What Forestry Governance Framework Exists Under PP 23/2021?

1.0 Regulatory Foundation: Defining Indonesia's Forest Estate

Government Regulation (PP) 23/2021 on Forestry Implementation ("Penyelenggaraan Kehutanan") establishes the comprehensive governance architecture for Indonesia's 120.6 million hectare forest estate. Enacted on February 2, 2021, PP 23/2021 implements provisions from Law 41/1999 on Forestry as amended by the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (Law 11/2020), consolidating previously fragmented forestry regulations into a single 192-article framework covering planning, designation, utilization, social forestry, protection, and enforcement.

The regulation operates across 34 provinces and 514 districts/cities, governing three forest functional types: Conservation Forests (22.1 million ha), Protection Forests (29.7 million ha), and Production Forests (68.8 million ha). PP 23/2021 introduces critical institutional reforms including the mandatory establishment of 354 Forest Management Units (Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan, or KPH) to shift from centralized sectoral management toward integrated landscape-scale forest administration. The regulation addresses decades of tenure conflicts through formalized forest area designation processes, recognizes customary forests (Hutan Adat) within the state forest estate, and mandates data-driven planning through centralized Forestry Information Systems.

Pasal 1 establishes 81 foundational definitions that structure forestry governance. Key definitional provisions include:

"Dalam Peraturan Pemerintah ini yang dimaksud dengan:
1. Kehutanan adalah sistem pengurusan yang bersangkut paut dengan Hutan, Kawasan Hutan, dan hasil Hutan yang diselenggarakan secara terpadu.
2. Hutan adalah suatu kesatuan ekosistem berupa hamparan lahan berisi sumber daya alam hayati yang didominasi pepohonan dalam persekutuan alam lingkungannya, yang satu dengan lainnya tidak dapat dipisahkan.
3. Kawasan Hutan adalah wilayah tertentu yang ditetapkan oleh Pemerintah untuk dipertahankan keberadaannya sebagai Hutan Tetap."

(Translation: In this Government Regulation, what is meant by: 1. Forestry is an integrated management system concerning Forests, Forest Areas, and forest products. 2. Forest is an ecosystem unit in the form of land expanse containing natural biological resources dominated by trees in their natural environmental association. 3. Forest Area is a certain region designated by the Government to be maintained as Permanent Forest.)

Pasal 2 defines eight regulatory domains covered by PP 23/2021: Forestry Planning, Changes to Forest Area Designation and Function, Use of Forest Areas, Forest Management and Planning, Social Forestry Management, Forest Protection, Supervision, and Administrative Sanctions. This comprehensive scope distinguishes PP 23/2021 from prior regulations that addressed these domains through separate policy instruments.

Matrix 1.1: Key Definitional Framework Under PP 23/2021

2.0 Forest Planning Framework: Five-Step Governance Cycle

PP 23/2021 mandates a five-stage forestry planning cycle that applies at national, provincial, and Forest Management Unit (KPH) scales. Pasal 3 establishes these planning activities:

"(1) Perencanaan Kehutanan meliputi kegiatan: a. inventarisasi Hutan; b. Pengukuhan Kawasan Hutan; c. Penatagunaan Kawasan Hutan; d. pembentukan wilayah pengelolaan Hutan; dan e. penyusunan rencana Kehutanan. (2) Kegiatan sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) didukung peta Kehutanan dan/atau data numerik."

(Translation: (1) Forestry Planning includes activities: a. forest inventory; b. Forest Area Designation; c. Forest Area Management Planning; d. formation of forest management regions; and e. forestry planning preparation. (2) Activities as referred to in paragraph (1) are supported by forestry maps and/or numerical data.)

The planning cycle begins with forest inventory (inventarisasi Hutan), providing baseline biophysical data on forest resources, species composition, carbon stocks, and ecosystem conditions. Inventory operates at three scales: national (periodic assessment of entire forest estate), provincial (more detailed landscape characterization), and KPH level (operational management data). This multi-scale approach ensures planning decisions reflect both strategic national priorities and site-specific ecological realities.

