Nationally the Highest, Sumatra Has 8 Provinces with Registered Customary Territories

As of August 9, 2022, 29 provinces and 142 regencies/cities in Indonesia have registered customary territories, according to the Indigenous Customary Territory Registration Agency (BRWA). A total of 1,119 customary territory maps have been registered, covering an area of 20.7 million hectares.

Sumatra has the highest number of provinces with registered customary territories, with 8 provinces: Aceh, Bengkulu, Lampung, Jambi, Riau, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, and South Sumatra.

Following Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara have 7 provinces with registered customary territories: Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara.

Kalimantan and Sulawesi each have the next highest number of provinces with registered customary territories, with 5 provinces each.

In Kalimantan, the registered provinces are West Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan. In Sulawesi, they are Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi.

Maluku and Papua have the fewest provinces with registered customary territories, with only 4: Papua, West Papua, Maluku, and North Maluku.

Although Sumatra has the most provinces with registered customary territories, it does not have the largest area of customary forests in Indonesia. Maluku and Papua have the largest area of registered customary territories, covering 8.8 million hectares.

Kalimantan has 7.6 million hectares of registered customary territory, Sumatra 2 million hectares, and Sulawesi 1.6 million hectares. Java-Bali-Nusa Tenggara has the smallest area of registered customary territory, with only 600,000 hectares.

Customary territory refers to customary land encompassing land, water, and/or waters, along with the natural resources thereon, with specific boundaries, owned, utilized, and preserved generationally and sustainably to meet the needs of the community. This is inherited from their ancestors or through claims of ownership such as ulayat land or customary forests. This definition is stated in Article 1, paragraph 23 of the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation Number 9 of 2021.