Indonesia has cancelled 22 forestry permits that together cover more than one million hectares, the forestry minister announced after deadly floods and landslides in northwestern Sumatra killed over 1,000 people. The latest revocations raise the total regulated forest area to about 1.5 million hectares following earlier cancellations in February. Environmentalists link widespread deforestation—driven by mining, plantations and fires—to increased vulnerability to flash floods and landslides; The TreeMap's Nusantara Atlas reports over 240,000 hectares of primary forest lost in 2024.
After Deadly Sumatra Floods, Indonesia Cancels 22 Forestry Permits Covering Over 1 Million Hectares
Uprooted trees swept away by a flash flood in Aceh Tamiang, Northern Sumatra (Yasuyoshi CHIBA)(Yasuyoshi CHIBA/AFP/AFP)
Indonesia will cancel 22 forestry permits covering more than one million hectares across the country, the forestry minister announced Monday, in the wake of deadly floods and landslides that devastated parts of northwestern Sumatra.
Environmentalists and experts have blamed large-scale forest loss for worsening flash floods and landslides that this month killed more than 1,000 people and sent torrents of mud into villages. Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni told reporters the newly revoked permits add to earlier cancellations, bringing the total regulated forest area to about 1.5 million hectares.
He said more than 100,000 hectares from the cancelled permits were located on Sumatra, but did not explicitly state that the revocations were a direct response to the recent disaster.
Raja Juli Antoni: "With the addition of another one million hectares today, around 1.5 million hectares of our forests have been regulated."
Forests play a critical role in absorbing heavy rainfall and stabilising soil with their root networks; where trees have been removed, slopes and watersheds become far more vulnerable to rapid runoff, flash floods and landslides.
Indonesia consistently ranks among countries with the largest annual forest losses. Over recent decades, mining, plantations and fires have driven the clearance of vast tracts of rainforest. Analysis by conservation start-up The TreeMap's Nusantara Atlas project found that more than 240,000 hectares of primary forest were lost in 2024 alone.
Raja has said the catastrophe is an opportunity to "evaluate our policies," warning that the "pendulum between the economy and ecology seems to have swung too far towards the economy and needs to be pulled back to the centre." The government has not yet outlined enforcement timelines or how the revoked permits will be managed or rehabilitated.
Local communities and environmental groups will be watching closely to see whether the permit cancellations lead to concrete restoration, stronger land-use oversight and measures to reduce future flood risk.
