Bandar Lampung. The Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Forestry Ministry have agreed to strengthen strategic cooperation in policy development, financial products, data exchange, expert support, and human resource capacity-building in both the financial services and forestry sectors. A concrete example of this partnership is the development of carbon economic value potential in Indonesia’s forestry areas.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by OJK Board of Commissioners Chairman Mahendra Siregar and Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni in Bandar Lampung, Lampung Province, on Friday. The signing was part of the Kick-off Introduction to the Development of Carbon Economic Value Potential in Social Forestry in Indonesia.

In his remarks, Mahendra stressed the importance of optimizing the economic value of carbon from forestry, particularly to ensure sustainability and forest conservation.

“The essence of today’s MoU is to improve financial literacy and education -- which means enhancing financial access or financing for sustainable forestry management. Most importantly, in the context of Lampung, it is aimed at developing social forestry,” Mahendra explained.

Meanwhile, Raja Juli said the agreement is expected to give social forestry farmers easier access to financing, enabling them to improve their livelihoods.

“The MoU between the Forestry Ministry and OJK covers eight areas of cooperation, but the most essential from our perspective is ensuring that farmers who already have access to forest areas under the social forestry scheme can also gain access to financing from banks,” Raja Juli said.

“Through this MoU, we hope banks and other private financial institutions will pay greater attention to social forestry farmers who have been granted management rights,” he added.

Lampung Deputy Governor Jihan Nurlela also attended the signing ceremony.

This MoU updates a previous cooperation agreement between OJK and the former Ministry of Environment and Forestry under the previous administration. The update reflects Presidential Regulation No. 139/2024 on the Structuring of Duties and Functions of State Ministries in the Merah Putih Cabinet for 2024–2029, which separated the functions of the Environment Ministry and the Forestry Ministry.

The MoU covers eight areas of cooperation, including:

1. Development of policy mixes between the financial services and forestry sectors;
2. Development of sustainable financial products, services, and infrastructure;
3. Provision of experts and resource persons in forestry and financial services;
4. Preparation of studies and/or research;
5. Provision, exchange, and/or utilization of data and information;
6. Improving financial literacy and inclusion in forestry areas;
7. Capacity and competence building of human resources;
8. Other areas of cooperation mutually agreed upon.

As part of the program, OJK officials also visited the Social Forestry site at Wan Abdul Rachman Grand Forest Park in Pesawaran Regency. Among those in attendance were Mahendra, Forestry Ministry Secretary-General Mahfudz, OJK Deputy Commissioner for Financial System Stability Agus Edy Siregar, Forestry Ministry’s Director of Social Forestry Business Development Catur Endah Prasetiani, OJK Head for South Sumatra Province Arifin Susanto, OJK Head for Lampung Province Otto Fitriandy, and Lampung Regional Revenue Agency Head Slamet Riyadi. They held direct dialogues with members of Social Forestry Business Groups (KUPS) and reviewed their leading commodities.

Another activity held was a National Seminar featuring speakers from OJK, the Forestry Ministry, the Lampung Provincial Government, and representatives of KUPS.

The seminar aimed to introduce the potential of Social Forestry Carbon Economic Value while strengthening public understanding that carbon commodities can go hand in hand with existing forestry-based products.

By signing this MoU, OJK and the Forestry Ministry reaffirmed their commitment to promoting sustainable forestry development with the support of the financial services sector. The introduction of carbon economic value potential in social forestry areas is expected to serve as a milestone in creating a green, inclusive financial ecosystem that improves community welfare while preserving the environment.