The Law Protection of Indigenous Forest Areas in the Tanjung Putting

Indonesia is known as the country with the largest tropical forest in the world with an area of 111.5 million hectares (ha). The largest forest is located in Papua with 38.2 million ha. This is followed by Kalimantan with 36.5 million ha, Sumatra with 22.8 million ha, Sulawesi with 11 million ha, and Java with 3 million ha. Indigenous peoples have a major contribution in preserving the country's forests. This is because 57 million ha or equivalent to 51.1 per cent of forests are managed by indigenous peoples. In fact, 40 million hectares of them are very well preserved. For this contribution, carbon storage in the soil in 785 Indonesian indigenous territories in 2019 reached 3.99 billion tonnes per ha. The standing and rooting carbon values were 1.18 billion and 0.368 billion tonnes per ha, respectively. Indigenous Peoples also manage nature according to customary values responsibly. For example, they do not cut down trees carelessly, as an effort to conserve forests and prevent natural disasters.