How the Forestry Ministry Aims to Improve Welfare Without Sacrificing Forests
The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) claims to have realised the provision of 3.11 million hectares of Tanah Objek Reforma Agraria (TORA) sourced from forest areas. This achievement is equivalent to approximately 76 percent of the national target of providing 4.10 million hectares of TORA. The programme is part of the government’s effort to provide land access certainty for communities who have long lived in and depended on forest areas for their livelihoods. Through the TORA scheme, communities are expected to continue the process of obtaining land rights certainty via agrarian reform.
Under the leadership of Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni, the ministry stated that the TORA provision policy is directed at balancing the certainty of forest area status with the improvement of community welfare. As part of the programme’s acceleration, the ministry has issued 237 Blue Decrees (SK Biru) covering a total area of 380,559.51 hectares across various regions. Specifically, during 2026, the government issued four Blue Decrees covering 332.27 hectares for 2,166 beneficiaries in 35 villages spread across the regencies of Nganjuk, West Bangka, Central Bangka, and Sikka.
In addition to the Blue Decrees, this year’s TORA sources also originate from forest boundary demarcation results, which produced an Area for Other Uses (APL) covering 10,189 hectares. This area consists of 8,710 hectares in West Kalimantan, 40 hectares in the Bangka Belitung Islands, and 1,439 hectares in Southeast Sulawesi. One implementation of the programme took place in Banyuwangi Regency, East Java. In February 2026, Minister Raja Juli Antoni handed over a TORA decree to the community of Temurejo Village through the Minister of Forestry Decree Number 183 of 2026. The decree designated approximately 160.74 hectares of land for the TORA programme, covering 12 sub-districts and 26 villages/urban wards in Banyuwangi Regency.
Director General of Forestry Planning Ade Tri Ajikusumah stated that the TORA programme is designed to connect the interests of the community with efforts to preserve forest areas. “TORA is a bridge between welfare and conservation, so that the community prospers while the forest remains sustainable,” he said in Jakarta on Monday, 27 July 2026. The Ministry of Forestry explained that its task is to prepare TORA sources originating from forest areas. Subsequently, the process of granting land rights is carried out through the Agrarian Reform mechanism in collaboration with relevant ministries and institutions, local governments, and other stakeholders.