Revision of the Forestry Law has been included in the 2025 Priority National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) and the main agenda for discussion in Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR), with focus on strenthening green energy campaigns and indigeneous peoples’ rights.

This revision highlights aspects that focus on the development of sustainable biomass energy in order to achieve the target of national energy self-sufficiency. 

Several crucial points in this revision include the allocation of production forests for biomass energy, licensing regulations for green energy investment, fiscal incentives for green technology, and strengthening indigenous peoples' rights through energy partnership schemes.

In addition, this revision also emphasizes the importance of biomass energy research centers, strict environmental standards, the preparation of a national biomass energy roadmap, and the establishment of an independent supervisory institution to ensure the sustainability of forest utilization. 

Member of the House’s Commission IV, which overseesagriculture, environment, forestry, and maritime affairs, Rokhmin Dahuri, emphasized that in order for the forestry sector to contribute to sustainable economic growth, there are five key aspects that must be improved. 

"We must strengthen forestry spatial planning through the Forest Use Agreement (TGHK), implement an appropriate silviculture system, and strengthen the forestry industry supply chain from upstream to downstream. In addition, indigenous peoples must have rights in forest management, and governance must also be improved so that policies are more integrated," Rokhmin said in a discussion on "Policy Direction of the Forestry Bill and Its Correlation to Energy Self-Sufficiency" held by the Indonesian Parliamentary Center, on Monday, February 25, 2025,. 

He highlighted that so far forestry policies have been more biased towards large corporations, while indigenous peoples have lost their rights to their customary land.  

Anggi Putra Prayoga of Forest Watch Indonesia concurred, while highlighting that the Forestry Law was a legacy of colonialism that had often been used to seize customary land. 

"A paradigmatic change is needed in forest management which is regulated in the revision of the Forestry Law," Anggi said. 

Similarly, Erwin Dwi Kristianto of Huma, an organization actively campaigning on legal reform on land and resources, emphasized that the revision of the Forestry Law must eliminate the principle of domein verklaring which has long marginalized indigenous peoples. 

"The determination of customary forests must be a priority before determining state forests and rights forests. Community rights must be recognized and fulfilled," he said. 

Civil society organizations have emphasized that the revision of the Forestry Law must ensure environmental justice, protect the rights of indigenous peoples, and support emission reduction targets and biodiversity conservation. 

Unless there are fundamental changes, this revision is feared to only become a tool for the exploitation of forest resources by corporations in the name of energy transition and food security.