Extension for Improvement of Primary Forest and Peatland Governance

After two months of uncertainty related to the previous instruction was terminated (Instruction No. 8/2015), President Joko Widodo signed Presidential Instruction No. 6/2017, which extended the deadline for improving primary forest and peatland governance to reduce emissions from deforestation.

The content of this instruction is similar to the previous instruction, but involves two other ministers: the minister of agriculture and the minister of public works and housing. The instruction also includes three exceptions to the moratorium on new permits in peatlands due to vital national development, specifically sustenance crops like corn, sago, and soybeans.

The details of the Instruction:

• Not amended: The Minister of the Environment and Forestry must maintain the moratorium on issuing new permits in primary natural forests and peatlands in conservation forests, protected forests, production forests and non-forest estates, as indicated in the PIPPIB.
• Not amended: The Minister of Home Affairs must support and monitor governors, regents, and mayors in the implementation of the instruction.
• The Minister of Agriculture must improve the governance of agriculture and plantation permits, improve the efficacy of critical land management through ecosystem restoration, and suspend the issuance of new agriculture permits and plantation business permits in the PIPPIB.
• The Head of the Geospatial Information Agency must renew the PIPPIB in forest and non-forest estates every six month, in collaboration with the Minister of the Environment and Forestry and the Minister  of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning. The Head of the Geospatial Information Agency must also validate and ensure the forest and peatland coverage map conforms with the PIPPIB.
• The Minister of Public Works and Housing must suspend building development and construction in non-forest estates in line with the suspension on issuance of new permits, unless they had already coordinated with the Minister of the Environment and Forestry, governors, and regents or mayors prior to the issuance of this instruction.
• Not amended: Governors, regents, and mayors must suspend issuance of new recommendations and permits in forests, peatlands and non-forest estates, as per the PIPPIB.