Ecobiz.asia – Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry said on Friday it is accelerating forest and land rehabilitation efforts, partly by tapping voluntary carbon markets, as severe floods across Sumatra highlight the scale of the country’s land degradation.
Director General for Watershed Management and Forest Rehabilitation Dyah Murtiningsih told a press briefing that President Prabowo Subianto has instructed the ministry to restore 12.3 million hectares of critical land, both inside and outside forest areas. She said the directive has become the basis for a nationwide rehabilitation plan and annual restoration targets.
“Floods this week occurred in several watersheds across Sumatra, many of which are dominated by degraded lands in areas of other land use (APL),” Dyah said on Friday (Nov. 28, 2025).
According to the ministry, flooding was recorded in six watersheds in Aceh—Krueng Geukuh, Krueng Pasee and Krueng Keureuto—and in North Sumatra in the Kolang, Sibuluan, Aek Pandan, Badiri and Garoga watersheds. Similar conditions were detected in West Sumatra, including the Anai, Antokan, Banda Gadang, Masang Kanan, Masang Kiri and Ulakan Tapis watersheds.
Dyah said the ministry has ordered regional offices and related directorates to prioritise rehabilitation in flood-prone areas, coordinating across production forests, conservation areas and community-managed lands.
The ministry operates large-scale nurseries in all provinces—six with high-capacity facilities and 54 with one-million-seedling capacity—to supply seedlings for restoration, including fruit and multipurpose tree species aimed at supporting communities. It is also expanding community nurseries and programmes for productive species in upstream areas.
Rehabilitation efforts will combine vegetative restoration with civil engineering structures such as check dams, retention weirs, infiltration wells and biopores to improve water absorption and reduce run-off, Dyah said.
While state budgets (APBN) and regional budgets (APBD) remain the backbone of funding, the ministry is opening additional financing channels, including climate-related foreign cooperation and corporate schemes. A key opportunity, she said, lies in voluntary carbon markets, where private forest concession holders (PBPH) can earn carbon revenue from eligible rehabilitation activities on assigned critical-land blocks.
“This mechanism allows companies to participate in restoring degraded land while generating carbon value,” Dyah said, adding that the ministry is also directing obligations from permit holders—such as rehabilitation duties under PPKH licences—to priority watersheds.
Dyah said effective rehabilitation requires joint action with local governments and landholder engagement, particularly in non-forest zones where land is privately owned. ***
