Forestry Ministry Ensures Revision of Sustainable Forest Management Rules

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Forestry has assured that the revision of Ministerial Regulation (Permen) LHK Number 8 of 2021 (P8) on forest management takes ecological sustainability into account, particularly regarding the administration of forest produce.

“Administration supports the multi-purpose forestry concept as regulated in Government Regulation Number 23 of 2021. Forest management does not only pursue economic value, but also takes into account ecological sustainability, social acceptance, and economic feasibility,” said Krisdianto, Director of Forest Produce Levies and Administration at the Ministry of Forestry, during a webinar attended online in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He emphasised the importance of legality as the initial stage before an area can be utilised, distinguishing between protected forests, which can only be used for environmental services, area use, and non-timber forest products, and production forests, which permit logging with an obligation to carry out replanting as a form of sustainability.

“In the revision of the Permen LHK, the importance of companies being required to submit annual work plans before carrying out harvesting is emphasised. The government matches harvest realisation with the approved plan,” he said.

Going forward, under the new regulation, companies will be encouraged to have awareness of replanting trees that have been felled due to industrial activity, where protected trees will be given special markings so they may not be cut down.

“Every tree that can be harvested already has species identification, size, geographical coordinates (geolocation), and even a QR code. The geolocation system has actually been applied long before international regulatory demands emerged, such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR),” he said.