West Java's Protected Areas Shrink by 1.2 Million Hectares, Says Environment Minister

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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Minister of Environment Hanif Faisol has stated that West Java has lost approximately 1.2 million hectares of protected areas since 2010. According to Hanif, these protected areas initially covered 1.6 million hectares in 2010.

"By 2022, only 400,000 hectares remained in the upstream region for six major river basins in West Java," Hanif told Tempo at his office on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.

Presidential Regulation Number 3 of 2022 defines protected areas as designated zones with the primary function of preserving environmental sustainability, including both natural and artificial resources.

Hanif attributed the extensive loss of protected areas in West Java to dramatic spatial planning changes. "Although spatial planning changes require a strategic environmental impact assessment prepared by the Ministry of Environment," he noted.

According to him, spatial planning policies should refer to the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment as a basis for norms and legal grounds. However, the request to maintain the function of upstream protected areas was disregarded, prompting the Ministry of Environment to demand a return to the status quo or a halt to further construction. The change in function, he emphasized, is a major contributing factor to the recent severe floods in Bekasi.

"Currently, we have taken action against 33 operational cooperation agreements (KSO) in the area owned by PT Perkebunan Nusantara connected to the Ciliwung River Basin," Hanif stated.

In the future, Hanif said that the ministry will also address spatial planning changes in the upstream regions of the Pesanggrahan, Kali Bekasi, Cisadane, and Cimandiri River Basins. "The spatial planning changes in the Cimandiri River Basin have resulted in the deaths of dozens of people in Sukabumi," he pointed out.

Previously, the Environment Ministry revealed that a key cause of the Bekasi floods was the lack of vegetation in the Bekasi River Basin. Sigit Reliantoro, Deputy for Environmental Planning and Sustainable Natural Resources, stated that only 3.35 percent of the total 145,952-hectare area of the Bekasi River Basin remains vegetated.

"There are 56 affected villages in the Bekasi River Basin, Cikeas, Cileungsi, and 25 affected villages in the Bekasi River Basin, Cikarang," he said at a press conference at his office on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. This data is based on calculations from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

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