Take Over 4.09 Million Hectare of Illegal Palm Oil, Prabowo Makes 900 Hectare of Conservation Forest

JAKARTA - The government through the Forest Area Control Task Force (Satgas PKH) has managed to regain control of 4.09 million hectares of illegal oil palm plantations located within forest areas over the past year. Of the total area, approximately 900 hectares have been returned to conservation forests as part of environmental restoration efforts.

The achievement was conveyed by the Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi at a PKH Task Force press conference at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Tuesday, January 20.

"Over the past year, the government through the PKH Task Force has managed to regain control of 4.09 million hectares of oil palm plantations in forest areas, and around 900 hectares of which have been returned to conservation forests," said Prasetyo.

According to him, some of the areas that have been disciplined are in the national strategic conservation area. One of them is in the Tesso Nilo National Park area, Riau Province.

"This includes 81,793 hectares in the Tesso Nilo National Park area," said Prasetyo.

Prasetyo explained that forest area control was accelerated following the occurrence of hydrometeorological disasters in a number of regions, such as Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. The PKH Task Force then accelerated the audit and inspection process for plantation activities in forest areas in the three provinces.

"After the hydrometeorological disaster, we accelerated audits and inspections in those areas," he said.

He added that the results of the investigation into the companies suspected of violating the law had been reported directly to President Prabowo Subianto.

"The results of the examination and investigation have been reported to the President in a limited meeting held online," said Prasetyo.

According to Prasetyo, the re-possession of millions of hectares of illegal oil palm plantations is part of the government's commitment to organizing economic activities based on natural resources so that they run in accordance with legal provisions and principles of sustainability.

"This is a form of the government's commitment to ensure that economic activities based on natural resources run in accordance with laws and principles of sustainability," he said.

He also emphasized that this commitment was strengthened through the issuance of Presidential Regulation Number 5 of 2025 concerning the establishment of the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force.

"Two months after being inaugurated, President Prabowo Subianto issued Presidential Regulation Number 5 of 2025 as the basis for the formation of the PKH Task Force," said Prasetyo.

Previously, the PKH Task Force in its press release said it had identified and seized more than four million hectares of forest land that had been used illegally, both for oil palm plantations and mining activities. For the oil palm plantation sector, the Garuda Task Force carried out the crackdown.

Of the total 4.09 million hectares of land that has been reclaimed, approximately 2.47 million hectares have been handed over to the Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency, the Ministry of Forestry, and the Ministry of Environment. Meanwhile, approximately 1.61 million hectares are still in the verification stage before determining their further management and utilization.