Indonesia seizure of illegal plantations and transfer to Agrinas Palma
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
In 2025 an Indonesian task force said it had reclaimed about 3.4 million hectares of plantations in forest areas and handed about 1.5 million hectares to the company Agrinas Palma. A research centre disputed how much of the first area was palm oil.
Task force figure, 2025; about 1.5 million ha handed to Agrinas Palma.
Status As of October 2026: the Attorney General's Office corruption investigation into the plantation programme, opened October 2024, has no reported outcome in the sources reviewed.
What happened
A 2020 law gave palm plantations in forest areas a route to legal status. By May 2024, 822 billion rupiah had been collected from 241 companies, and in October 2024 the Attorney General's Office opened a corruption investigation into the programme. Fines were calculated on a simplified timber value of 25.7 cubic metres per hectare.
A table of the programme lists 3.37 million hectares of palm in forest areas, and a ministry estimate of 2,130 eligible plantations on 2.1 million hectares. Fines were set at 5 to 15 million rupiah per hectare, which the table gives as roughly 350 to 1,000 US dollars.
In 2025 the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (Satgas PKH) said it had reclaimed about 3.4 million hectares and transferred about 1.5 million hectares to Agrinas Palma. The research centre Pustaka Alam said that, of the first 833,413 hectares, 61% was palm and about 614,235 hectares were smallholder plantations.
- 2020Omnibus law articles 110A and 110B provide a route to legal status for palm plantations in forest areas
- 2024822 billion rupiah collected from 241 companies by May; Attorney General's Office opens corruption investigation in October
- 2025Task force says about 3.4 million ha reclaimed and about 1.5 million ha handed to Agrinas Palma; Pustaka Alam disputes the composition of the first 833,413 ha
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
How it looked
Shown
- About 3.4 million hectares reclaimed; about 1.5 million hectares transferred to Agrinas Palma.Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (Satgas PKH), 2025 · InfoSawit
Recorded
- Pustaka Alam said that of the first 833,413 ha, 61% was palm and about 614,235 ha were smallholder plantations.
- By May 2024, 822 billion rupiah had been collected from 241 companies under the plantation programme.
- In October 2024 the Attorney General's Office opened a corruption investigation into the programme.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- satgas-pkh (2025): Said it had reclaimed about 3.4 million ha and handed about 1.5 million ha to Agrinas Palma. · InfoSawit
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2024-10–OngoingCorruption investigation into the forest-area plantation programmeAttorney General's Office · Criminal · Attorney General's Office → Not named in the sources reviewed
The Attorney General's Office opened a corruption investigation into the programme in October 2024.
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Figures
- Insufficient Smallholder area ha: Pustaka Alam claim for the first 833,413 ha.
Accounts
- Disputed How much of the area reclaimed was palm oil plantation and how much was smallholder land?
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: under articles 110A and 110B of the 2020 omnibus law, plantations with a local permit could pay an administrative fine and gain permanent legal status, while those with no permit could pay a fine and operate for one more crop cycle, up to 15 years.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: plantations in protected forests and conservation forests were excluded from the amnesty.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the seized land was not returned to forest and only its owner changed.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Agrinas Palma is a state-owned company.
- None on record The sources reviewed give no ecological assessment of the reclaimed land.
Did the harm stop?
The sources reviewed do not say whether any forest loss stopped as a result of the seizures.
Who paid?
Pustaka Alam said about 614,235 hectares of the first 833,413 hectares were smallholder plantations.
Sources
Press and investigations
Connected cases
- Indonesia's palm garden amnesty collected 822 billion rupiah by May 2024 Indonesia · 2020
- Attorney General's Office of Indonesia (Public authority) — here: Investigating authority; there: Opened corruption investigation into the programme