Indonesia says 200,000 hectares of palm plantations to be made forests

Some 200,000 hectares of oil palm plantations found in areas designated as forests in Indonesia are expected to be returned to the state to be converted back into forests.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer and exporter, issued rules in 2020 to sort out the legality of plantations operating in areas that are supposed to be forests, aimed at fixing governance in the sector.
Officials said the measures were necessary as some companies have already been tending the land for years, although green groups have attacked the government for forgiving past forest encroachment.
According to the rules, companies have to submit paperwork and pay fines to obtain cultivating rights on their plantation by Nov. 2, 2023.
The forestry ministry secretary general said, while 3.3 million hectares of the country’s nearly 17 million hectares of palm plantation have been found in forests, only owners of plantations with a combined size of 1.67 million hectares have been identified.