Jakarta (Greeners) – Indonesia’s peatlands restoration agency, or locally known as BRG, on Friday (20/1), encouraged social forestry and agrarian reform as schemes to restore one million hectare peatlands.
“Based on Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration data, there are 2,945 villages on peatlands. Those villages can use the village funds for development, economic and infrastructure,” said Deputy of Education, Socialization, Participation, and Partnerships of BRG, Myrna Safitri, in Jakarta, adding that her agency has been coordinating with the ministry to develop peats commodity.
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The one million hectare comprise of 500,000 out of 2.4 million ha restoration target, 20 percent of 1.4 million ha from partnerships, and 400,000 ha in non permit lands.
“We have also communicated with Ministry of Environment and Forestry, under Social Forestry and Partnerships Directorate General, as it is related to social forestry,” she said.
Nur Hidayati, Executive Director of Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said that people’s involvement needed in the establishment of regulation and activities in peatlands to prevent the loss of local wisdom.
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Government, she added, must also protect people based land management through social forestry and agrarian reform which has been government’s working agenda in the 2014-2019 National Mid Term National Planning (RPJMN).
Furthermore, she said that this protection was important considering most of economic concept often offered only based on mono-culture and agriculture industries.
“Government should have supported and accommodated endemic commodities and how to open the lands,” she said.
Reports by Danny Kosasih
21 Apr 2024 
