Seized from forest violators, returned to the forest: 120,000 hectares go back to the trees

Indonesia's forest task force — military personnel, prosecutors and environmental regulators — has seized 6.2 million hectares of land since early 2025 from companies and individuals accused of breaking forest-use rules. On October 6 it handed over nearly 260,000 more hectares to the forestry ministry, of which nearly 120,000 hectares of protected and conservation forest will be reforested rather than exploited. Alongside the land, the task force handed over 13.24 trillion rupiah (about $740 million) in taxes and fines to the finance ministry. Enforcement that ends in trees, not just fines — the forest itself gets its land back.