[Jakarta, 16 July 2019] – President Joko Widodo, through his Vision for Indonesia, appears to have sidelined the 20% portion of his campaign promises related to achieving environmental sustainability during his leadership for the 2019–2024 term. This commitment was previously articulated as the fourth key pillar of the Jokowi–Ma’ruf Amin campaign vision during the recently concluded 2019 presidential election.
The vision of building a sustainable environment was to be pursued through three major missions: the development of integrated spatial planning policies, climate change mitigation, and stronger law enforcement alongside environmental rehabilitation. Forest and peatland governance received the greatest emphasis, reflected in 13 specific forest and land management policies. It is therefore essential for Jokowi to reaffirm these environmental commitments within his national vision in order to advance a truly green economic transformation.
This was stated by M. Teguh Surya, Executive Director of Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan, during the media discussion “Permanent Forest Moratorium and Indonesia’s Vision: Where Are We Headed?” held at Madani’s Creative Hub #TemenanLagi.
“Public expectations remain high for Jokowi’s second term, especially in the environmental sector, given the promises made during the election and the issuance of several pro-environment policies—some of which are nearing their expiration,” Teguh explained. Seeking to prevent backsliding, Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan, WALHI National Executive, Kemitraan-Partnership, Sawit Watch, and Pantau Gambut jointly urged President Jokowi to strengthen his commitment to safeguarding Indonesia’s remaining forests and to ensure the continuation of peatland restoration efforts after the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) concludes its mandate in 2020.
These commitments can be realized through integrating the upcoming permanent moratorium on primary forests and peatlands with strengthened peat restoration implementation beyond 2020. In addition, President Jokowi must elevate the legal standing of permanent forest and peat protection from a Presidential Instruction to a Presidential Regulation.
“Upgrading this policy from an instruction to a regulation is necessary to ensure stronger governance reforms and improvements in the management of primary forests and peatlands. A Presidential Regulation is urgently needed, particularly since there is currently no monitoring and evaluation mechanism under the existing moratorium instruction,” said Abimanyu Sasongko Aji, Project Manager at Kemitraan-Partnership.
Pantau Gambut notes that the moratorium area has shrunk by approximately 2.8 million hectares between 2011 and 2019, with at least 2,739 hectares of forest released for oil palm plantation development.
“The existing moratorium does not mandate a review of existing permits. Moreover, the issuance of the indicative moratorium map (PIPPIB) is not linked to peat ecosystem recovery efforts. Meanwhile, most peatlands have already been severely degraded,” said Inda Fatinaware, Executive Director of Sawit Watch. “Mandatory peat restoration by corporations must continue to be monitored closely and ensured in practice,” she added.
She further highlighted contradictions within KLHK regulations, citing inconsistencies between Ministerial Regulation No.16/2017, which provides technical guidelines for peat ecosystem restoration, and Regulation No.10/2019, which allows management activities on peat dome peaks. Other key documents, such as land-use permits (HGU), remain inaccessible to the public, undermining transparency.
“Permanent protection for forests and peatlands is expected to reinforce government commitments in restoring sound governance. Yet contradictory policies, such as Regulation No.10/2019, continue to weaken this effort,” stressed Iola Abas, National Coordinator of Pantau Gambut.
Meanwhile, Zenzi Suhadi, Head of Advocacy at WALHI’s National Executive, emphasized that the moratorium must also recognize and strengthen community-managed territories that have long coexisted sustainably with forest ecosystems, including peatland-based social forestry. The moratorium must prevent corporate control in any form, and exceptions such as the PAJALE program (rice, corn, soybean) must not become loopholes for further forest release.
Civil society also supports the government’s move toward permanent protection through public advocacy. On 1 July 2019, Piter Masakoda, leader of the Moskona Indigenous Youth Association in West Papua, together with Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan, launched a petition on Change.org. As of 16 July 2019, it had gained over 37,000 supporters—and continues to grow.
For the Moskona people, forests are like a mother and the foundation of life itself. “Without forests, life disappears,” Teguh concluded.
Permanent protection policies require serious political commitment to secure Indonesia’s remaining 89.4 million hectares of natural forest. Moreover, the concept of a “permanent moratorium” must also include environmental restoration measures, particularly within forest and peat ecosystems. Four strategic priorities for Jokowi’s first year include issuing a Presidential Regulation halting new permits in forests and peatlands, continuing peat restoration beyond 2020, strengthening Indonesia’s climate commitments, and leading the implementation of the palm oil plantation moratorium.
