December 11, 2025 | 01:58 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Member of the House Commission IV, Riyono, says the call to crowdfund forest purchases aligns with the increasingly worrying condition of the ecosystem in Indonesia.
The initiative, he says, reflects citizens' lack of trust in forest management by stakeholders, both in the forestry and environmental sectors.
"This is a dig about the people's hopelessness concerning the ecosystem damage in Sumatra," says Riyono in his written statement on Thursday, December 11, 2025.
It is possible for citizens to purchase forest land, Riyono says, citing several regulations outlining the control or purchase of forest areas for designated use.
These regulations include Forestry Law Number 41 of 1999 and Government Regulation Number 24 of 2010 concerning procedures for the implementation of rights and obligations as well as the procedure for the state earnings in the forestry sector.
Another one is the Ministerial Regulation Number P.83/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/10/2016 concerning Guidelines for Assessment and Determination of Forest Area Sales Prices. This provision allows for forest land purchases if the buyers are willing to comply with government supervision.
But this initiative is not without challenges. According to Riyono, the paperwork required to make the purchase is quite complicated. Buyers must submit a forest area utilization permit (IPKH) application, buyer's identity, forest utilization plan, environmental permits, and other required documents.
"The process is layered, starting from application submission, area assessment by expert teams, price determination, payment, to the issuance of the IPKH," says the lawmaker.
Nevertheless, the call to donate and purchase forest land is meant to sound an alarm for state officials and stakeholders to safeguard the ecosystem to mitigate ecological disasters.
"This is a warning to take forest conservation seriously," says the member of the PKS faction of the DPR.
The crowdfunding call to buy forest land was first voiced by the environmental activist group, Pandawara Group. Through the Instagram account @pandawaragroup, these activists invited the public to donate and purchase forests to prevent land conversion.
"It came to me suddenly, what if Indonesians unite to donate and purchase forests to prevent land conversion," the group wrote.
Until Thursday, December 11, 2025, the post had garnered 644,000 likes, over 28,000 comments, and had been shared more than 11,000 times by netizens.
Another House Commission IV member, Daniel Jihan, considers the forest purchase crowdfunding as a breakthrough to avoid potential land conversion. "This is a sharp criticism of the government," said Daniel.
Meanwhile, flash floods and landslides have struck Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra since November 25. In addition to the extreme weather from Tropical Cyclone Senyar, these ecological disasters are also caused by environmental damage in Sumatra.
Based on data in the National Disaster Management Agency's geoportal dashboard as of December 10, 2025, the number of fatalities due to flash floods and landslides in Sumatra has reached 969 people.
Details are as follows: 391 deaths in Aceh; 340 deaths in North Sumatra; and 238 deaths in West Sumatra.
Dian Rahma Fika Alnina contributed to the writing of this article
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