Maretha Uli, Jakarta – One year into President Prabowo Subianto's administration, environmental watchdogs warn of a deepening ecological crisis fueled by elite business interests and an expanding military role in natural resource management.
They argue that policies increasingly favor corporate and political elites, while military involvement in forest governance has legitimized repression of local and Indigenous communities defending their land.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) noted that Indonesia's ecological degradation stems not just from natural causes but also from entrenched "oligarchic control", in which a handful of business groups dominate mining and plantation concessions, and "militaristic practices" that grant the Indonesian Military (TNI) sweeping authority over environmental enforcement.
Corporations now control roughly 10 million hectares of mining land, with nearly half held by just 55 business groups. This concentration of control intensified following the revision of the 2009 Mining Law, which allows the government to issue mining permits to mass organizations and cooperatives, entities WALHI says often disregard ecological justice and communities' right to land.
WALHI also warned that the amended TNI Law, which expands the military's civilian roles, has legitimized coercive measures in forest and land management.
Earlier this year, Prabowo issued Presidential Regulation No. 5/2025 on Forest Area Management, creating a new task force headed by the defense minister, the TNI commander and the attorney general. Critics caution that the move further militarizes environmental governance and risks repressing communities defending their land.
"The government's capitalist economic approach continues to place people and the environment under threat," WALHI national executive director Boy Jerry Even Sembiring said last week, adding that the situation was "exacerbated by repressive and militaristic measures".
Indigenous rights under pressure
In Papua, WALHI's local chapter gave a "red card" to the administration for sidelining Indigenous Papuans in national strategic projects (PSN) for food estates. These projects, they say, have displaced communities and imposed non-native crops that erode cultural identity and local food systems.
"The military approach has been deeply felt by indigenous communities, who are forced to surrender their land, harming those who have strong cultural and traditional ties to the forest [...] and consequently making them lose local food sources," WALHI Papua executive director Maikel Primus Pauki said.
Similar tensions persist in Sulawesi as WALHI reported a rise in criminalization cases involving local land defenders, from 119 last year to 156 this year, as nickel mining and plantation expansion continue.
"The oligarchic and militaristic model [...] benefits a few elites while punishing those who resist," WALHI Southeast Sulawesi director Andi Rahman said.
The climate crisis has also worsened because of emissions released from forest and land fires. Although the government has established a forest and land fire coordinating management team, WALHI recorded fires in 27 provinces as of mid-2025, including Central and South Kalimantan, where deforestation has surged by tens of thousands of ha.
"Deforestation in Kalimantan has increased because of numerous extractive permits for mining and oil palm plantations [...] yet the government has been very slow to respond," said WALHI South Kalimantan executive director Raden Rafiq, adding that authorities often blame natural causes instead of reviewing operations.
Meanwhile, the government reported progress, citing a reduction in burned areas from 375,805 ha in 2024 to 213,985 ha in 2025. Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni credited "President Prabowo's concern" and pledged strict action against those responsible.
Prosperity for whom?
The Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA) criticized the administration for failing to narrow Indonesia's land ownership gap, with 58 percent of land controlled by only 1 percent of the population, a disparity that has contributed to ecological degradation.
"In the hands of big business, large scale concessions and palm oil plantations operate on a massive, exploitative scale, causing severe environmental damage. But when managed by indigenous peoples and farmers, the environmental impact is almost nonexistent," KPA secretary-general Dewi Kartika said last week.
She added that Prabowo's pledge to manage natural resources for public prosperity has instead favored state-owned enterprises (SOEs) over local communities.
Indonesia remains a top greenhouse gas emitter, largely because of land-use changes, including mining and agricultural plantations. Illegal mining has surged, with Auriga Nusantara reporting a 20-fold increase in unlicensed gold mining between 2021 and 2023, totaling 7,232 hectares in 2023.
The Forestry Ministry acknowledged that most land and forest damage this year has stemmed from human activity, and has sanctioned dozens of illegal concessions.
Lukita Awang Nistyantara, the ministry's secretary-general for law enforcement, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by The Jakarta Post on Monday.