC) in Denpasar, where the Vice Minister toured the exhibition room featuring mangrove education and data panels, watched a screening on successful mangrove rehabilitation stories, symbolically planted mangrove seedlings, and trekked along the boardwalk to directly observe stand conditions and eco-tourism support facilities. He also visited the G20 Showcase area at the Ngurah Rai Grand Forest Park (Tahura).
During the coastal area inspection, the Vice Minister encouraged MIC to develop beyond its role as an education center into a tourism destination equipped with supporting facilities, including food and culinary offerings, and integrated with surrounding areas.
“Mangroves are the kidneys of the earth, capable of filtering waste, pollution, and litter. Mangroves also hold back sea abrasion. Mangroves are a source of livelihood for communities through crabs, fish, and shrimp. Let us continue to conserve Indonesia’s mangroves,” the Vice Minister said during the visit.
The delegation then proceeded to the Denpasar Social Forestry Center Office for a dialogue with technical implementation unit (UPT) officials of the Ministry of Forestry across Bali Province. The Vice Minister conveyed that the Social Forestry program is currently being proposed again as a National Strategic Program, in line with Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2025 on Optimizing Poverty Alleviation and Elimination of Extreme Poverty.
“The President has instructed the Minister of Forestry to increase community empowerment access for extremely poor and poor community groups through Social Forestry. This is very important. The Ministry of Forestry is also continuously increasing the budget and programs under Social Forestry,” the Vice Minister explained.
Social Forestry approvals across Indonesia have now reached approximately 8.4 million hectares, while the Ministry of Forestry’s Customary Forest Status Acceleration Task Force has designated customary forests totaling around 368,877 hectares, with the government committed to continuing to expand these achievements.
The Vice Minister also outlined new economic opportunities for communities through the carbon trading scheme regulated under Ministerial Regulation No. 6 of 2026, stressing that the regulation opens space for Social Forestry communities, including customary law communities, not only for private concession holders.
“This is an opportunity we must push forward so that the benefits of carbon trading go not only to private parties or investors but also to communities around forest areas,” he added.
Closing his remarks, the Vice Minister stressed the importance of increasing the number of field facilitators to keep pace with the rapid issuance of Social Forestry approvals, and said the Ministry will continue collaborating with various parties, including expanding the Integrated Area Development (IAD) scheme in various regions. (*)
