Recognition of Customary Territories in Indonesia Remains Suboptimal as of March 2025

By March 2025, the Indigenous Customary Territory Registration Agency (BRWA) had registered 1,583 customary territories across Indonesia. The registered area of customary territories reached 32.3 million hectares (ha).

Compared to the achievements of local governments (pemda), there is a significant difference. According to BRWA, Indonesian local governments have only designated 302 customary territories covering 5.3 million ha.

This achievement, according to BRWA, indicates that the recognition of customary territories by local governments remains low. This is because only about 19.08% of the total customary territories registered with BRWA have been recognized.

According to BRWA, several factors contribute to the slow process of recognition of customary territories by local governments. These include the complexity of the conditional and hierarchical process, and the limited budget for the recognition of customary territories.

On the other hand, the small number of customary territories designated by local governments has the potential to create tenurial conflicts within these territories.

"Furthermore, a series of National Strategic Projects and land-based business permits that alter the landscape potentially threaten biodiversity, local food sources, and the culture of indigenous communities who have a close relationship with their living space on land, coast, and sea," said BRWA Head, Kasmita Widodo, in a statement.

In addition to the recognition of customary territories by local governments, according to BRWA, the designation of customary forests also falls short of expectations. Yet, there is Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/PUU-X/2012 (MK-35) which affirms that customary forests are no longer part of state forest areas, but part of the rights of indigenous communities.

"However, to date, the Ministry of Forestry has only designated 156 customary territories covering 322,505 ha as customary forests. Based on BRWA data, the potential for designated customary forests reaches 24.5 million ha," BRWA stated.