InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – The Kolibri Alliance welcomed the government’s decision to revoke 22 Forestry Business Permits (PBPH) covering more than 1 million hectares nationwide, including around 116,168 hectares in Sumatra, as authorities respond to severe flooding that has hit parts of the island.
However, the alliance stressed that the revocation should not be treated merely as a disaster-driven reaction. Instead, it should mark the beginning of a broader transformation toward fairer, more sustainable forest governance that strengthens Indonesia’s climate resilience and reduces ecological disaster risks.
“Without comprehensive evaluation and systematic ecosystem recovery, revoking PBPH risks becoming a symbolic policy that fails to address the root causes of forest degradation and ecological disasters,” the Kolibri Alliance said in its statement received by InfoSAWIT on Thursday (Jan 22, 2026).
PBPH Order Enforcement Reaches 1.5 Million Hectares
The revocation forms part of a broader permit enforcement initiative carried out over the past year. The government has reportedly taken action against around 1.5 million hectares of problematic PBPH permits within the last 12 months.
Kolibri acknowledged the effort as a sign of stronger governance, but urged the government not to limit evaluations only to areas already affected by disasters.
The alliance said ecosystem-sensitive zones—such as hilly areas, peatlands, watersheds, and small islands—should be prioritized due to their high ecological and hydrological vulnerability.
Five Key Demands from Kolibri
As a follow-up to the permit revocation, Kolibri urged the government to take five additional steps:
Review all high-risk land-use permits, including those not yet linked to disasters but vulnerable ecologically and hydrologically.
Strengthen the government’s leadership as an environmental trustee to protect forests, uphold citizens’ rights to a healthy environment, and meet international climate commitments.
Prioritize restoration and conservation of critical ecosystems, including forests, peatlands, and biodiversity hotspots.
Restore community and Indigenous rights through social forestry schemes, customary forests, and nature-based sustainable livelihoods.
Protect remaining forests by stopping new PBPH issuance and preventing forest conversion into large-scale monoculture plantations and mining areas.
Kolibri stressed that forest protection is inseparable from disaster risk reduction, as forest degradation reduces water absorption capacity, increases surface runoff, and heightens flood and landslide risks.
Studies Link Deforestation to Higher Flood and Landslide Risks
Kolibri cited a study by Lubis et al. (2024) indicating that regions with higher deforestation tend to experience more frequent floods and landslides. The alliance also reported field findings in the Mentawai Islands, where Indigenous communities now face flooding more often than before, following the issuance of forest utilization permits covering more than 100,000 hectares.
The situation underscores the link between deforestation and rising flood risks, as land loses its ability to absorb heavy rainfall.
Similarly, Sugianto et al. (2022) found that deforestation and land-use change increased flood risks in the Teunom Watershed in Aceh, with nearly 70% of the area classified as medium to very high risk.
Tree Cover Loss Data Highlights Scale of Deforestation
Based on tree cover loss data compiled by Hansen et al., Kolibri said Indonesia’s deforestation between 2001 and 2024 reached 30,032,598.63 hectares, with 52.7% attributed to permit holders across mining, oil palm, and PBPH sectors.
The alliance also noted that around 8.9 million hectares of natural forest in Indonesia remain under concession control, including vulnerable ecosystems such as mangroves and peat swamp forests.
Meanwhile, approximately 5.7 million hectares of natural forest outside state forest zones—classified as non-forest estate (APL)—and not burdened by utilization permits, shows better forest cover conditions. Kolibri said this offers hope that remaining natural forests can still be well-managed while damaged areas can be restored.
Community-Led Conservation and Restoration Efforts
Kolibri members are also working at the grassroots level through conservation and restoration initiatives combined with livelihood strengthening, aimed at recognizing communities’ rights to manage natural resources.
In Aceh, Indigenous communities of Mukim Beungga and Mukim Paloh protect 6,994 hectares of forest while developing patchouli oil and cocoa enterprises. In Wonosobo, communities restore forest landscapes through agroforestry systems using plant species with both ecological and economic value.
Kolibri also cited Herath et al. (2025), which suggested that increasing forest cover by 20% could reduce peak flood discharge by around 10%. While forest protection and restoration will not eliminate flooding entirely, the alliance said it can significantly reduce intensity.
Kolibri further pointed to Government Regulation (PP) No. 26 of 2025 on the National Environmental Protection and Management Plan, which emphasizes protecting remaining natural forests, rehabilitating degraded landscapes, and aligning resource use with environmental carrying capacity.
The alliance urged the state to fully enforce these mandates by reviewing, halting, revoking, and restoring forest areas that have exceeded ecological limits—through permit cancellations and ecosystem restoration. (T1)
