"Indonesia as a whole provides opportunities for the people to take part in every element of it (social forestry) within the scheme," she said.
Social forestry has opened opportunities for many parties after legal access was provided for the people, she noted.
These opportunities could not only be utilized by local residents in the upstream, such as farmers, but they could also be reached by people in the next layer, such as those involved in processing products, and opened access for exports, she said.
Within these various layers, stakeholders outside of the forestry sectors can get involved in the context of people's empowerment, prosperity improvement, and work opportunities, she added.
"This is where this opportunity or challenge is expected to be confronted by us all to realize an advanced and prosperous Indonesia," Rosdiana remarked.
Related news: Eight ha short of achieving social forestry program's target: Jokowi
Several steps have been taken by the ministry to open utilization access for the people, such as the use of goKUPS, an online integrated social forestry information system built for registration, monitoring, and evaluation, she informed.
As of January 1, 2022, the area under social forestry has reached 4.9 million hectares of the targeted 12.7 million hectares, she disclosed.
In response to this achievement, Environment and Forestry Ministry Siti Nurbaya has called for a larger effort so that the area under social forestry can reach the target.
Rosdiana emphasized that work support is very important. Collective work should be pushed by intensively involving several parties such as regional government officials, non-governmental organizations, and the community, she said.
Monitoring in the follow-up program is also important, she added.
This would encourage people living around forests to build their capability to enter the business aspect of social forestry, not just in agroforestry, but also in eco-tourism and bioenergy sectors, she said.
Related news: Government to improve social forestry program in 2019
Related news: Social forestry projects outside Java to continue: Senior Minister
Translator: Prisca Triferna, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