Forest Area Designation (Pengukuhan Kawasan Hutan) follows inventory, legally formalizing forest boundaries through four sub-processes: initial designation (penunjukan), boundary demarcation (penataan batas), mapping (pemetaan), and final legal establishment (penetapan). Pasal 14 assigns this authority to the Minister: "Pengukuhan Kawasan Hutan diselenggarakan oleh Menteri untuk memberikan kepastian hukum mengenai status, fungsi, letak, batas, dan luas Kawasan Hutan." This centralized ministerial authority creates legal certainty over forest status, function, location, boundaries, and extent—critical for resolving tenure conflicts between state forest claims and community or private land rights.

Forest Area Management Planning (Penatagunaan Kawasan Hutan) determines functional allocations within the forest estate, balancing conservation, protection, and production objectives. Pasal 41 requires the Minister to maintain adequate forest area and cover based on watershed (DAS), island, and provincial scales, considering: "a. biogeofisik; b. daya dukung dan daya tampung lingkungan; c. karakteristik DAS; dan d. keanekaragaman flora dan fauna." These four biophysical criteria—biogeophysics, environmental carrying capacity, watershed characteristics, and biodiversity—provide ecological guardrails for forest allocation decisions, supporting Indonesia's 30% national forest cover target.

Formation of forest management regions (pembentukan wilayah pengelolaan Hutan) creates operational KPH units at landscape scale. Pasal 33 establishes the two-tier structure: "(2) Pembentukan wilayah pengelolaan Hutan dilaksanakan untuk tingkat: a. provinsi; dan b. Unit Pengelolaan Hutan." Provincial-level forest management regions aggregate multiple KPH units for strategic coordination, while individual KPH units (typically 50,000-500,000 hectares) become the operational management entities responsible for day-to-day forest administration, licensing oversight, community engagement, and on-ground enforcement.

Forestry planning preparation (penyusunan rencana Kehutanan) synthesizes inventory data, designation decisions, functional allocations, and KPH boundaries into comprehensive forest management plans. Pasal 49 mandates public consultation: "Rencana Kehutanan sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) dan ayat (2) dilakukan konsultasi publik." This consultation requirement represents significant governance reform, legally obligating participatory forest planning after decades of top-down centralized decision-making criticized by civil society and indigenous communities.

Matrix 2.1: Five-Stage Forestry Planning Cycle (Pasal 3)

Matrix 2.2: Forestry Information System Architecture (Pasal 13)

3.0 Forest Area Designation System: Establishing Legal Certainty

PP 23/2021 formalizes forest area designation processes to resolve tenure ambiguities that have fueled decades of conflicts between state forest claims and community or private land rights. Pasal 14 centralizes designation authority: "Pengukuhan Kawasan Hutan diselenggarakan oleh Menteri untuk memberikan kepastian hukum mengenai status, fungsi, letak, batas, dan luas Kawasan Hutan." The Minister of Environment and Forestry holds exclusive authority to designate Forest Areas, providing legal certainty across five dimensions: status (State Forest, Customary Forest, or Private Forest), function (Conservation, Protection, or Production), location (geographic coordinates), boundaries (physically demarcated limits), and extent (total hectares).

This centralized ministerial authority marks departure from Indonesia's colonial-era forest management where administrative designation often proceeded without ground verification or community consultation, leading to overlapping land claims. PP 23/2021's designation process requires boundary demarcation through panitia tata batas (boundary demarcation committees) that physically mark forest boundaries, resolve land rights conflicts along boundary lines, and produce legally binding berita acara tata batas (boundary establishment minutes). These committees include government representatives, local officials, and affected landholders, creating participatory mechanisms for boundary resolution.

Pasal 15 establishes dual classification systems for Indonesia's forests. Paragraph (1) defines three forest status types based on land rights: Hutan Negara (State Forest on land without private rights), Hutan Adat (Customary Forest within indigenous territories), and Hutan Hak (Private Forest on privately-owned land). Paragraph (2) specifies that only State Forests and Customary Forests constitute Kawasan Hutan (Forest Areas subject to government forest administration):

"(1) Hutan berdasarkan statusnya terdiri atas: a. Hutan Negara; b. Hutan Adat; dan c. Hutan Hak. (2) Kawasan Hutan terdiri atas: a. Hutan Negara; dan b. Hutan Adat."

