KLHK Gives 5.31 Million Hectares Of Forest Areas To Be Utilized By The Community

One of the social forestries in Jambi. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) has entrusted the public with accessing forests and utilizing forest resources through social forestry programs.

Director of Social Forestry and Forestry Business Development KLHK, Catur Endah Prasetani said the social forestry program is not only limited to community development, but also allows people's businesses to be sustainable.

"Through the social forestry program, the shortest range is that we want to cut off the tengkulak," he said in a climate corner discussion quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 15.

He said the current social forestry program has received full support in terms of policies contained in the Job Creation Act, Ministerial Regulations, and even Presidential Regulations.

As of December 2022, the realization figure for the issuance of social forestry decrees in Indonesia has reached 5.31 million hectares. Of the total amount of land, the government has issued 8,041 units of decrees for the community, which reached 1.14 million families.

The value of economic transactions from the social forestry business group reached IDR 118.69 billion. A total of three provinces with the highest economic exchange rates were North Sumatra, Lampung, and West Nusa Tenggara.

He added that the government continues to encourage the creation of prosperity for people who manage social forestry areas with the current number of commodities having reached 116 types.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has also formed PeSoNa Hub which acts as a platform connecting social forestry business groups and commodity guarantors resulting from forest farming groups or offtakers.

The platform aims to build collaboration in actualizing potential forest products that can improve people's welfare, while protecting forests.

"The most important thing, especially for the social forestry program, is how we all synergize and collaborate through people, public, private, and partnership (4P), not only the government but also businesses, markets and others, so that later a prosperous society and sustainable forests will be realized," said Prasetani.