Environmental Damage, Menhut Withdraws 22 Forest Utilization Business Permits

JAKARTA - The Minister of Forestry (Menhut) Raja Juli Antoni immediately revoked 22 company permits that held concessions for the Perizinan Berusaha Pemanfaatan Hutan (PBPH) because they were considered problematic and detrimental to the community, as well as the environment.

Menhut said the decision was made based on President Prabowo Subianto's instructions conveyed in a limited meeting at the Hambalang residence, West Java, Sunday (14/12).

"At the President's instructions, I will revoke 22 PBPH with an area of 1,012,016 hectares, including in Sumatra with an area of 116,168 hectares. I will write the SK for revocation, "said Raja Juli when giving a press statement at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Monday, December 15, reported by ANTARA.

With the lifting of this, in the past one year, the government has disciplined the problematic PBPH with an area of approximately 1.5 million hectares.

Previously, in February 2025, King Juli said that the Ministry of Forestry had revoked 18 PBPH with an area of approximately 500 thousand hectares.

"On February 3, I have revoked 18 PBPH covering half a million hectares, plus today 1 million hectares, so there has been a crackdown on about 1.5 million hectares of our forests," he said.

During the plenary Cabinet Meeting at the State Palace, Jakarta on Monday, President Prabowo instructed the Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni to immediately carry out verification, inspection and audit on companies holding concessions.

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"As we talked about yesterday, immediately verified, inspected, audited, all companies holding concessions, who do not comply with the regulations are taken action, see how big the violation is, and it is revoked," said the President.

The President also encouraged synergy between all parties, both from ministries/institutions, the TNI, and the National Police for this crackdown.

PBPH is an authorization granted by the government to business actors to manage and utilize forest areas legally and sustainably. This permit includes the utilization of areas, environmental services, wood forest products, and non-wood forest products in protected forests and production forests. However, the government found that a number of PBPH holders were proven to be detrimental to the environment and society, so President Prabowo took decisive action by revoking the permits for the problematic land.

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