Govt Commits to Support Conservation for Orangutan in Samboja

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesian Minister of Transmigration, M. Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara, has pledged support for environmental conservation by providing legal certainty for 500 hectares of transmigration land to be designated as the Samboja Lestari conservation area in Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan.

Minister Iftitah said the measure aims to strengthen the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation’s conservation work, which has continued for more than two decades. He described the move as a transformation of transmigration policy toward regional development that supports environmental preservation and sustainable development.

“While transmigration was once perceived as environmentally unfriendly, we have transformed it into a program that is highly environmentally friendly,” Minister Iftitah said in a written statement in Jakarta on Monday, June 15, 2026.

He explained that between 1988 and 1993 the area was open land and alang-alang grassland. At that time, the local administration and communities offered the land to the central government for a transmigration program.

A total of 221 households were placed in Desa Tani Bhakti and received Certificates of Land Ownership (SHM), covering nearly 500 hectares of a roughly 2,500-hectare Transmigration Land Management Right (HPL).

Over time, most of the remaining HPL, about 2,000 hectares, came under community control and was later sold to the BOS Foundation, which restored the area as a conservation zone.

“Through the forest conservation program, by 2020 we could see from the observation tower that tree cover had grown significantly. Where once there were only one to two trees per hectare, it has returned to forest,” said Minister Iftitah.

She noted that the results of the restoration are visible that Samboja Lestari has become a forested area and habitat for protected wildlife, including 110 orangutans and 76 sun bears.

However, when the BOS Foundation applied to extend its right-to-use certificate in 2024, an issue arose over land status. Part of the area managed by BOS Foundation was found to lie on HPL still owned by the Ministry of Transmigration.

“It turned out that the National Land Agency said it could not grant the entire 1,800 hectares because around 500 hectares belong to the Ministry of Transmigration,” she said.

In response, the Ministry of Transmigration said it stands ready to provide full support so that the conservation activities carried out for years can continue.

“With strong commitment, we will give full support to the BOS Foundation so they can maintain and preserve the natural environment in Tani Bhakti,” he added.

The government is currently studying legal options that would secure long-term management of the area. One option under consideration is granting a right-to-use title to the BOS Foundation.

BOS Foundation’s Regional Manager for East Kalimantan, Aldrianto Priadjati, welcomed the ministry’s support. He said the collaboration is an important step to ensure the sustainability of an area restored over more than 20 years.

“We transformed about 1,800 hectares of degraded alang-alang grassland back into forest over these 20 years. With more than 473 different tree species, 40 percent of them are fruit trees for wildlife,” said Aldrianto. (Annaila Azzahra-EN)