This dual classification has critical legal implications. Private Forests (Hutan Hak) exist outside the formal Forest Area estate and are not subject to Ministry of Environment and Forestry jurisdiction. Instead, they fall under provincial/district land use authority per Law 23/2014 on Regional Government. The inclusion of Hutan Adat within Kawasan Hutan implements Constitutional Court Decision 35/2012, which ruled that customary forests are not automatically State Forests but may be designated as Forest Areas while respecting indigenous rights. However, implementation remains contested: as of 2024, only approximately 100,000 hectares of customary forests have been formally recognized, despite indigenous claims over millions of hectares.

The designation system addresses Indonesia's historically low forest area legalization rate. As of 2021, approximately 70% of Indonesia's 120.6 million hectare forest estate had completed only partial designation steps (penunjukan or penataan batas) without final legal establishment (penetapan). This incomplete designation created legal ambiguity exploited by illegal loggers and encroachers, who argued unclear boundaries undermined enforcement authority. PP 23/2021 mandates completion of designation processes for all forest areas, establishing 2024 deadlines for final penetapan across provinces with significant designation backlogs.

Pasal 24 provides mechanisms for resolving land rights conflicts discovered during boundary demarcation. Paragraph (1) establishes five criteria for recognizing existing land occupation within State Forest boundaries: (a) occupation began before Law 11/2020 enactment, (b) continuous occupation for minimum five years, (c) individual holdings not exceeding five hectares, (d) open and good-faith occupation, and (e) non-disputed land. Land meeting these criteria may be excluded from Forest Area designation or regularized through social forestry programs rather than treated as illegal encroachment.

Matrix 3.1: Forest Status and Area Classifications (Pasal 15)

Matrix 3.2: Five Dimensions of Legal Certainty (Pasal 14)

4.0 Forest Management Units (KPH): Operationalizing Landscape Governance

PP 23/2021 mandates establishment of Forest Management Units (Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan, or KPH) as the operational backbone of Indonesia's forestry governance system. This represents fundamental institutional reform: shifting from centralized sectoral management administered by remote ministry offices toward integrated landscape-scale forest administration through 354 KPH units nationwide. KPH organizations become the primary government entities responsible for day-to-day forest management, licensing oversight, community engagement, and on-ground enforcement within defined forest landscapes typically ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 hectares.

Pasal 33 establishes the KPH system's purpose and structure: "(1) Pembentukan wilayah pengelolaan Hutan bertujuan untuk mewujudkan pengelolaan Hutan yang efisien dan lestari." The explicit objective of "efficient and sustainable forest management" signals intent to address historical inefficiencies in centralized administration, where limited ministry staff attempted to oversee 120.6 million hectares across 17,000+ islands. The two-tier KPH architecture—provincial aggregation plus landscape-scale operational units—enables strategic coordination while maintaining management flexibility to address site-specific ecological and socioeconomic conditions.

Pasal 35 mandates KPH coverage across all forest functional types and establishes three specialized KPH organizational forms:

"(2) Unit Pengelolaan Hutan sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) terdiri atas: a. KPH Konservasi pada Hutan Konservasi; b. KPH Lindung pada Hutan Lindung; dan c. KPH Produksi pada Hutan Produksi."

Conservation KPH (KPH Konservasi) manage 22.1 million hectares of Conservation Forests, including national parks, nature reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries. These units prioritize biodiversity protection, endangered species recovery, and ecosystem restoration. Conservation KPH staff require specialized competencies in wildlife management, conservation biology, and ecotourism development. Central government retains direct authority over Conservation KPH establishment and supervision (Pasal 39(6): "Pembentukan organisasi KPH dan wilayah pengelolaan KPH pada Hutan Konservasi ditetapkan oleh Menteri") due to national and international significance of Indonesia's biodiversity hotspots.

