Forest resources and context of Indonesia

According to the FAO (2020) Indonesia has around 92.0 million hectares of forested land, which constitutes to 53.0% of the total land area. Around 87.6 million hectares are primary or otherwise naturally regenerated forest, and around 4.5 million hectares are planted forest.

Land surface

171

million ha

Forest cover

million ha

Production forest

57.7

million ha

Forest ownership

86.9

% publicly

Forest resources in Indonesia

Types of forest

For the purposes of management, six types are distinguished: mixed hill forests, sub-montane / montane and alpine forests, savanna / bamboo / deciduous / monsoon forests, peat swamp forests, fresh water swamp forests, and tidal forests (mangroves). Mixed hill forests account for about 65% of the natural forests and are the most important for timber production.

Indonesia has three categories of forest land: Conservation Forests, Protection Forests, and Production Forests. MoEF (2018) stated that Production forests (Hutan Produksi, HP) covers about 57% (68.8 million hectares) of the Indonesian forest area. Conservation forests (Hutan Konservasi) covers a total area of 22.1 million hectares or 18 % (with an additional 5.3 million hectares of marine conservation areas). While Protection forests (Hutan lindung) have watershed functions and cover the remaining 29.7 million hectares or 25 %. Most of Indonesia’s remaining land area is made up of non-forest public lands, known as Areas for Other Purposes (Areal Penggunaan Lain, or APL).

Forest ownership in Indonesia

Most of Indonesia’s forest is owned by the state (86.9%) and the remainder is so-called titled forest. A titled forest is a forest located on land on which the land title is registered by private organizations or individuals. The vast majority of the production forests are owned by the state, but directly managed by private corporations and institutions based on forest concessions.

key figures

Land surface	171.9 million hectares
Forest cover	92 million hectares (53%); mostly primary and other naturally regenerated forest 4.9 million hectares of planted forest
Production forest	57.7 million hectares designated for production
Forest ownership	86.9% publicly owned 13.1% privately ownedd
Annual change rate	-1.1% per year; over the past 25 years (1990-2015)

Source: FAO, 2015
See also: Global Forest Ressources Assessment 2020, FAO

Global Forest Watch Map

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