Minister Nusron Wahid Reveals 57 Customary Land Certificates Issued, Still Far from National Target

PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA — Indonesia’s Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), Nusron Wahid, announced that by 2025 the government has issued 57 customary land certificates (Areal Penggunaan Lain/APL) on behalf of 18 Indigenous community groups, covering a total of 987.4 hectares.

However, he admitted the achievement remains far from the government’s target. Nusron called for broader support to encourage Indigenous communities to register their customary lands to secure legal protection.

“This is still far from what we expect. That’s why we need collective support so that Indigenous communities truly want to register their lands for certification,” he said during a working meeting with Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), monitored by Palmoilmagazine.com on Monday (September 8, 2025).

Also Read: 59 Hectares of Illegal Oil Palm Cleared in Gunung Leuser National Park as Government Begins Forest Restoration

The issuance of APL certificates is permanent, serving as formal recognition and legal protection for customary land managed by Indigenous communities.

National Target Context
According to data compiled by InfoSAWIT, the registration of customary land by BPN is part of the Complete Systematic Land Registration (PTSL) program. Under the Ministry of ATR/BPN’s strategic plan, all land parcels in Indonesia—including customary land—are targeted to be certified by 2025, with a national target of 126 million parcels.

Currently, more than 117 million parcels have been registered, a significant leap compared to just 46 million parcels recorded in 2017.

In addition, through the recently launched “Gemapatas 2025” program, ATR/BPN aims to complete the certification of 14.4 million hectares of land that remain uncertified under the APL and non-forest schemes.

Specifically regarding customary land, progress has been very limited. For example, in West Sumatra, Antara reported that only 10 out of 426 parcels of customary land have been certified—just 0.02 percent. The government has pledged to intensify outreach to ensure the 100 percent customary land certification target is achieved by 2025. (P2)