Deputy Forestry Minister: Social Forestry Programme Proposed as National Strategic Project

Deputy Minister of Forestry (Wamenhut) Rohmat Marzuki has stated that the social forestry programme is currently being proposed once again to become a National Strategic Project (PSN).

In a statement in Jakarta on Saturday, the Deputy Minister said this aligns with the mandate of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 8 of 2025 concerning the Optimisation of Poverty Alleviation and the Elimination of Extreme Poverty.

“President Prabowo Subianto has instructed the Minister of Forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, to increase community empowerment access for extremely poor and poor community groups through social forestry, so this is very important,” said Rohmat.

“The Ministry of Forestry is also continuously increasing the budget and programmes for social forestry,” he added.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Forestry, through the Task Force for the Acceleration of Customary Forest Status Determination, has designated customary forests with a total area of approximately 368,877 hectares.

“The government is committed to continuing to expand these achievements,” he stated.

Additionally, the Deputy Minister explained new economic opportunities for communities through a carbon trading scheme regulated in the Minister of Forestry Regulation Number 6 of 2026 concerning Procedures for Carbon Trading through Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets in the Forestry Sector.

“This is an opportunity we must push forward, where the benefits of carbon trading are not only for the private sector or investors but also for communities around forest areas,” said Rohmat.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister also stressed the importance of increasing the number of field facilitators to keep pace with the speed of issuing social forestry approvals on the ground.

“The Ministry of Forestry will continue to collaborate with various parties, including expanding the Integrated Area Development (IAD) scheme initiatives in various regions,” he said.