Jakarta – The Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (Satgas PKH) is once again cracking down on forest areas that have been illegally used for mining activities. The Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia Coalition stresses that this crackdown will only be meaningful if it is carried through against all parties involved, conducted transparently and accountably, and ends with the area being restored as forest, not turned into a new mine.
Citing national media reports of November 4, 2026, Satgas PKH decided to take enforcement action against the illegal control and use of forest areas by companies affiliated with and/or controlled by businessman Arif Kurniawan (AK), including his network of related companies across Indonesia. The Attorney General’s Office confirmed that nickel is among the commodities within the crackdown’s scope. However, to date the Task Force has not announced the list of companies, the extent of the areas involved, or the details of the violations. This information is essential so that the public can monitor whether the crackdown truly reaches the entire network.
AK is a businessman who was profiled in a Bloomberg investigative report, “How a Reclusive Ex-Glencore Trader Became Indonesia’s Nickel King” (December 28, 2025). The report describes AK as one of the dominant players in the domestic nickel ore trade, with control over a number of nickel mining concessions across various production hubs. One of the companies linked to him is PT Dua Delapan Resources, a shareholder of PT Tonia Mitra Sejahtera. Since 2025, the civil society organization Satya Bumi has spotlighted this company over alleged deforestation in the protected forest of Kabaena Island, a small island that should be off-limits to mining.
In its study titled “Kabaena Volume II: Tracing the Entry Point of Destruction and the Network of Politically Exposed Persons,” Satya Bumi identified links between AK and a number of politically exposed persons (PEPs), including the wife of the Governor of Southeast Sulawesi and several retired police generals. The PWYP Indonesia Coalition urges Satgas PKH to confirm and announce whether these concessions, including those on Kabaena, fall within the scope of the crackdown.
The PWYP Indonesia Coalition considers completing the crackdown on illegal mining in forest areas a priority that cannot be delayed. The reason is not only the eradication of corruption, but also the urgent need to stop deforestation and the destruction of people’s living spaces, which continue to characterize the governance of Indonesia’s extractive sector.
Aryanto Nugroho, National Coordinator of PWYP Indonesia, said the crackdown must be measured by its commitment to environmental protection and to using resources for the greatest welfare of the people, not for the benefit of a handful of parties.
“Amid the climate crisis and the pace of deforestation, nickel wealth as a critical mineral is vulnerable to becoming an arena for elite interests. Its existence must not be used to justify new extractivist practices, including under the pretext of National Strategic Projects (PSN) or critical mineral allocation. Therefore, every act of reclaiming control must be absolutely oriented toward ecological restoration, not merely the seizure of assets or the transfer of concession management to state-owned enterprises (BUMN),” Aryanto stated.
The PWYP Indonesia Coalition also criticizes the mechanism for reclaiming control run by Satgas PKH under Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 5 of 2025 on the Enforcement of Forest Areas. In practice, the resolution of violations tends to stop at asset control and state revenue, while ecological restoration is not made a prerequisite. This pattern was visible in the earlier crackdown, when oil palm plantations seized in the operation were handed over for management to PT Agrinas.
“This mechanism opens the way for the area to be used and exploited again once control shifts from the previous offender to a BUMN, without making ecological restoration a prerequisite. As a result, the crackdown risks merely replacing the party that controls the area, rather than repairing the damage caused by mining,” Aryanto explained.
The significance of this case is also inseparable from the alleged involvement of PEPs and layered ownership structures, which the Task Force itself has acknowledged. Law enforcement must reach all parties involved, including beneficial owners, those who facilitate or protect the operations (backers), and the processing industry (smelters) that receives nickel ore from illegal mines. No party should benefit from the transfer of these areas other than the affected communities.
Meanwhile, regarding the legal process promised by the Task Force, Satgas PKH will collect administrative fines and reclaim control of assets based on examination results and prevailing laws and regulations. If indications of criminal acts are found, the cases will be handed over to law enforcement officials to be processed in accordance with applicable provisions.
Adzkia Farirahman (Azil), Researcher at PWYP Indonesia, cautioned that the imposition of administrative fines should not rely solely on the logic of safeguarding state revenue. Referring to Government Regulation (PP) No. 45 of 2024 on Procedures for the Imposition of Administrative Sanctions and Procedures for Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) Derived from Administrative Fines in the Forestry Sector, the fines collected by Satgas are counted as PNBP from administrative fines in the relevant sector, for example PNBP from the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) sector for mining activities.
“The core problem is the absence of a clear link between fine revenue and the financing of environmental restoration. PNBP from administrative fines could dissolve into general state revenue, because the PNBP regime provides no specific earmarking mechanism that binds the use of funds to particular restoration sites and plans. The government needs to lock these funds in through the Environmental Fund Management Agency (BPDLH) so that sanction funds genuinely flow to rehabilitating damaged ecosystems,” Azil explained.
Azil added that the fine formula also needs to be reformed so that it can truly restore forests and the environment to their original condition. The calculation must take into account the typology and ecological value of the area, its level of vulnerability, and the total cost of restoration, in line with the polluter pays principle.
- Based on these conditions, the PWYP Indonesia Coalition urges:
- Satgas PKH to periodically disclose verification results, the list of companies along with their beneficial owners, permits and locations, the extent of the areas, the amount of fines collected, and the status and management plan for each area subject to the crackdown.
- Satgas PKH and law enforcement officials to enforce the law thoroughly against all parties involved without exception, whether business actors, beneficial owners, officials who issue and supervise permits, those who facilitate or protect operations, or smelters that receive ore from illegal mines in the supply chain, including by tracing the flow of funds (follow the money).
- The Government to revise the mechanism for reclaiming control so that it does not become a gateway for transferring areas to BUMN to be operated again, before binding ecological restoration obligations are fulfilled and the results are independently verified and published.
- The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Forestry to impose a moratorium on new mining permits and operations at all sites undergoing the crackdown, until their status and ecological restoration are determined, with no exceptions for the pretext of National Strategic Projects (PSN) or critical mineral allocation.
- The Ministry of Forestry to designate areas recovered through the crackdown as forest areas that must be rehabilitated, involving affected communities in determining their status and restoration plans, and to publish the plans and progress openly.
- The Ministry of Finance to apply earmarking to PNBP from forestry administrative fines by locking it in to finance the rehabilitation and restoration of ecosystems in forest areas affected by illegal mining.
- The Government to refine the administrative fine formula by considering the characteristics of the area, the level of damage, biodiversity value, and the total cost of ecosystem restoration, in line with the polluter pays principle.
Contacts:
Aryanto Nugroho – aryanto@pwypindonesia.org
Adzkia Farirahman (Azil) – farirahman@pwypindonesia.org