New Guidelines for Forest Rehabilitation and Reclamation

The government recently released Minister of Forestry Regulation No. 39/MENHUT-II/2010 on General Pattern, Criteria, and Standards of Forest Rehabilitation and Reclamation (“Regulation”). In essence, the Regulation provides relatively detailed explanation on the formulation of the general pattern, criteria, and standards of forest rehabilitation and reclamation for businesses in the forestry sector.

Generally, forest rehabilitation and reclamation is one of the means utilized to manage the condition of forests. Although the duty to preserve the condition of forests lies primarily in the government’s hands, private entities in the forestry business sector are also responsible for the forest rehabilitation and reclamation. In order to fulfill this obligation, businesses are obliged, according to Government Regulation No. 7 of 2008 on Forest Rehabilitation and Reclamation (“Government Regulation”), to carry out forest rehabilitation and reclamation in accordance with the general pattern, criteria, and standards of forest rehabilitation and reclamation.

It is noteworthy that businesses that are obligated to perform forest rehabilitation and reclamation are businesses that hold licenses or rights to carry out certain activities in forest areas.

The Regulation, which further elaborates on the Government Regulation (Article 7 in particular), sets out the types of forests that are subject to rehabilitation and reclamation. Under Article 22 of the Regulation, forests that require rehabilitation are forest areas that fall under the category of state forests and non-state forests. Meanwhile, based on Article 34, reclamation locations include, among many others, deserted mining areas, areas that have been used to develop water installations, and areas used for the development of power grids.

The Regulation also provides that forest rehabilitation and reclamation programs must consider the following aspects: political, social, economics, ecosystems, and institutional aspects, which involve intergovernmental cooperation (central and regional governments), permit holder, land right holder, and local economics participation. Each of the aspects is explained further in Articles 15 to 19 of the Regulation.

What the Regulation lacks is the benchmark for a successful forest rehabilitation and reclamation program, and the specific sanctions to be imposed for failing to comply with the rehabilitation and reclamation program. The Regulation, instead, leaves such issue to a subsequent, non-yet-existent Ministerial Regulation. 

Compared to the preceding regulation, the Regulation includes more comprehensive provisions, containing: provisions on transparency and accountability in implementing the forest rehabilitation and reclamation program, and also the obligation for holders of licenses and rights to report to the central government regarding their rehabilitation and reclamation programs.

The Regulation repeals and replaces the previous regulation on the same subject matter, namely Minister of Forestry Decision No. 20/Kpts-II/2000, and has been in force since 11 August 2010.