Jakarta. Environment Minister Moh Jumhur Hidayat has vowed uncompromising action against environmental offenders, citing more than Rp 4.8 trillion ($266 million) in fines imposed on six companies over land damage affecting more than 2,500 hectares in North Sumatra earlier this year.

“There will be no more room for tolerance for corporations or any parties that profit at the expense of nature and local communities,” Jumhur said at the 2026 Environmental Experts Forum in Bali on Tuesday, referring to the government’s Tobat Ekologis (Ecological Repentance) initiative.

The forum brought together academics, researchers, legal practitioners and representatives of state institutions to discuss environmental challenges and enforcement.

Jumhur emphasized the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, noting that the consequences were increasingly visible in Indonesia through floods, severe landslides and deteriorating urban air quality.

He also warned that environmental crimes had become more organized and crossed regional boundaries, with offenders sometimes manipulating environmental monitoring data to evade accountability.

To counter increasingly sophisticated methods, Jumhur said environmental law enforcement must move beyond conventional approaches and rely on scientific evidence.

“Law without science will be blind, and science without law will be paralyzed. Nature cannot testify in court, rivers cannot file complaints, forests cannot sue, and coral reefs cannot pick up rubbish. Experts must be their voice,” he said, addressing professors and researchers at the forum.

The government is also shifting its enforcement strategy from a system focused on sanctions to one centered on solutions, Jumhur said. Under this approach, penalties and financial fines would not be the end of the process. Offenders would also be required to actively restore damaged ecosystems so that affected communities could benefit from the recovery.

“The measure of success is not merely a legally binding court ruling, but the return of clear rivers, green forests and the restoration of communities’ right to live,” Jumhur said.

He stressed that enforcement must also uphold integrity, warning that state power should not be abused to oppress or treat people unjustly. Instead, he said, environmental governance must be guided by wisdom and fairness in the interests of the nation.

The government plans to launch the National Ecological Repentance Movement, calling on individuals, corporations and regional administrations to acknowledge past environmental damage, stop destructive practices and commit to restoring Indonesia’s ecosystems for future generations.

The initiative is intended to reinforce the government’s commitment to holding environmental offenders accountable while making ecological restoration a central part of enforcement.

Add as a preferred source on Google +