Jakarta. Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya recently addressed the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum, saying that Indonesia’s deforestation had been witnessing a decline. 

A Norway-facilitated analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI), the University of Maryland, and the Forestry Ministry revealed that Indonesia’s deforestation rate reached 0.13 million hectares per year in 2022-2023.

“The WRI review confirms that the rate of deforestation in Indonesia, under President Jokowi's leadership, is the lowest in history, surpassing other countries,” Siti told the forum, as reported by a recent press statement. 

Indonesia also vowed to achieve the carbon emission reduction targets under the nationally determined contribution (NDC). Siti said that Indonesia had taken a “systematic and integrated” approach when managing its natural resources and climate action initiatives. This includes having 15 climate action groups as stated in the FOLU (forestry and other land use) net sink 2030 operational plan.

"This plan is legally binding, not just a commitment on paper," Siti said. 

According to Siti, Indonesia's emissions reductions reached 47.3 percent in 2020, 43.8 percent in 2021, and 41.6 percent in 2022 compared to the annual baseline. This is close to the government’s NDC target of 43.2 percent with international and distant cooperation exceeding the national capacity target of 31.89 percent. 

Since the signing of the new memorandum of understanding (MoU) in September 2022, the Norwegian government has provided a results-based contribution of $156 million to support FOLU Net Sink 2030 in Indonesia. 

"Nevertheless, most of the financing needed to meet the 2030 FOLU Net Sink target still comes from our state budget," Siti said.

Siti added that Indonesia had succeeded in controlling forest fires during the recent prolonged El Nino period. Indonesia also pledged that it would make sure that the FOLU Net Sink 2030 climate target remains on track.

Under Jokowi’s administration, the area legally distributed to local and traditional communities through the social forestry agenda has increased 18 times compared to the previous government, and is projected to exceed 20 times by the end of October, according to Siti. 

The minister thanked the Norwegian government for its partnership as well as other international partners for the partnership on environment and sustainable forestry.