Enviro News Asia, Riau — Raja Juli Antoni, Minister of Forestry, has formally initiated the relocation of residents living within the Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau Province, marking a significant step toward restoring conservation forests while ensuring social justice through peaceful dialogue.
Speaking in Bagan Limau Village on Saturday (20 December 2025), the Minister emphasized that the relocation process is not an act of hostility, but a reconciliatory effort to balance environmental protection with community welfare.
“This is not a day of conflict. It is a day of shared victory. Through dialogue and mutual understanding, communities now gain legal certainty while the national park is restored to its conservation function,” Raja Juli Antoni said.
The relocation involves 228 households who will be resettled within designated social forestry areas covering a total of 635.83 hectares. The program targets the reorganization of approximately 2,569 hectares within the national park area in Pelalawan Regency.
Affected residents are being granted Community Forest (Hutan Kemasyarakatan/HKm) permits under the Ministry of Forestry to ensure swift legal access to new land for sustainable livelihoods. In subsequent stages, the land status will be upgraded to Agrarian Reform Land Objects (TORA), to be administered by the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), providing communities with full land ownership certificates.
The government has allocated replacement land in several locations, including:
- Former PT PSJ concession in Gondai Village, Pelalawan Regency (234.51 hectares)
- Former PTPN areas in Batu Rizal Village, Indragiri Hulu Regency, and Pesikaian Village, Kuantan Singingi Regency (647.61 hectares)
Beneficiaries include members of Forest Farmer Groups (KTH), namely Gondai Prima Sejahtera (47 households), Mitra Jaya Lestari (109 households), and Mitra Jaya Mandiri (72 households).
The event was attended by key regional and national officials, including the Acting Governor of Riau, the Chief of Riau Regional Police, the Regional Military Commander, the Head of the Riau Prosecutor’s Office, and the Vice Minister of ATR/BPN—underscoring the state’s unified, non-coercive approach.
“This process symbolizes reconciliation and the presence of the state without violence,” the Minister added. “The national park must once again become a safe habitat for wildlife, while communities receive certainty and dignity.”
As part of the restoration initiative, the Minister symbolically felled oil palm trees within the park area and planted Kulim tree seedlings to signal the start of ecological recovery. The Ministry has committed approximately 74,000 tree seedlings for reforestation across Tesso Nilo National Park, including mahogany, trembesi, sengon, jengkol, and kaliandra.
“These symbolic actions are not directed against the community,” Raja Juli Antoni stressed. “They represent our collective commitment to restoring the national park to its rightful function as a conservation area.” (*)
