Ministry of Forestry Revises Regulation P8/2021 to Adopt a Phased Improvement Scheme

The Ministry of Forestry (“Kemenhut”) is currently conducting a comprehensive revision of Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry No. 8 of 2021 on Forest Management and the Preparation of Forest Management Plans as well as Forest Utilization in Protected Forests and Production Forests, as amended by Regulation of the Minister of Forestry No. 23 of 2025 (collectively referred to as “Regulation 8/2021”). This revision is focused on addressing fundamental issues that have long fueled land conflicts, particularly those related to the presence of smallholder oil palm plantations that are already located within forest areas.

Laksmi Wijayanti, Director-General of Sustainable Forest Management at the Ministry of Forestry, emphasized that future forest management should no longer be viewed as a choice between economic gains and environmental protection. According to her, the approach must focus on risk mitigation from the planning stage onward. “We’re not particularly fond of the term ‘trade-off’; the basis must be mitigation,” said Laksmi.

One of the new provisions in the revised regulations is the recognition of a phased-in scheme as an instrument for resolving land conflicts. Purwadi Soeprihanto, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Forest Concession Holders Association (“APHI”), stated that this step provides regulatory certainty regarding the presence of smallholder oil palm plantations in forest areas, an issue that has not been clearly addressed in technical regulations until now. 

“If local communities have established oil palm plantations there, instead of demanding they be removed, we should create space so that these plantations can be utilized gradually through a phased rehabilitation approach as part of the solution,” said Purwadi.

Through this approach, the government hopes that production forests will no longer be viewed as degraded areas, but rather as managed spaces capable of supporting the restoration of forest functions while improving the well-being of surrounding communities through trust-based governance.