Ministry of Forestry Allocates Rp667 Billion to Improve Welfare of Forest Communities

Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) has committed to improving the welfare of communities living around forest areas by increasing the allocation for community-based spending by 28.84 per cent to Rp667.92 billion in the 2026 fiscal year work plan. Deputy Minister of Forestry Rohmat Marzuki, during a working meeting with Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta on Thursday, stated that the total allocated budget is equivalent to 26 per cent of the ministry’s overall technical activity ceiling, which reaches Rp3.297 trillion. “Compared to the previous year in 2025, this budget allocation has increased by approximately 28.84 per cent from the previous budget of Rp511.9 billion,” Rohmat said before the leadership and members of Commission IV of the DPR RI. He explained that this surge in fiscal stimulus for communities will be distributed in a labour-intensive manner through community-based forest and land rehabilitation programmes, as well as the facilitation of productive economic tool assistance to drive the village economy. This pro-people spending policy, Rohmat continued, is also integrated into the sixth national priority programme, which focuses on accelerating village development, alleviating extreme poverty, and resolving issues of customary land tenure within forest areas. Meanwhile, to support the national macro cluster, the ministry is aligning the remainder of its technical budget, valued at over Rp2.3 trillion, to strengthen food, energy, and water security through a forest-based food security scheme (agroforestry). Through this combination of increased community-based budgeting and strengthened green resilience, the Ministry of Forestry is optimistic that future forest management policy direction will not only preserve ecological sustainability but also become a primary engine for driving the people’s economy.