VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya said that 14.3 million hectares of river basin areas in Indonesia are in critical condition and need rehabilitation  

"Indonesia has 17,076 river basin areas spanning over 189 million hectares, of which 14.3 million hectares are in critical condition and must be handled and replanted," she said during a discussion on the rehabilitation of river basin areas to restore the environment and improve the public economy on Monday.

Human activities will play a role in changing the natural landscape, turning it into a more critical land if recovery, reclamation, and rehabilitation efforts are not made, she added.

Indonesia now has about 592,000 hectares of open land in 349 districts/cities. This led the areas to deplete and become critical, leading to natural disasters such as erosion, flood, landslide, and drought, the minister said.

The rehabilitation of river basin areas is a part of efforts to restore the environment and has become the development agenda of President Joko Widodo to achieve a good quality environment, which is the right of the Indonesian people, under Article 28H of the 1945 Constitution, Siti said.

Other than the central and regional governments, owners of forest area utilization permits (IPPKH) are also obliged to rehabilitate river basin areas, she added.

Rehabilitation efforts during the pandemic will not only benefit the environment but also encourage the local economy by engaging the people in rehabilitation activities, the minister said.

Siti Nurbaya said that 1,039 owners are still active over 500,131 hectares of land for various purposes, including 669 ownerships for mining totaling to 445,953 hectares area, and 370 ownerships for non-mining, covering 10,993 hectares.

The minister lauded the rehabilitation efforts by private companies and encouraged other parties to follow the same step. (Antaranews)