Indonesia says it no longer needs forests to grow rice — Mongabay
Indonesia has stated that it no longer needs to expand rice-growing areas into forest zones: according to Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the president’s special envoy for climate and energy, the country achieved rice self-sufficiency three years ahead of schedule. At the same time, the authorities did not explain how this statement will affect large-scale food and energy projects already underway in Papua and Kalimantan, Mongabay reports.
On October 6, Djojohadikusumo said in Jakarta that the government no longer sees a need to further expand rice-growing areas in forest regions and forest zones announced several years ago. Mari Pangestu, the president’s special envoy for multilateral relations and international trade, said that future food and biofuel production should be directed to degraded land.
Uncertainty over ongoing projects
Less than two weeks before this statement, the Ministry of Forestry designated about 5.67 million hectares of forests within the 2026 forest-use direction map as areas for which applications for forest-use permits can be submitted. These include food security, energy and forest restoration.
Ministry spokesperson Ristianto Pribadi said it is necessary to distinguish between new plans requiring deforestation, work that has already begun, and increased production on existing agricultural land. He added that the agency cannot yet say whether all work in South Papua and Central Kalimantan will automatically stop and when this could happen.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Environmental organizations are calling on the government to back up the statement with changes to decrees and other policies that facilitated the conversion of forests into plantations. According to representatives of civil society organizations, state policy in food, energy, forestry and finance needs to be aligned with the announced course.
Deforestation and land classification
According to the Nusantara Atlas monitoring platform, about 11,500 hectares of wetlands were cleared for rice fields in the villages of Wanam and Wogikel. The platform also identified approximately 40,000 hectares of land cleared for sugarcane cultivation, mostly in primary forests and savannas near the border with Papua New Guinea.
In the Merauke area, a 135-kilometer access road was being built for a planned 1 million hectares of rice fields. Greenpeace estimated that as of February, road construction had caused nearly 7,600 hectares of deforestation. Satellite imagery, according to TheTreeMap’s assessment, indicates that the road corridor has already been opened along its entire length, although it has not yet been surfaced.
A separate issue remains the definition of the terms “forest regions” and “degraded land.” In 2025, Ministerial Decree No. 591 transferred 486,939 hectares in Merauke, Boven Digoel and Mappi from forest estate status to the category of land outside it. TheTreeMap’s spatial analysis showed that this area contains nearly 300,000 hectares of primary forests with continuous canopy, as well as melaleuca stands and other wetlands.
