huma.or.id– The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (HuMa) held its 10th monthly discussion event called “Time for Changes in the Forestry Law” at HuMa Co-Working Space in South Jakarta on January 23, 2025.

Law Number 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry is currently included in the National Priority Legislative Program for 2025. Valdi, an Expert Staff of Commission IV of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI), stated that the forestry sector has been heavily affected.

Valdi mentioned that there is no forest area without its local community, which he believes is not addressed in the current Forestry Law. Therefore, he thinks that the new Forestry Bill will focus more on humanizing the local people in forestry. Moreover, the Forestry Bill has been in place for more than 25 years, hence requiring more relevant adjustments to address current issues.

He also mentioned that Civil Society Organizations (CSO) can provide input by submitting letters directly to the DPR, as he assured that Commission IV would gladly receive such inputs. He stated that Commission IV is currently seeking inputs from experts to ensure that the Forestry Bill is based on academic studies.

In addition, Sukman from the TA Prolegnas added that hopefully the inputs from experts in this discussion can be further processed. He explained that the timeline is still quite long, as they are currently gathering data and feedback for the development of the academic manuscript. Thus, this is still in the early stages of the Prolegnas and is very open to receiving inputs.