Enviro News Asia, Jakarta — Indonesia’s Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni reaffirmed the government’s mandate to protect national forest ecosystems as directed by President Prabowo Subianto. He emphasized the instruction during a statement delivered on Thursday, 4 December 2025, underscoring the President’s order to safeguard forests and exercise strict caution in licensing decisions.
The minister stated that President Prabowo had explicitly instructed him to avoid issuing new Forest Utilization Business Licensing (PBPH) permits that allow logging activities. He confirmed that all PBPH approvals granted during his tenure have been limited to environmental service programs that support reforestation.
The Ministry of Forestry also advanced enforcement measures aligned with the President’s directives. Earlier this year, the ministry revoked 18 PBPH permits, and it now plans to withdraw an additional 20 licenses classified as underperforming across Indonesia, including those in three provinces recently affected by floods and landslides.
Minister Raja Juli Antoni further highlighted the President’s broader forest-protection initiatives, including the establishment of the Forest Protection Task Force (Satgas PKH), the rehabilitation of 12 million hectares of degraded land, and Prabowo’s decision to donate his private land in Aceh for Sumatran elephant conservation. The task force has seized 3.5 million hectares of illegal oil-palm plantations and continues actions against unlawful mining.
The minister added that he has reopened stalled domestic and international cooperation frameworks to strengthen forest governance. He requested public support to help implement the responsibilities entrusted to him by the President and the Indonesian people.
He stated that fulfilling this mandate is a commitment to forest protection and a demonstration of accountability to the nation. (*)
