Indonesia encourages ASEAN to strengthen the social forestry legal framework, the Ministry of Home Affairs hosts a regional forum 

DOK IST

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) RI encourages the strengthening of the social forestry legal framework in the Southeast Asian region through the Regional Knowledge Sharing of ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Frameworks held in Jakarta on August 4-5, 2026.

The forum, which brought together representatives of 11 ASEAN member countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, and stakeholders of the Indonesian forestry sector, discussed policy directions, implementation practices, and challenges in managing social forestry at the regional level.

The implementation of this forum is also part of strengthening ASEAN cooperation in building more effective, transparent, and community-based social forest governance.

This agenda is in line with President Prabowo Subianto's commitment to strengthen the social forestry program as one of the strategies for equitable and sustainable forest management.

Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni places the community as the main partner in maintaining forest sustainability through the provision of legal management access, improving welfare, and strengthening community institutions around forest areas.

Director of Social Forestry Control of the Ministry of Forestry, Marcus Octavianus Susatyo, said that social forestry cooperation at the ASEAN level continued to develop through regional forums, the preparation of joint guidelines, and the exchange of knowledge between countries.

"This collaboration is an important foundation for aligning national policies with regional aspirations, strengthening tenure certainty, and increasing community participation in forest management," said Marcus in Jakarta, Wednesday, August 5.

During the two days of implementation, participants exchanged experiences regarding the development of policies, innovations, good practices, and obstacles in implementing the principles of social forest governance in their respective countries.

The ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Frameworks were developed by the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) together with RECOFTC and ClientEarth since 2019. The guidelines serve as a common reference to strengthen the legal and institutional aspects of social forestry in Southeast Asia, including expanding access for indigenous peoples and local communities to social forestry schemes.

This year's forum is a continuation of the capacity-building process that has been carried out in recent years. In 2024, regional workshops will identify various implementation priorities for guidelines at the national level.

Meanwhile, in 2025, Indonesia will hold a national training for forestry agencies to strengthen institutional capacity and identify procedural obstacles in the implementation of social forestry programs.

During the forum, each country delegation explained the development, achievements, and challenges of implementing social forestry in their country.

The discussion covers regulatory updates, replicable implementation models, strengthening coordination between the central and regional governments, simplifying licensing procedures, assisting community groups, to developing market access for social forestry businesses.

Azam Hawari, representative of ClientEarth for Japan and Southeast Asia, assessed that regional forums such as this are important to accelerate inter-country learning in facing implementation issues in the field.

"No one country has all the answers. Therefore, this forum is important to learn from each other, share experiences, and find solutions that can be implemented according to the context of each country," he explained.