Indonesia to revoke over 20 forestry permits following deadly Sumatra floods

JAKARTA: Indonesia will cancel more than 20 forestry permits across the country, the forestry minister announced Monday, in the wake of devastating floods and landslides in northwestern Sumatra that have claimed over 1,000 lives.

For years, experts and environmentalists have warned that deforestation makes communities more vulnerable to disasters like flash floods and landslides. The latest catastrophe has created the effects of losing sizable tracts of wooded area into bleak assistance.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said the government will revoke 22 permits covering more than one million hectares of land, including over 100,000 hectares in Sumatra. While he did not directly link the decision to the disaster, he stressed that the move is part of ongoing efforts to better manage Indonesia’s forests.

“With the addition of another one million hectares today, around 1.5 million hectares of our forests are now under regulation,” Raja said, referring to a similar decision in February that cancelled permits covering roughly 500,000 hectares.

Forests are not just scenic landscapes—they are natural shields. Their roots soothe down soil, and their crown absorbs rainwater, lowering the threat of devastating floods and landslides. Raja earlier described the disaster as an opportunity to “evaluate our policies,” noting that the “pendulum between the economy and ecology seems to have swung too far towards the economy and needs to be pulled back to the centre.”

Indonesia regularly ranks among the countries with the highest forest loss in the world, driven by mining, plantations, and forest fires. Last year alone, more than 240,000 hectares of primary forest were lost, according to analysis by conservation start-up The TreeMap’s Nusantara Atlas project.

The recent action indicates an improved effort initiated by the government to strike a balance between economic development and environmental protection, intending to block potential disasters and protect the forests that numerous communities greatly rely on.