Protection KPH (KPH Lindung) administer 29.7 million hectares of Protection Forests with mandates for watershed management, soil conservation, and water regulation. These forests provide critical hydrological services—regulating river flows, preventing floods and landslides, maintaining water quality—for downstream agricultural areas and urban centers. Protection KPH management plans emphasize maintaining forest cover, preventing encroachment, and managing buffer zones around Protection Forest boundaries. Limited sustainable utilization may be permitted (ecotourism, non-timber forest products) if compatible with primary protection functions.

Production KPH (KPH Produksi) oversee 68.8 million hectares of Production Forests designated for sustainable timber and non-timber forest product extraction. Production KPH license and supervise commercial forestry operations, community forestry programs, and plantation forest development. These units must balance production objectives with environmental safeguards—maintaining minimum residual forest cover, protecting high-conservation-value areas, ensuring regeneration of harvested forests. Production KPH revenues from licensing fees and forest product royalties provide funding for operational costs, creating fiscal incentives for effective forest management.

Pasal 39 divides KPH establishment authority between central and provincial governments based on forest function. For Conservation KPH, the Minister directly establishes organizations and management boundaries, maintaining national oversight over biodiversity priorities. For Protection and Production KPH, provincial governors hold establishment authority (Pasal 39(7): "Pembentukan organisasi KPH dan wilayah pengelolaan KPH pada Hutan Lindung dan Hutan Produksi ditetapkan oleh gubernur"), reflecting decentralization policies under Law 23/2014 on Regional Government. This authority split aims to balance national conservation interests with regional autonomy for production forestry.

Pasal 40 assigns four core responsibilities to KPH organizations, following standard management cycle:

"Organisasi KPH bertanggung jawab terhadap penyelenggaraan pengelolaan Hutan, meliputi: a. perencanaan pengelolaan; b. pengorganisasian; c. pelaksanaan pengelolaan; dan d. pengendalian dan Pengawasan."

Management planning (perencanaan pengelolaan) requires KPH units to prepare comprehensive forest management plans based on forest inventory data, stakeholder consultations, and functional objectives. Organizing (pengorganisasian) involves establishing internal structures, staffing, budgeting, and coordination mechanisms with provincial forestry agencies, district governments, and community groups. Management implementation (pelaksanaan pengelolaan) encompasses licensing oversight, patrol operations, community forestry facilitation, and coordination with commercial forest concessionaires. Control and supervision (pengendalian dan Pengawasan) includes monitoring forest condition changes, enforcing regulations, addressing violations, and reporting to provincial governments and ministry.

This end-to-end management mandate represents significant departure from prior fragmented administration where planning, licensing, and enforcement functions were split across multiple agencies. KPH organizations become accountable for forest condition within their boundaries, creating clear responsibility for addressing illegal logging, forest fires, encroachment, and environmental degradation. As of 2024, approximately 300 of 354 target KPH units have been legally established, though operational capacity varies significantly—some KPH units operate with full staff and budgets, while others exist only on paper awaiting provincial government resource allocation.

Matrix 4.1: Three KPH Organizational Types (Pasal 35, 39)

Matrix 4.2: Four KPH Management Responsibilities (Pasal 40)

5.0 Forest Adequacy Standards and Forward-Looking Governance

PP 23/2021 establishes ecological safeguards to ensure Indonesia maintains sufficient forest area and cover to support environmental functions, moving beyond purely administrative forest management toward science-based sustainability standards. Pasal 41 creates ministerial obligation to maintain adequate forest area and cover using biophysical criteria across three spatial scales: watersheds (Daerah Aliran Sungai, or DAS), islands, and provinces.

Paragraph (1) mandates: "Menteri menetapkan dan mempertahankan kecukupan luas Kawasan Hutan dan penutupan Hutan berdasarkan kondisi fisik dan geografis pada luas DAS, pulau, dan/atau provinsi dengan sebaran yang proporsional." This "proportional distribution" requirement recognizes Indonesia's extreme ecological heterogeneity—densely populated Java with approximately 21% forest cover differs fundamentally from sparsely populated Papua with 77% forest cover. Rather than uniform national standards, forest adequacy determinations reflect regional ecological carrying capacity and development pressures.

