Government to restructure mining permits in forest areas
Tuesday, April 21 2026 - 08:33 AM WIB
By Cepi Setiadi
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the government will proceed with the restructuring of mining business permits (IUPs) located within forest areas, particularly those that have yet to secure forest borrow-and-use permits (IPPKH).
Speaking to reporters on Monday (April 20), Bahlil said the move follows a directive from the President to bring mining activities in forest areas into compliance.
“With regard to the restructuring of IUPs as instructed by the President, this will be specifically focused on permits located within forest areas, including protected forests, conservation forests, nature reserves, national parks, limited production forests and convertible forests that do not yet have IPPKH. These are the ones that will be subject to restructuring,” he said.
Read also: Prabowo orders review, revocation of problematic mining permits in forest areas
He explained that IUPs already operating within forest areas and holding valid IPPKH or other legal basis will not be subject to evaluation.
Instead, the government will focus on permits that have yet to meet the required regulatory framework.
“For those within forest areas that already have IPPKH or other applicable legal provisions, they will not be evaluated as the permits are already in place. However, areas that do not yet have IPPKH will be included in the evaluation,” Bahlil said.
He added that the evaluation results have been reported to the President and will be announced in due course.
Bahlil noted that the restructuring will cover all mining commodities, including nickel, coal, gold, bauxite, silica sand and tin. He also revealed that the total number of IUPs in Indonesia currently exceeds 4,000 permits, approaching 5,000. “All mining commodities—nickel, coal, gold, bauxite, silica sand, tin—everything is included. The total number of IUPs is more than 4,000, close to 5,000,” he said.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak