Bandung, Buanasenanews.com – The West Java Representative of the Indonesian Social Forestry Management Association (AP2SI) expressed deep concern over the direction of the implementation of the Special Management Forest Area (KHDPK) policy, particularly regarding allocations for social forestry on Java Island. Based on monitoring and data obtained, the policy, originally designed as a pro-community forestry governance reform, now appears to be drifting away from its original spirit. May 22, 2026
The KHDPK policy was established through Decree of the Minister of Environment and Forestry No. SK.287 of 2022, which designated an area of 1,103,941 hectares spread across West Java, Banten, Central Java, and East Java. This step marked a significant milestone, as previously, approximately 2.5 million hectares, or 76 percent of the production and protected forest areas in the region, were centrally managed by Perum Perhutani. In the initial phase, the policy narrative emphasized that 922,769 hectares, or the majority of the KHDPK area, would be allocated for community access through a social forestry scheme. Hopes grew among forest farmer groups, who began actively applying for management rights and land legalization.
However, the policy direction changed drastically. On April 8, 2025, the government issued Ministerial Decree No. 149 of 2025, revoking the previous regulation. This new regulation lacked a clear explanation of the extent of the area that would remain prioritized for social forestry, leading to unclear access and a lack of legal certainty for communities.
This uncertainty was further emphasized by the issuance of Minister of Forestry Regulation No. 8 of 2026 concerning the 2011–2030 National Forestry Plan (RKTN). In this document, the KHDPK allocation for social forestry was set at only 583,629 hectares. This figure represents a reduction of 339,140 hectares, equivalent to 36.8 percent, compared to the initial plan. To date, the government has not provided an official explanation or transparent rationale for this drastic change. The policy-making process also took place without adequate public consultation, and farmer groups and supporting organizations were not meaningfully involved.
On the ground, the impact of this policy change is very real. The process of facilitating, verifying, validating, and transforming the status of areas for social forestry has stalled. The government frequently claims the delays are due to the lack of ministerial approval of the KHDPK Management Plan, as stipulated in Article 475 of Ministerial Regulation No. 7 of 2021.
Furthermore, the development of the management plan document was conducted behind closed doors and lacked transparency. Civil society organizations and farmer groups struggled to access information, even though the document's contents determine management rights, economic sustainability, and ecological sustainability of the forest areas on which residents depend. This situation contradicts Presidential Regulation No. 28 of 2023 concerning Integrated Planning for the Acceleration of Social Forestry Management 2023–2030, which aims to accelerate the distribution of legal access to communities.
AP2SI West Java assesses that this series of policy changes has the potential to increase tenure uncertainty, weaken communities' bargaining power in forest management, and trigger social conflict and territorial disputes on the ground. Policies originally intended to resolve governance conflicts actually risk becoming new sources of problems.
Responding to this situation, AP2SI conveyed seven main attitudes and demands to the government:
1. Ensure that KHDPK remains a priority to improve the welfare and dignity of the community, in accordance with the initial spirit of forestry reform.
2. Openly disclose all contents of the KHDPK Management Plan document so that it can be accessed and known by the public.
3. Actively involve forest farmer groups and social forestry organizations in every stage of policy formulation, and accommodate all management rights applications that have been submitted to the ministry.
4. Reactivate technical services for facilitation, verification and validation of social forestry applications without unreasonable delay.
5. Provide an open and detailed explanation regarding the basis for considering changes and the reasons for reducing the allocation of social forestry areas.
6. Ensure that KHDPK management is able to protect the socio-economic rights of the community while maintaining the sustainability of the ecological function of forests on the island of Java.
7. Changing the paradigm of social forestry policy: not just providing temporary access, but building a system of recognition, protection and management of areas based on legitimate community rights.
“"We believe that forest sustainability on Java Island cannot be achieved solely through administrative approaches or bureaucratic regulations. Forests will be sustainable and their function maintained if the communities living around and dependent on them receive recognition, legal protection, certainty of rights, and fair management," said AP2SI representatives in a press statement. (Red-Bsn)
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