Paragraph (2) specifies four biophysical criteria for determining forest adequacy: "(a) biogeofisik; (b) daya dukung dan daya tampung lingkungan; (c) karakteristik DAS; dan (d) keanekaragaman flora dan fauna." Biogeophysics encompasses soil types, topography, climate patterns, and geological conditions influencing forest ecosystem functions. Environmental carrying and assimilative capacity refers to ecosystems' ability to support human activities while maintaining ecological integrity and absorbing pollution/disturbance without degradation. Watershed characteristics include river network patterns, flood regimes, erosion risks, and hydrological cycles determining forest's role in water regulation. Flora and fauna diversity considers species endemism, threatened species habitat, and ecosystem representativeness requiring forest protection.

These four criteria operationalize Indonesia's commitment to maintaining minimum 30% national forest cover under the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN 2020-2024). However, the 30% target represents national aggregate—individual provinces may require higher or lower forest cover depending on biophysical conditions. For example, provinces with steep topography, high rainfall, and critical watersheds (e.g., West Java, West Sumatra) may require 40-50% forest cover to prevent flooding and landslides, while provinces with relatively flat terrain and lower erosion risks may function adequately with 20-25% forest cover.

Pasal 48 establishes forestry management as multi-dimensional system beyond operational activities. Paragraph (2) defines four integrated forestry management aspects:

"Aspek pengurusan Kehutanan sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) meliputi kegiatan penyelenggaraan: a. Perencanaan Kehutanan; b. pengelolaan Hutan; c. penelitian dan pengembangan, pendidikan dan pelatihan, serta penyuluhan Kehutanan; dan d. Pengawasan."

The inclusion of "penelitian dan pengembangan, pendidikan dan pelatihan, serta penyuluhan Kehutanan" (research and development, education and training, and forestry extension) as core management functions signals recognition that sustainable forest governance requires continuous learning, capacity building, and knowledge transfer. This provision creates legal basis for forestry research institutions, training centers, and extension programs as integral to forest administration rather than peripheral support functions.

Pasal 49 mandates participatory planning through public consultation requirements. Paragraph (3) states: "Rencana Kehutanan sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) dan ayat (2) dilakukan konsultasi publik." This applies to both national and provincial forestry plans, requiring meaningful stakeholder engagement before plan finalization. The consultation mandate addresses decades of criticism that Indonesia's forest planning proceeded through top-down technocratic processes excluding affected communities, indigenous peoples, and civil society organizations. While PP 23/2021 mandates consultation, implementation effectiveness depends on consultation quality—genuine dialogue incorporating stakeholder inputs versus pro forma meetings checking procedural boxes.

PP 23/2021's governance framework reflects tension between centralized control and decentralized management. The Minister retains authority over forest area designation (Pasal 14), Conservation KPH establishment (Pasal 39(6)), forest adequacy standards (Pasal 41), and national planning (Pasal 49(1)), maintaining strategic oversight. Simultaneously, provincial governors hold authority for Protection and Production KPH establishment (Pasal 39(7)), provincial planning (Pasal 49(2)), and operational supervision of non-conservation forestry. This hybrid model attempts to balance national conservation priorities, regional development autonomy, and landscape-scale operational management through the 354-unit KPH system.

Forward implementation challenges include: (1) completing KPH establishment across all 354 target units and ensuring adequate staffing/budgets, (2) resolving millions of hectares of contested customary forest claims, (3) operationalizing public consultation requirements with genuine stakeholder participation, (4) developing forest adequacy standards for 34 provinces with widely varying conditions, and (5) coordinating three-tier governance (Ministry-Province-KPH) across Indonesia's complex intergovernmental relations. PP 23/2021 provides governance architecture; effectiveness depends on resource allocation, political will, and civil society monitoring pressuring compliance with participatory and ecological safeguards.

Matrix 5.1: Forest Adequacy Criteria Framework (Pasal 41)

Matrix 5.2: Forestry Management Aspects (Pasal 48)

Matrix 5.3: Public Consultation Requirements (Pasal 49)

Official Source

Peraturan Pemerintah Republik Indonesia Nomor 23 Tahun 2021 tentang Penyelenggaraan Kehutanan
https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/161853/pp-no-23-tahun-2021

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