The Idea Of Joint Venture To Buy Forests Is A Form Of Public Disappointment With The Government

JAKARTA The idea of a joint venture to buy forests is a form of public satire to the country in the midst of an ecological disaster that hit Aceh, West Sumatra, and North Sumatra.

The idea of joint ventures buying echoed forests on social media in recent days after the Pandawara Group, a group of environmental activists, posted the idea on Instagram.

Even though it sounds like a fad invitation, the upload was actually greeted positively by the majority of netizens. The invitation for a joint venture from an account with 4.1 million followers to buy forests has also become a national conversation.

"It's going well. Suddenly I thought about what if the Indonesian people unite to donate to buy forests so that they don't get converted," wrote the @pandawaragroup account.

The upload, which was shared on Thursday (4/12/2025), received hundreds of thousands of thousands of likes, tens of thousands of Danshare comments. One of the comments that positively welcomed this invitation came from artist Denny Sumargo.

"My first one billion," wrote the account comment @sumargodenny.

The chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, also responded to the many invitations to buy the forest jointly. According to him, currently the community should focus on dealing with the disaster.

"Let's work together, overcome this disaster, and let's work together to help the affected communities," said Puan in Lembang, West Bandung Regency, West Java.

The idea of joint ventures buying forests was motivated by a heartbreaking event, namely flash floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra at the end of last November.

More than 800 people died, hundreds more were declared missing, while thousands of residents had to leave their homes and stay in refugee camps due to the disaster.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said that the floods and landslides that occurred in Sumatra were due to the apparent cyclone which caused heavy rains for several consecutive days.

Meanwhile, a number of environmental activists said what was happening in Sumatra was an ecological disaster. Flash floods and landslides occur because heavy rainwater cannot be accommodated by natural forests, whose numbers have decreased massively in recent years.

Tropical forests that should be able to withstand rainwater have now turned into oil palm plantations and mining grounds. Logistic wood that is also dragged by rainwater, as can be seen on social media, is visual evidence of what has been suspected by the public for a long time, namely massive logging.

The government is also asked to take responsibility for what happened in Aceh, West Sumatra, and North Sumatra.

But like before, the government returned to using old weapons: promised to punish the perpetrators and improve forest governance. However, the Indonesian people seem to have been full of sweet promises from the government.

The phenomenon of forest buying and buying joint ventures can be seen from two sides: mounting frustration and declining trust in the country as the main manager of the forest. People feel they have to rely on public collective actions by buying' the forest so that it doesn't get converted.

Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta (FH UGM) I Gusti Agung Made Wardana explained that the idea was not just a form of concern, but also emphasized that the legitimacy of the state as a forest route had fallen.

The public, said Wardana, feels they have to take over the role of protecting the forest, even if it means having to buy something they share.

Meanwhile, Auriga Nusantara, a non-governmental agency engaged in efforts to preserve natural resources and the environment, called structural failures in the official mechanism of forest protection the main reason for the explosion of public responses.

The invitation to buy forests can also be considered as a sharp satire to the state. Auriga Nusantara views that the official mechanism that should guarantee forest protection does not work properly. When this formal path is considered a deadlock, the impetus to look for alternative roles spontaneously arises.

"The hard message to the state is that the public considers that there is a structural failure in protecting forests and protecting people who live from and with forests," said Nusantara Auriga Campaigner Hilman Afif.

Based on data belonging to Auriga Nusantara, the accumulation of land tenure by corporations is inversely proportional to the people's governance area. About 93 percent of land allocation is given to corporations, while only seven percent is given to the people.

The largest allocation of land control by corporations is on the island of Kalimantan, which is 46 percent of the total land allocation. As long as the access of indigenous peoples and local communities continues to be limited, while corporations control almost all governance space, then the pressure on forests will continue to repeat itself," said Hilman.

Member of Commission IV DPR RI, Daniel Johan said, the idea was indeed a positive signal of public concern for environmental damage. However, unfortunately, it must be born from the deep disappointment of the community over the worsening forest conditions from year to year. Meanwhile, the perpetrators have never been held accountable for their actions.

"It's time for everyone to unite, see, supervise the government's performance in managing forests. Damaged forests like the current legacy of dozens of years ago. We don't want to damage the remaining forests again, it must be maintained and preserved. Thank you to netizens who care, let's move together," he said.

Appreciation for the idea of buying and selling forests came from Commission IV DPR RI member Daniel Johan. This idea, said Daniel, emerged as a sign of public love for the environment, but it is very unfortunate that his idea was born out of the people's deep disappointment over the worsening condition of forest shrinking from year to year. Meanwhile, the perpetrators did not account for their actions.