"All economic activities can be carried out in forest areas as long as they are still acceptable for the local community and sustainable in terms of the ecology," the ministry's Director General of Sustainable Forest Management Agus Justianto said.
He conveyed the statement at a seminar on the 2024 National Press Day in Jakarta on Sunday.
In his remarks, Julianto said that economic, social, and ecological interests should not collide with each other. Ideally, he added, all interests must be accommodated.
He pointed out that good environmental management is needed to ensure the harmony of those three aspects without sacrificing any of them.
"KLHK has and will continue to improve development in the environment and forestry sectors that uphold the sustainability principle with the environmental, social, and governance or ESG pillars," he said.
It is deemed essential for natural resource utilization operational policies to be implemented by maintaining the fulfillment of people's constitutional rights to a sustainable nature, Julianto said.
To this end, development in the environment and forestry sectors is needed to ensure sustainable development to take place, he said.
He noted that one of the measures that the government had taken was issuing Government Regulation Number 46 of 2017 on Environmental Economic Instruments.
"The Environmental Economic Instruments include a series of economic policies that are aimed at encouraging the government, regional governments, or every individual to pay attention to preservation of environmental functions," he remarked.
Those instruments are part of efforts to prevent environmental damage and pollution, the director general said.
He also emphasized that the regulation is an initial foundation to ensuring the aspects of planning, supervision, and control for environmentally friendly economic activities.
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Translator: Prisca Triferna, Raka Adji
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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