Task Force and Technical Verification Accelerate Designation of Customary Forests

Indonesia’s customary forests are spread across various large forest regions, including Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua. According to data from the Ministry of Forestry, as of December 2025, there are 174 customary forests covering a total area of approximately 368,877 hectares.

The existence of customary forests is vital not only from an ecological perspective but also for indigenous communities, as these forests serve as a source of life, a cultural space, and a repository for traditional knowledge passed down through generations. Therefore, the recognition and protection of customary forests are essential components of efforts to preserve ecosystems and local wisdom.

The formation of a Task Force for the Acceleration of Customary Forest Designation and the implementation of technical verification for designation applications are key government steps to strengthen this protection. This policy aligns with the government’s target to designate 1.4 million hectares of customary forests by 2029, in conjunction with the expansion of the Social Forestry programme.

The protection of genetic resources and local wisdom also has a legal basis. Indonesia has ratified the Nagoya Protocol, implemented through Law Number 11 of 2013 concerning Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits. The traditional knowledge of indigenous communities, including that related to customary forests, is a vital part of this protection framework.

Recognising customary forests is a form of respect for indigenous peoples who have long served as forest guardians. Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni described indigenous communities as the government’s frontline partners in forest conservation.

“We must ensure that forest governance is not only oriented towards physical protection but also social justice. Indigenous communities are the government’s frontline partners in guarding the forest, the best forest guardians,” stated Raja Juli Antoni before the delegation of the 21st United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF21) at the UN Headquarters in New York on 11 May 2026.

According to him, the empowerment of indigenous communities, women, and youth is key to creating sustainable livelihoods while maintaining ecosystem sustainability.

The Head of the Customary Forest Designation Verification Team in Malinau, as well as a political ecology and environmental policy expert from IPB University, Soeryo Adiwibowo, explained that technical verification aims to obtain field facts. The process is conducted to ensure the existence of customary forests and their compliance with regulatory criteria.

“One example of such criteria is whether the community still functions as a traditional association (paguyuban). Therefore, we conduct interviews and observations of these community groups,” said Soeryo, commonly known as Bowo.

The availability of verifiers is crucial as the target for customary forest designation increases over the next five years. In practice, the verification team is divided into an Object Team and a Subject Team. The Object Team goes directly to the forest locations to be verified, while the Subject Team interviews customary leaders, village heads, and customary officials.

The team also conducts boundary observations using maps, GPS, and drones, alongside direct inspections within the forest. During the verification of customary forests in Malinau Regency, North Kalimantan, the Subject Team held focus group discussions (FGD) with the Abai Sembuak, Punan Adiu, and Punan Long Ranau Indigenous Legal Communities.

“We collected primary and secondary data from three villages—Abai Sembuak Warod, Punan Long Adiu, and Punan Long Ranau in Malinau Regency—this past May,” explained Bowo.

During the process, the team found that knowledge regarding customary forest boundaries is more widely held by the elderly, whereas some youths lack detailed knowledge of these boundaries. Consequently, in addition to interviews, the team directly checked the boundaries against maps agreed upon based on the Regent’s decree during the designation of each Indigenous Legal Community.

Before obtaining a designation decree from the Ministry of Forestry, customary forest proposals must undergo technical verification. To accelerate this process, the Ministry of Forestry formed the Task Force for the Acceleration of Customary Forest Status Designation.

The Task Force was established under the Decree of the Minister of Forestry Number 144 of 2025 and updated via Decree of the Minister of Forestry Number 121 of 2026. The Task Force’s work is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Norway as part of the efforts to accelerate customary forest designation.

The UNDP National Project Manager for the Indonesia Indigenous Community Project, M. Yayat Afianto, stated that the Indonesian government made an international commitment at the Wildlife Global Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 4 November 2025. In this commitment, Indonesia set a target to recognise 1.4 million hectares of new customary forests during the 2025–2029 period.

According to Yayat, the UNDP is working with the Norwegian Government to support the achievement of this target through two main activities: increasing the capacity of new verifiers and conducting technical verification in the field.

“Capacity building activities are necessary to increase the number of field verifiers and ensure they work according to the standards set by the Indonesian government. We are also facilitating the preparation of the syllabus and guidelines for the implementation of technical verification,” said Yauat.

The Technical Verification Team, also known as the Integrated Team, works to verify object and subject data in the field. The team visits communities directly and measures the boundaries of the proposed customary forests. To maintain transparency and scientific credibility, the leaders of the Integrated Team are drawn from academia.

The existence of the Task Force and the Technical Verification Integrated Team is a continuation of the Constitutional Court Decision Number 35…