26 Proposals for Indigenous Forests in Kaltara, Only One Verified by the Central Government

TANJUNG SELOR - The process of determining customary forests in North Kalimantan (Kaltara) is slow. From 26 customary law communities (MHA) that proposed the determination of customary forests with a total area of approximately 1.2 million hectares, until the beginning of 2026 only one community passed the central government's field verification.

The operator of the Kaltara Forestry Service Forest Ecosystem (Dishut), Linda Novita Ding, said that the community that had been verified was Punan Batu in 2025 with an area of about 15 thousand hectares.

"The determination of customary forests is entirely the authority of the ministry. The provincial government (Pemprov) only accompanies and encourages the acceleration of community proposals," said Linda, Thursday, February 26.

He revealed that most of the other proposals are still in the administrative stage and are awaiting technical verification from the relevant ministries.

"In terms of potential, the area of customary land in Kaltara is estimated to be close to 2 million hectares. This is still an initial claim that must go through document validation, boundary mapping, and field verification by a central government integrated team," he said.

He explained that the proposal showed that Malinau Regency, which has the largest proposed area of customary forest, is dominated by large natural forest areas.

"Around 10 proposals come from Malinau, Nunukan Regency to be the region with the largest number of proposing communities, namely around 10 communities with relatively smaller and scattered areas," he explained.

He explained that from the results of the National Level Meeting of the Acceleration of the Determination of Traditional Forests, this year Kaltara is targeted to receive field verification in three districts, namely Bulungan, Nunukan and Malinau.

"In Malinau, the proposals that will be verified include those from the Punan Long Ranau community (16,122 ha), Dayak Abai Sembuak (64,203 ha), and Punan Adiu (17,236 ha)," said Linda.

"In Bulungan, the proposal comes from the Punan Tugung community covering an area of 21,476 ha. Meanwhile, in Nunukan there are a number of Dayak Agabag and Tidung communities, including Tidung Pagung Pelaju with an area of about 36,408 ha," he said.

Linda added that the process of determining customary forests requires clarity of subject and object. The subject is the indigenous people who have been recognized, while the object is the proposed forest area. Both must be in accordance with the documents and the factual conditions in the field.

In addition, the main challenge in the process is the potential for overlap with concession permits or other provisions in forest areas. If there are still active permits, the discussion is carried out at the ministerial level and the final decision remains with the central government.

"The determination of customary forests can only be carried out in areas that do not have other management permits," he said.