Enviro News Asia, Jakarta — The Ministry of Forestry has tightened its oversight of forestry crimes after the Directorate General of Forestry Law Enforcement (Ditjen Gakkumhut) uncovered a new pattern of illegal timber laundering. The modus involves exploiting the Land Rights Holder (PHAT) scheme to disguise timber from illegal logging so that it appears lawful.
The findings prompted the government to impose a moratorium on administrative services for naturally grown timber in Other Land Use Areas (APL) for PHAT under the SIPuHH system. In addition, the ministry has launched a comprehensive evaluation and strict monitoring of all timber utilization activities within PHAT areas.
Intelligence operations by Ditjen Gakkumhut revealed a series of schemes combining document manipulation, falsification of Production Reports (LHP), and the use of community PHAT as fronts for financial backers. Among the identified patterns are:
• Forgery or fabrication of land ownership documents.
• Timber from forest areas smuggled into PHAT sites and assigned falsified LHPs with inflated volumes.
• Fake LHPs containing block numbers and timber dimensions inconsistent with field conditions.
• Illegal expansion of PHAT boundaries into state forest areas.
• “Name lending” of community PHAT holders to legitimize large-scale logging.
• Timber shipments exceeding the volumes listed in legal documents.
• Illegal timber from forest areas re-registered as PHAT timber after being moved to privately owned land.
“This is no longer a small-scale operation. Timber laundering networks are exploiting official documents, but the contents are engineered,” said Director General of Gakkumhut, Dwi Januanto Nugroho.
Several cases throughout 2025 illustrate how the PHAT scheme has been misused:
• Central Aceh (June 2025) – Illegal logging outside PHAT areas and forest zones, with 86.60 m³ of illegal timber seized.
• Solok, West Sumatra (August 2025) – Transport of forest timber using PHAT documents; 152 logs and heavy equipment confiscated.
• Batam (September 2025) – 443 processed timber logs transported using falsified PHAT documents under the name of perpetrator MY.
• Mentawai Islands & Gresik (October 2025) – Seizure of 4,610.16 m³ of roundwood from Sipora Forest, using problematic PHAT documents.
• Sipirok, South Tapanuli (October 2025) – Four trucks carrying 44.25 m³ of roundwood with PHAT documents already revoked.
These cases show that forestry crimes no longer rely solely on covert logging but increasingly involve complex administrative manipulation.
The Ministry also addressed growing public debate over driftwood washed away by floods in Sumatra. Authorities clarified that the sources of driftwood vary: natural fallen trees, river material, remnants of legal harvesting, and indications of illegal logging or PHAT misuse.
Ditjen Gakkumhut’s priority is scientific and professional tracing to determine whether each timber finding is connected to forestry crime.
According to Dwi Januanto, enforcement efforts target not only field operations but also document flows, timber movements, and financial transactions. A multidimensional enforcement approach— including the application of Money Laundering (TPPU) provisions—will be used to pursue beneficial owners or key beneficiaries within the illegal timber network.
“We want to ensure that natural resource management is conducted in a sovereign, fair, and sustainable manner,” he said.
The PHAT moratorium and strengthened supervision signal that the state is closing the operational space for forestry crime perpetrators—from upstream to downstream. (*)
