InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) Nusron Wahid has come under scrutiny again. This time, he openly revealed that 3.7 million hectares of problematic palm oil land will be taken over by the state. This action is being carried out through the Palm Oil Task Force, which has successfully organized 1.1 million hectares of problematic land.

The Palm Oil Task Force, led by Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, is tasked with addressing palm oil land with unclear status and returning it to the state. According to data collected by the Task Force, millions of hectares of palm oil land are known to overlap with forest areas.

“The Palm Oil Task Force has announced that there is potential palm oil land that conflicts with forest areas reaching 3.7 million hectares,” Nusron stated when met at his office, as quoted on Monday (February 24, 2025). Additionally, the team also found palm oil plantations operating without plantation business licenses (IUP) and plantations operating without land use rights (HGU) documents.

According to Nusron, the existence of illegal palm oil plantations is a significant problem that must be resolved immediately. Therefore, the government, through the Palm Oil Task Force, will take decisive action to return these lands to the state.

In the future, this enforcement process is expected to provide legal certainty regarding land ownership and ensure more sustainable and regulatory-compliant palm oil plantation management. Additionally, this step aims to protect forest areas from inappropriate land use changes. (T2)