“The government will continue to reinforce social forestry as a national strategy to create jobs, improve welfare, and preserve forests,” Marzuki said in a statement released in Jakarta.
He noted that Indonesia’s social forestry program has covered around 8.3 million hectares and benefited more than 1.4 million households nationwide.
In Maluku province, authorities have issued 171 social forestry permits spanning some 240 thousand hectares, involving over 33 thousand households.
These efforts have fostered 533 Social Forestry Business Groups (KUPS), generating an estimated Rp3.85 billion ($237,000) in economic transactions this year, he said.
Maluku has also launched its first exports of non-timber forest products, shipping 30 tonnes of damar resin worth Rp570 million to India and 15 tonnes of nutmeg worth Rp1.5 billion to China via Surabaya's Yos Sudarso port.
The products came from community-managed forests in Rambatu, Morella, Tawanesiwa, Soribang and Hutumuri.
The exports have created new jobs, including for 36 local women employed in nutmeg sorting, each earning between Rp2.5 million and Rp3 million per month.
Marzuki said the initiative marked a new chapter in forest management in Maluku, showing that economic, ecological and social benefits can go hand in hand in pursuit of a national green economy.
“Maluku is expected to become an example of how forests can be managed sustainably by indigenous communities,” he added.
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Translator: Arnidhya Nur Zhafira, Martha Herlinawati Simanjunt
Editor: Primayanti
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