30 Sep 2014
THIRD AMENDMENT TO REGULATION NO. P.33/MENHUT-II/2010 REGARDING MANNER AND PROCEDURE FOR THE RELEASE OF CONVERTIBLE PRODUCTION FOREST AREAS

The Minister of Forestry (“Minister”) has issued Regulation No. P.28/Menhut-II/2014, which amends for the third time the above captioned Regulation No. P.33/Menhut-II/2010. The amending regulation (“Regulation No. 28/2014”) has the purpose of speeding up the process of the release of a convertible production forest area.

In line with its purpose, Regulation No. P.28/2014 simplifies the procedure for the application for a forest area release, which must now be submitted only to the Minister with no requirement to send a carbon copy to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Forestry, the Director General of Forest Planology and the Director General of Forestry Business Development as required under the previous Regulation No. P.33/Menhut-II/2010. This regulation also provides shorter timelines for acceptance and rejection of the applications.

However, Regulation No. 28/2014 adds a new requirement to the administrative requirements stipulated in the previous regulation. The Statement of Undertaking in a notarial deed form which must be submitted by the applicants now has an additional point, to the effect that the applicant concerned undertakes to build a community garden in the forest surrounding, of an area of at least 20% of the released forest area. The community garden may be cultivated by the respective company as a plantation. (by: Pakerti Wicaksono Sungkono)