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View all search resultsCalls grow for broader Indigenous engagement in customary forest recognition
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People of the Gelar Alam indigenous community carry bundles of rice stalks in a procession during the Seren Taun harvest festival in Sukabumi, West Java, on Oct. 5, 2025. The annual ceremony expresses gratitude for the year's harvest and seeks blessings for harmony with nature and ancestors. (AFP/Aditya Aji)
T
he Ford Foundation has called on the government to expand its engagement with Indigenous communities as Indonesia moves forward with its pledge to recognize 1.4 million hectares of customary forests by 2029.
The organization warned that without wider consultations, some communities risk being sidelined from a pivotal initiative intended to secure land rights and reinforce community-driven forest governance.
At present, the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) represents communities on the Task Force for the Acceleration of Customary Forest Designation, alongside several nongovernmental organizations and academics.
But Ford Foundation Indonesia argues that AMAN’s involvement alone does not capture the full spectrum of Indigenous groups across the country.
“There are a number of other indigenous groups that are not members of AMAN,” said Farah Sofa, Program Officer at the Ford Foundation Indonesia. “Whatever the 1.4-million-hectare target will be in different parts of Indonesia, please make sure that [the government] consults and includes the Indigenous groups that exist in those particular areas.”
Read also: COP30: Turning Indonesia’s indigenous rights pledges into legal protections
AMAN currently represents over 2,500 member communities with an estimated 20 million people. The alliance, however, estimates that Indonesia may have between 50 million and 70 million Indigenous people across the archipelago.
