According to the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), the floods and landslides that hit several provinces on Sumatra Island at the end of November 2025 were influenced by fragile environmental conditions due to extractive industries.
"The consecutive floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra over the past week are not merely ordinary hydrometeorological disasters, but symptoms of a spatial planning crisis on Sumatra Island," Jatam said in a press release (28/11/2025).
"This situation can no longer be explained solely by the narrative of 'extreme weather,' but must be understood as a direct consequence of the damage to upstream ecosystems and watersheds caused by extractive industries," they stated.
According to Jatam, many forest areas on Sumatra Island have been converted from protected functions into extractive industry land through the Forest Area Utilization Approval (PPKH) scheme.
PPKH is a permit from the government for the use of forest areas for development outside of forestry activities.
Jatam found that there are currently at least 271 PPKH permits on Sumatra Island, with a total area of 53,769.48 hectares (ha).
The largest PPKH area was granted for mining, totaling 38,206.46 ha, equivalent to 71% of the total PPKH area on Sumatra Island.
Below are the details of the number of PPKH permits or forest area utilization permits on Sumatra Island, and the area of forest land used for the extractive industry sector:
- Mining: 66 permits, covering 38,206.46 ha
- Oil and gas: 51 permits, covering 4,823.87 ha
- Geothermal: 11 permits, covering 436.92 ha
- Other energy projects: 72 permits, covering 3,758.68 ha
"The remainder was granted for telecommunications, government, and various other purposes," Jatam said.