Enviro News Asia, Jakarta – Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry, through the Directorate General of Sustainable Forest Management, held the eighth edition of its National Webinar Series on Forest Utilization Transformation, focusing on “Transforming Forest Utilization through Integrity-Based and Inclusive Carbon Trading” on Thursday (August 6).
The initiative follows the policy direction of Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni, who has emphasized that carbon trading in the forestry sector must be based on transparency, high integrity, and benefit-sharing mechanisms that provide direct benefits to local communities. The minister has also highlighted carbon trading as more than a new economic commodity, positioning it as a strategic instrument to accelerate forest rehabilitation, protect biodiversity, and support national climate targets through accountable, science-based approaches.
Secretary of the Directorate General of Sustainable Forest Management Erwan Sudaryanto said carbon trading is part of the transformation toward more sustainable forest utilization.
“The transformation of forest utilization must not focus solely on economic value. It must also strengthen forest sustainability, improve community welfare, expand sources of development financing, and support the achievement of national climate targets. Therefore, carbon trading must be implemented with integrity and transparency while ensuring fair benefits for all stakeholders,” Erwan said.
Erwan added that the Ministry of Forestry is strengthening the regulatory framework through Minister of Forestry Regulation No. 6 of 2026 on Procedures for Carbon Trading through Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets in the Forestry Sector.
The regulation is expected to provide greater legal certainty, strengthen governance, enhance the credibility of Indonesia’s carbon market, and ensure that carbon trading remains aligned with sustainable forest management.
Director of Forest Utilization Business Development Ilham explained that Indonesia’s forestry sector is transitioning from a model dominated by timber production toward a multi-business forestry approach covering non-timber forest products, ecosystem services, ecotourism, and carbon trading.
The transformation is intended to diversify financing sources for sustainable forest management. Speaking to more than 500 webinar participants, Ilham emphasized that Indonesia’s carbon market must be built around high-integrity carbon credits.
He said requirements including additionality, community participation, fair benefit sharing, biodiversity protection, and the management of reversal risks are essential to strengthening international confidence in Indonesian carbon credits.
“Carbon trading must benefit the state, communities, and forest sustainability simultaneously. Integrity is essential for Indonesian carbon credits to remain competitive and gain the trust of global markets,” Ilham said.
From the financial sector perspective, Yuki Yasarani of the Sustainable Finance Directorate at the Financial Services Authority (OJK) said carbon trading forms part of Indonesia’s sustainable finance ecosystem.
“OJK continues to strengthen regulations, market transparency, investor protection, and the development of financing instruments to improve access to funding for forestry carbon projects,” Yuki said.
Meanwhile, The Reform Initiative Director Hadi Prayitno said regulatory certainty, credible methodologies, and transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms would be critical to building confidence in Indonesia’s carbon market.
“The reputation and integrity of individual projects will significantly determine the competitiveness of Indonesian carbon credits in international markets,” Hadi said.
A field-level perspective was presented by KKI Warsi Director Adi Junedi, who discussed the development of a community-based carbon trading initiative under the Social Forestry program in the Bujang Raba Landscape in Jambi.
“The success of carbon projects depends heavily on the active involvement of communities from the planning and area management stages through to benefit-sharing mechanisms,” Adi said.
The webinar highlighted that carbon trading should serve as an instrument to strengthen forest protection, expand financing for forest rehabilitation and restoration, and improve the welfare of communities living around forests.
Achieving these objectives will require close collaboration among the government, private sector, local communities, financial institutions, academics, and civil society organizations.
Through the eighth National Webinar Series, the Ministry of Forestry aims to increase stakeholder understanding of the direction of forestry carbon trading policies while gathering constructive input to strengthen a credible, high-integrity, and inclusive carbon trading system capable of supporting sustainable forest management and national climate targets.
The webinar, technically supported by the Multistakeholder Forestry Programme (MFP5), also served as a multi-stakeholder platform for discussing the implementation of forestry carbon trading and collecting input for further improvements to forest utilization governance. (*)
