Forestry Minister: Carbon Trading Opens Investment Opportunities for Forest Restoration

Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni is promoting the use of carbon trading as a key instrument to develop private financing or investment in reforestation and forest restoration activities. The minister believes this mechanism can shift the forestry business model from extraction to restoration. “This is truly our opportunity to plant, and for them (the private sector) to change their business from logging to planting,” Raja Antoni stated in Jakarta on Thursday.

He added that the development of nature-based solution financing requires support through information on potential locations, types of activities, and clear governance. To facilitate this, the Ministry of Forestry is preparing spatial data that can be used to identify potential areas and link them to various forest management schemes. This data will be overlaid with areas under the Forest Utilisation Business Permit (PBPH) and social forestry programmes.

This mapping is expected to help identify suitable locations for planting, restoration, and carbon-based projects in accordance with applicable regulations. “We are truly compiling data, providing guidance on planting methods and everything else. So, if there are parties wanting to invest in planting, there will be clear locations, clear activities, and a clear process,” he explained. The minister noted that this approach is in line with the government’s policy direction, particularly Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 110 of 2025, which serves as a foundation for developing carbon economic value mechanisms to control greenhouse gas emissions and achieve Indonesia’s climate targets.