business

Minister Nusron Revokes The Palm Oil Plantation Certificate In Tesso Nilo National Park

The Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ATR)/Head of the National Land Agency (BPN) Nusron Wahid has confirmed the immediate revocation of the plantation certificates for palm oil lands that are suspected to be illegal within the Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN) area in Riau.

This revocation is necessary as the palm oil plantation land has been proven to be located within a forest area designated as the habitat for Sumatran elephants.

"We will revoke (the certificates), if it is a forest area, we will revoke the certificates," Nusron stated when asked about this matter following a working meeting with Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Nusron indicated that his team will not wait for the re-verification process, as the location check has already been conducted and the results indicate a violation.

"We will revoke the certificate after further verification," he stated.

This decisive action reflects the commitment of the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) to protect conservation areas and regulate illegal land use.

Nevertheless, Nusron did not provide additional details regarding the matter; however, he emphasized that the palm oil plantation certificate in Tesso Nilo National Park would be revoked promptly.

Previously, the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) assured that no illegal activities would be tolerated in the Tesso Nilo National Park area (TNTN), Pelalawan Regency, Riau Province, and remains steadfast in its efforts to protect this conservation area.

"We reiterate that there is no tolerance for illegal activities in the conservation area. Firm actions will continue to be taken to restore, protect, and manage the Tesso Nilo National Park," stated the Director of Conservation Areas of the Directorate General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation (KSDAE) of the Ministry of Forestry, Sapto Aji Prabowo, in Jakarta on Wednesday (June 11).

He stated that the government is consistently implementing various decisive and comprehensive measures to protect the conservation area, which serves as a vital habitat for key wildlife such as the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) and the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica).

Previously, Tesso Nilo was designated as a Limited Production Forest and an Industrial Plantation Forest, which was later established as a National Park in 2004, now covering an area of 81,793 hectares (ha).

This area holds significant value as a representative of lowland forest ecosystems rich in biodiversity and is one of the last strongholds for rare species in Sumatra.

However, he noted that the area is facing serious challenges. Of the total area, only about 24 percent or approximately 19,000 ha remains forested, while the rest has been converted into open land dominated by settlements and illegal palm oil plantations. This situation violates the provisions of Law Number 5 of 1990 in conjunction with Law Number 32 of 2024, which prohibits alterations to the integrity of conservation areas.

To address this issue, the government has taken and continues to implement concrete measures, including integrated law enforcement. Joint operations with law enforcement agencies have led to actions against illegal logging perpetrators and encroachers, which include arrests of offenders, demolition of illegal structures, confiscation of heavy machinery, and destruction of illegal palm oil plantations.

On another note, the Attorney General's Office (Kejagung) through the PKH Task Force has reported that it is investigating allegations of violations concerning the existence of land ownership certificates in the Tesso Nilo National Park, which is entirely a protected forest area.

Additionally, on Tuesday (June 10), enforcement actions were carried out in that area against various illegal activities such as house construction, land clearing, palm oil planting, livestock maintenance, and forest burning.

---

Tag: ATR BPN Nusron Wahid Tesso Nilo National Park