Indonesia Weighs Legal Changes After Prabowo Labels Forest Arsonists 'Environmental Terrorists'

Forestry Bill offers a possible route

Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas said at Jakarta's Palace complex on October 21, 2026, that the government was considering legislation to address ecological terrorism. Presidential aides said the provisions could be added to existing legislation without creating a separate law.

Two days later, Alex Indra Lukman, deputy chair of Commission IV of Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR), identified the revision of Law No. 41 of 1999 on Forestry as a possible vehicle for Prabowo's proposal, Kompas.com reported.

Alex said Commission IV had finished the Forestry Bill's initial draft and the House's Legislative Body had completed its review to harmonize the bill with other regulations. Discussions with the government would follow once a Presidential Letter, known as a Surpres, appoints its representatives.

Prabowo promises investigations and license revocations

Prabowo delivered his warning at an October 21 cabinet meeting in Jakarta marking two years of the Prabowo-Gibran administration. He characterized deliberate forest burning as a crime against humanity, citing harm to the health of millions of people.

"Many corporations share responsibility, and the public has identified several individuals deliberately causing fires, which we can categorize as environmental terrorism," he said.

The president pledged to investigate everyone involved and said the response would go beyond routine measures. "We cannot treat this lightly. We will take massive action, and this time, I apologize; we can no longer act in a routine manner," he said.

Companies found guilty would lose their business licenses, Prabowo warned. He also said: "And for certain countries that tend to insult Indonesia, we will soon expose their companies."

The remarks followed an earlier directive on September 16. According to Indonesia's Cabinet Secretariat, Prabowo first advanced the eco-terrorism framing at a hybrid limited cabinet meeting at the Merdeka Palace. He instructed the Minister of State Secretary and the Minister of Law to review sanctions, asked the DPR to tighten the law and ordered the immediate revocation of regional regulations allowing land burning.

Fires and haze across the region

Reuters reported on September 17 that Indonesia was facing its most intense wildfires in 11 years amid "super El Niño" conditions. Borneo and Sumatra were the hardest-hit islands, while haze brought unhealthy air to Singapore and Malaysia.

Government figures put the area burned from January through July 2026 at 202,000 hectares. Environmental group YKAN estimated that fire damaged another 600,000 hectares in August.

Sanctions and criminal investigations

The Ministry of Forestry had already imposed administrative sanctions on 32 companies linked to forest and land fires by October 19, according to Kompas.id. The cases involved 12,926.74 hectares of burned land across seven provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Of those companies, 19 had their permits frozen and were required to restore 9,546.42 hectares. Five lost their business licenses, while eight were ordered to restore 2,211.19 hectares.

The ministry was also investigating 125 corporations and individuals over alleged forest-burning crimes as of that date, said Dwi Januanto Nugroho, its director general of law enforcement in forestry. Twelve individuals and one corporation had been named suspects, and two companies had been referred to the prosecutor's office for trial.

On October 21, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni announced that six companies in Central Kalimantan had their Forest Utilization Business Permits (PBPH) suspended over forest and land fires and would have to restore ecosystems. He said the concessions subject to suspension, revocation or restoration requirements covered 1,931,115 hectares across 32 concessions. That figure describes the concession area affected by the measures, rather than the area burned.