Enviro News Asia, Jakarta – Efforts to protect Indonesia’s forests have once again borne fruit. A joint team from the Directorate General of Law Enforcement (Gakkum) of the Ministry of Forestry and the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla RI) successfully foiled the circulation of hundreds of illegal timber logs in the waters of Batam, Riau Islands.
A total of 443 processed timber logs of meranti and mixed hardwood species without official documents were confiscated on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at 4:10 p.m. local time at Sagulung Public Port, Batam City. The timber was transported aboard the vessel KLM AAL DELIMA, captained by ER (58), a resident of Dumai, along with three crew members.
During the inspection, it was revealed that 108 logs had already been moved to a warehouse in Batam City, while 335 logs remained on the ship. All the timber, along with the documents, vessel, and perpetrators, have now been secured by the Ministry of Forestry’s law enforcement investigators for further legal proceedings.
According to regulations, the transport of processed timber must be accompanied by a Legal Certificate of Processed Forest Timber (SKSHHKO). However, in this case, the perpetrators only used a Legal Certificate of Roundwood (SKSHHKB) and a Timber Form Change Report, which do not comply with the requirements. “This is suspected to be a new modus operandi for the circulation of illegal timber from forest areas,” explained Hari Novianto, Head of the Gakkum Regional Office for Sumatra, as stated in the Ministry of Forestry’s official release.
From the investigation, the timber—measuring 61.55 m³ in volume—was loaded a day earlier, on September 2, 2025, from Tanjung Samak, Selat Beliah, Tupang Island, Meranti Islands Regency, Riau. The documents used also appeared problematic, as the distance between the timber loading site and the document issuer was 64 kilometers.
For their actions, the perpetrators face charges under Article 88 paragraph (1) letter a in conjunction with Article 16 of Law No. 18 of 2013 on the Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction, carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to IDR 2.5 billion.
Hari Novianto emphasized that this enforcement action demonstrates the government’s firm commitment to eradicating forest destruction practices. (*)
