PSI Secretary-General Raja Juli Antoni: Repair Forestry Governance in Line with the President's Orders and Religious Mandate

PSI Secretary-General and Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni attended the 73rd anniversary of Nahdlatul Wathan at the Hamzanwadi Dakwah Assembly II in Lombok Timur on Saturday, 7 March 2026. He said that protecting forests is not only part of President Prabowo Subianto’s orders but also part of religious teachings. ‘I, as a santri, carry out the mandate as Minister of Forestry under the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto; I do not only deal with worldly forestry issues,’ Raja Antoni said in a formal statement on Sunday, 8 March 2026. The alumnus of Darul Arqam Muhammadiyah Islamic boarding school in Garut, West Java, explained that one of his tasks is to improve forestry governance, including through the Prabowo administration’s priority program of social forestry. ‘President Prabowo Subianto has instructed me to improve our forestry governance, including recently handing over the Social Forestry certificate to farmer groups in Lombok Timur to enhance our forest farmers,’ he said. He added that behind the government duties there is a greater responsibility as a santri. He believes the mandate received through God, conveyed via the President, is also related to their religious duties. ‘God created the Earth with its ecosystems in balance that humans must safeguard. Therefore, destroying nature and forests goes against religious values.’ He said that beyond worldly matters, he believes that as a santri the mandate given by God through President Prabowo is also connected to their religious obligations. Raja Juli also stressed that every policy at the Ministry of Forestry must ensure it does not contribute to environmental damage, and he hopes the resulting policies will protect Indonesia’s forests and nature. ‘In the past my kyai at the pesantren taught me that God created our Earth with all its ecosystems. Therefore God forbids us from disturbing the balance of our environment or our forests,’ he explained. Earlier in Lombok, the Ministry of Forestry provided access to 411 households to manage a forest area of 560.67 hectares in Lombok Timur and Lombok Barat, NTB. Raja Juli Antoni handed over six Social Forestry Decision Letters related to the management approvals to community groups in those areas. ‘These decision letters are part of the government’s commitment to provide legal certainty as well as access to forest management for communities inside and around forest areas through the social forestry program,’ he said.