Forestry Minister: Social and Customary Forests Can Participate in Carbon Trading

Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni has affirmed that carbon trading in the forestry sector is no longer reserved solely for companies or concession holders, but that communities involved in social forestry and customary forests can also participate. “This also signifies that carbon trading is not just for the elite, not only for those who are already wealthy, but also for people at the very bottom, on the ground,” said Minister Raja Antoni in a statement in Jakarta on Thursday. This aligns with the Minister of Forestry’s Approval concerning the issuance of carbon units through the Non-Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Certificate scheme, which was launched on Monday, 6 July 2026. The approval involves four holders of Forest Utilisation Business Approvals, consisting of three concession holders and one from a social forestry scheme. The minister stated that community forest management groups now have the opportunity to be directly involved in the carbon trading mechanism. “On the 6th, I issued permits for four business approvals to begin trading, three concession holders and one social forestry,” he said. According to Minister Raja Antoni, the government wants to ensure that the economic benefits of carbon trading can be felt more widely by the communities who have been preserving the forests. The scheme will therefore be expanded to social forestry areas, which currently cover around 8.3 million hectares, including approximately 1.4 million hectares of customary forests. “Including the 8.3 million hectares of social forestry, we will be able to enjoy this carbon trading process, including the 1.4 million hectares of customary forests which we will also empower together,” said Raja Antoni. “Besides opening up new income opportunities for communities around the forest, this policy is expected to strengthen incentives for sustainable forest conservation efforts,” he added.