[Jakarta, September 20, 2020] As of September 2020, Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 8/2018 on the Suspension and Evaluation of Palm Oil Plantation Licenses and the Improvement of Palm Oil Productivity—widely known as the Palm Oil Moratorium—has marked its second year since issuance. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government needs to step on the gas to fulfill the moratorium’s mandates and fix Indonesia’s palm oil governance, in order to help resolve 1,053 conflicts linked to palm oil plantations and contribute meaningfully to national economic recovery.
In the current context, the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly affected policy implementation. With central and local governments focused on pandemic response, implementation has been delayed. Going forward, the government must adopt more adaptive mechanisms so the pandemic does not continue to hinder progress.
After two years, progress and achievements across ministries/agencies—from the national to local levels—remain far from satisfactory, with no significant outcomes to show. At the national level, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs formed a palm oil moratorium task force comprising representatives from various ministries. The task force finalized national palm oil plantation coverage data, formalized through Minister of Agriculture Decree No. 833/2019, which states total palm oil plantation area at 16.38 million hectares.
The Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) validated Right to Cultivate (HGU) data in East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, West Sulawesi, Papua, and Riau.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) suspended new forest area release and land-swap permits, identified illegal oil palm plantations inside forest areas, and drafted a presidential regulation outlining typologies for resolving palm oil operations in forest zones.
At the provincial and district levels, several local governments—such as Aceh Province, Buol, Sanggau, Gorontalo, and North Aceh—have responded by translating the moratorium into local regulations, including circular letters and regent regulations. Provinces showing positive commitment include East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Riau, West Papua, and Riau Islands, as well as districts/cities such as Sintang, North Kayong, East Barito, Lingga, Banyuasin, and Musi Banyuasin.
Despite these positive steps, major implementation barriers remain and must be addressed:
First, lack of policy socialization. Many provincial and district leaders are still unaware of the moratorium, indicating weak outreach.
Second, poor synchronization between central and local governments. The moratorium design mandates a bottom-up approach, where findings from local governments are reviewed by the national task force. In practice, this has not happened. The central government has focused almost exclusively on mapping plantation coverage. The task force’s decision to prioritize seven provinces is not mandated by the Inpres and contradicts its spirit.
Third, the absence of a clear implementation roadmap. Regions eager to act lack reference documents such as a roadmap, implementation guidelines (juklak), technical guidelines (juknis), and budget allocations—which are not specified in the Inpres.
Fourth, weak data transparency. Six-monthly progress reports submitted to the President are difficult for civil society to access. While not legally required to be public, transparency would allow meaningful public input. There is also a lack of updates regarding institutional changes within the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.
Additionally, published palm oil coverage data fails to clearly indicate where plantations overlap with forest areas. Although KLHK has stated that 3.4 million hectares of oil palm lie within forest zones, there is still no clarity on locations, ownership, or follow-up actions. Unsurprisingly, no forest-area palm oil cases have yet been resolved through the moratorium.
Fifth, the government lacks a clear direction on palm oil productivity improvement. There are no defined productivity targets or pathways. Productivity efforts are largely limited to the Smallholder Palm Oil Replanting Program (PSR) funded by BPDP-KS, which remains underperforming—only 20,469 hectares (11.37% of the 2020 target) were realized.
Economically, palm oil’s contribution to producing regions remains limited due to the absence of a fair revenue-sharing mechanism between producing regions and the central government. This imbalance does not reflect the real costs borne by regions, including infrastructure damage from CPO transport, environmental pollution, and recurring forest and land fires.
Given these challenges, the Civil Society Coalition puts forward the following recommendations:
Positive responses from local governments must be met with stronger central government support, including technical implementation rules (juklak/juknis) and budget allocation.
The government must set clear, measurable productivity targets, including timelines and locations (district/city level).
Improve transparency and public access to six-monthly progress reports, land-use data, and plantation permit information.
Ensure multi-stakeholder involvement—including civil society and faith-based organizations—in implementation and oversight.
Establish a fair revenue-sharing scheme so producing regions have incentives to oversee sustainable palm oil development.
Develop a single, integrated national roadmap for implementing the palm oil moratorium to avoid regulatory and budget overlaps.
The deliberation of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation must not delay moratorium implementation; data consolidation and license review should proceed immediately.
The moratorium should apply to all palm oil regions in Indonesia, not selectively.
If the government continues with the same approach, meaningful reform of palm oil governance will remain elusive. The coalition views the extension of the palm oil moratorium as both relevant and necessary—provided it comes with clear, measurable targets and strong coordination with aligned initiatives, such as the KPK’s National Movement to Save Natural Resources (GN-PSDA) for license review, and ISPO/RSPO processes to improve productivity and sustainability standards through certification.
On behalf of the Civil Society Coalition:
Sawit Watch · Kaoem Telapak · MADANI Berkelanjutan · Forest Watch Indonesia · Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL)
Media Contacts:
Abu Meridian – Executive Director, Kaoem Telapak | +62 823 1160 0535
Adrianus Eryan – ICEL | +62 813 8629 9786
Agung Ady Setiyawan – Forest Watch Indonesia | +62 857 8351 7913
Inda Fatinaware – Executive Director, Sawit Watch | +62 811 4486 77
Teguh Surya – Executive Director, MADANI Berkelanjutan | +62 812 9480 1453
