Ecobiz.asia — Indonesia called for stronger international collaboration in sustainable forest management, emphasizing the use of scientific data and digital monitoring technologies to improve transparency and decision-making accuracy.
Speaking at the opening of the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Plenary 2025 in Bali, Haruni Krisnawati, Senior Adviser on Climate Change to the Minister of Forestry, said reliable and verifiable data were essential for effective forest governance.
“We integrate ground-based inventories, remote sensing, and digital innovations, including artificial intelligence, to ensure data accuracy,” Haruni said on Tuesday (Oct. 21, 2025). “Indonesia’s data credibility has been internationally recognized for its compliance with IPCC guidelines and regular reporting to the UNFCCC,” she added.
Indonesia continues to strengthen its National Forest Monitoring System (Simontana) and Forest and Land Fire Monitoring Information System (Sipongi) to detect forest cover changes and potential fires in real time.
Haruni said Indonesia’s 95 million hectares of forests not only preserve biodiversity but also sustain local livelihoods, support climate resilience, and contribute to national development.
“Indonesia’s forests store one of the world’s largest carbon reserves, making them a crucial component of global climate mitigation,” she said.
Through its Net Zero Emission vision and Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) Net Sink 2030 target, Indonesia aims to demonstrate that economic growth can go hand in hand with environmental protection.
Haruni said the GFOI serves as a strategic platform for technical cooperation, knowledge exchange, capacity building, and technology transfer among nations. Indonesia, a GFOI member since 2011, uses the forum to showcase its advancements in data-driven forest monitoring.
“We aim to build bridges between science and policy, technology and tradition, and between developed and developing nations,” she said. “Only through strong global partnerships can we achieve sustainable forests and a resilient future.”
The GFOI Plenary 2025, co-hosted by the Ministry of Forestry and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) from October 21–23, gathered more than 300 participants from governments, donor agencies, space institutions, academia, civil society, and the private sector.
The forum addresses key issues such as forest inventory systems, fire monitoring, and the use of forest data to support sustainable commodity production. The ministry also hosts a side event titled “Monitoring Indonesia’s Forests Towards FOLU Net Sink 2030,” highlighting Indonesia’s progress in science-based forest monitoring and its contribution to global climate goals. ***
