FAO Forestry country profiles - legislation

Indonesia

Forestry legislation

The Basic Forestry Act No. 5/1967 authorized the State, through the Ministry of Forestry, to control, regulate, manage, and administer forest resources. Essentially, this Act determines that forest resource development is directed at water regulation, flood and erosion prevention, wood and non-wood production, and source of income.

The original Act was superseded by the Basic Forestry Act No.5/1997 and the new Forestry Law No.41/1999 which incorporated the core forest management principles of utility and sustainability, people and partnership, transparency and integrity.

The Forestry Law is currently the primary source of authority and guidance for all forest administration and regulations. It enables forest areas to be classified and delineated according to functions (e.g. protection, production, nature reserves and recreational purposes). The Law also defines the main objective of the forest sector to as the maximisation of the population's affluence. This should be achieved, in particular, by:

• securing an adequate and evenly distributed forest area;
• optimising the forest management referring to the various functions of the forest;
• improving the quality of the water catchment areas;
• enhancing and strengthening the capacities of the local communities;
• distributing  forest revenue in an equitable and sustainable manner.