Indonesia seeks stronger social forestry through agroforestry

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Deputy Forestry Minister Rohmat Marzuki called for improving the quality of social forestry management to serve as a driver of economic growth while preserving forest sustainability.

"The challenges we are facing are no longer limited to expanding the social forestry area. More important is to improve management quality, optimizing land through agroforestry, strengthening groups, broadening market access, and delivering greater gains to communities," Rohmat said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said the Forestry Ministry is promoting agroforestry development through the Food and Energy Agroforestry Facilitation (FAPE) program.

Under the program, the government provides forest farming groups with seeds and mentoring to help them develop forestry and agricultural commodities in an integrated manner.

According to Rohmat, agroforestry offers a solution for balancing economic benefits and forest conservation.

"We want residents to earn better incomes while also ensuring the sustainability of forests. To that end, it is important to place agroforestry as the foundation of social forestry management going forward," he said.

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As of May 2026, the Forestry Ministry had granted access to 8.34 million hectares of social forestry land to more than 1.43 million households through various schemes, supported by over 16,000 social forestry business groups.

Rohmat also highlighted opportunities for forest communities to benefit from President Prabowo Subianto's priority programs, including food and energy self-sufficiency initiatives, the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program, and the Red and White Village Cooperatives program.

The deputy minister expressed confidence that agroforestry products and other commodities produced by forest communities could become part of the supply chains supporting those initiatives.

The Forestry Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry are also strengthening cooperation to support the national food self-sufficiency program without opening new forest areas.

"Our goal is not to open forest areas, but to optimize already accessible land through social forestry to achieve economic gains while safeguarding forest functions," Rohmat said.

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Translator: Arnidhya Nur, Tegar Nurfitra Putra Rofian

Editor: Anton Santoso

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