Ecobiz.asia — Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni has issued Ministerial Regulation (Permenhut) No. 27 of 2025 on the Utilization of Environmental Services in Nature Reserves, Nature Conservation Areas, and Game Parks.
The regulation, signed in Jakarta on 11 December 2025, establishes a new legal framework governing all licensing schemes and approvals for the utilization of environmental services within conservation areas.
Its coverage includes geothermal resources, water, hydropower, nature-based tourism, game-park operations, wind energy, solar energy, and the utilization of carbon-related environmental services.
“The Utilization of Environmental Services in Nature Reserves, Nature Conservation Areas, and Game Parks refers to the utilization of environmental conditions—including ecosystem potential, climatic conditions, natural phenomena, species uniqueness, and cultural heritage—found within nature reserves, conservation areas, and game parks, implemented in the form of geothermal services, water and hydropower services, nature-tourism services, game-park operations, wind services, solar services, and carbon services,’” according to Article 1 paragraph (1) of Permenhut 27/2025, as quoted by Ecobiz.asia on Friday (26/11/2025).
The issuance of Permenhut 27/2025 underscores that conservation areas are not entirely closed zones. The regulation opens legal space for the utilization of renewable energy in national parks, grand forest parks (Tahura), nature recreation parks (TWA), and game parks—provided that such activities do not compromise the primary conservation function and align with respective management plans.
Permenhut 27/2025 is a comprehensive technical regulation consisting of 15 chapters, 593 articles, and detailed annexes.
Annexes I–VI contain licensing formats, SIMAKSI templates, business-plan standards, and monitoring instruments covering geothermal, tourism, water, hydropower, wind, solar, and carbon utilization schemes.
Spanning more than 1,000 pages, the regulation codifies the full set of norms, standards, procedures, and criteria (NSPK) that will serve as the basis for licensing and oversight of environmental-service utilization.
The regulation also revokes four earlier ministerial regulations governing environmental-service use in conservation areas: Permenhut P.17/Menhut-II/2010 (Game-Park Licensing), PermenLHK P.4/2019 (Geothermal Environmental Services), PermenLHK P.8/2019 (Nature-Tourism Enterprises), and PermenLHK P.18/2019 (Water and Hydropower Services).
Permenhut 27/2025 effectively establishes a unified licensing regime for all environmental-service utilization within conservation landscapes, and serves as a critical legal foundation for renewable-energy developers and carbon-project proponents operating in conservation areas. ***
