Indonesia tightens forest enforcement
President Prabowo ordered prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against companies that resist a task force cracking down on illegal activity in forest areas. (channelnewsasia.com) The task force says it has reclaimed state assets worth around Rp370 trillion (~$21.65bn), a number the government is citing as evidence of stronger enforcement. (en.antaranews.com)
Indonesia’s president has ordered prosecutors to bring criminal cases against companies that refuse to cooperate with a forest-enforcement task force. (channelnewsasia.com) Prabowo Subianto gave the order on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Attorney General’s Office in Jakarta, where he told officials to move beyond administrative penalties if companies keep resisting. Reuters reported the task force includes military personnel, prosecutors and environmental regulators. (channelnewsasia.com) The government says the task force has reclaimed state assets worth about Rp370 trillion, or roughly $21.65 billion, from forest areas that had been used illegally. Indonesian state news agency Antara reported that Prabowo also said the recovered money and fines could be used for schools, homes and other public needs. (en.antaranews.com) This campaign targets companies operating inside forest zones without valid permits, especially in palm oil plantations and mining. Indonesia created the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force under Presidential Regulation No. 5 of 2025, signed on January 21, 2025, to reclaim land, collect fines and restore state control. (en.tempo.co) By August 2025, the task force said it had already recovered more than 3.3 million hectares of land used illegally for palm oil, with 915,206 hectares handed to government ministries. By January 2026, Tempo reported the area brought under control had reached 4.09 million hectares through 2025. (en.antaranews.com) (en.tempo.co) The financial side has grown alongside the land seizures. In February 2026, Antara reported the task force had collected Rp7.07 trillion in administrative fines from 48 palm oil and mining companies, and officials said more penalties were still outstanding. (en.antaranews.com) The tougher line also follows months of warnings to companies that ignored summonses or disputed penalties. Industry coverage in January and February said officials were pressing plantation and mining firms over unpaid fines that ran into trillions of rupiah. (en.infosawit.com) (woodcentral.com.au) The crackdown sits inside a bigger fight over how Indonesia polices land use in one of the world’s largest palm oil and mineral producers. Reuters reported that environmental groups have welcomed stronger action in forests while also warning that other government development policies can still drive deforestation. (channelnewsasia.com) For now, the immediate shift is legal: companies that once faced fines and land takeovers are now being told they could also face criminal prosecution if they keep refusing to comply. (channelnewsasia.com)
