PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA — Indonesia’s Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), Nusron Wahid, presented new findings on efforts to improve palm oil industry governance during a working meeting with Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) on Monday (September 8, 2025), monitored by Palmoilmagazine.com.
Based on checks conducted with the Forest Area Compliance Task Force (Satgas PKH), as many as 537 palm oil companies holding Plantation Business Licenses (IUP) were found to be operating without Land Use Rights (HGU).
“In the past, palm oil companies could operate with just an IUP. But since 2017, regulations changed—HGU is now mandatory. This shift in regulation has brought back old issues that we are now reorganizing,” Nusron explained.
Also Read: Minister Nusron Wahid Reveals 57 Customary Land Certificates Issued, Still Far from National Target
Of the 537 companies, 200 have since secured land rights. However, overlay mapping with Satgas PKH revealed that 33 entities, covering 3,619.6 hectares, were located within forest areas. Meanwhile, 167 were declared clean and clear, as their concessions aligned with designated non-forest land.
Another 196 companies are still in the process of applying for HGU. Among these, 31 entities were found to be operating in forest zones covering 80,822.6 hectares. Ninety-one entities were confirmed compliant, 74 remain inconclusive, and six could not be analyzed due to incomplete shapefile data.
In addition, 141 companies have not applied for HGU at all. “If you ask whether this 80,000 hectares is part of the 3.2 million hectares previously announced by the President, I emphasize that this is additional. These findings only emerged after the President’s speech—so it’s an extra confirmation,” Nusron clarified.
In total, ATR/BPN recorded 64 entities operating within forest areas, covering 84,442.2 hectares. Nusron said further handling of these companies will be fully handed over to Satgas PKH. (P2)
