Government accelerates national cultural heritage registration for 2026

The Director General of Cultural Protection and Tradition at the Ministry of Culture, Restu Gunawan, stated that the government is accelerating the registration of national cultural heritage to provide legal certainty, protection, and management. “We will accelerate this because we have many sites in various regions that have not yet been designated as national cultural heritage,” said Restu following a hearing with Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday.

This proactive approach is expected to increase the rate of cultural heritage registration in Indonesia, as the number of unrecorded heritage sites is estimated to reach tens of thousands. Once an object is designated as provincial cultural heritage, provincial governments can coordinate with the Ministry of Culture regarding its designation as national cultural heritage. “For example, we will send letters to the provinces, and subsequently, we will designate that heritage as being at the national level,” Restu explained regarding the designation process.

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon stated on Tuesday that the government has currently designated 430 objects as national-level cultural heritage, marking a record achievement. “As of today, we have designated 430 objects as national-level cultural heritage, adding to the existing 313 that were collected over the past 80 years,” said Minister Fadli Zon.

To date, 743 national cultural heritage sites have been officially recognised by the government, with expectations for this number to continue rising in the coming years. The government targets the registration of national-level cultural heritage to reach 1,750 or even more this year, given that the potential for cultural heritage objects in Indonesia reaches tens of thousands.