Meeting with CIRAD, Indonesia Improves Science-Based Forestry Cooperation

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Indonesia’s Minister of Forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, received an audience with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the French Agricultural Research for International Development (CIRAD), Elisabeth Claverie de Saint-Martin, in Jakarta on Tuesday, 3 February 2026. The meeting discussed follow-up actions to the Declaration of Intent (DoI) on Sustainable Forestry between Indonesia and France, signed on 28 May  2025.

Forestry cooperation under the DoI covers sustainable forest management and the development of deforestation-free sustainable plantations. Other areas include biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration, forest monitoring systems, social forestry, climate change mitigation, and the strengthening of joint positions in international forums.

During the meeting, Minister Raja Juli Antoni welcomed the continuation of technical cooperation between the Ministry of Forestry and CIRAD. He said the areas of cooperation are aligned with the ministry’s mandate, particularly in conservation, social forestry, and climate change.

The minister stated that the Social Forestry program could serve as an entry point for cooperation between the Ministry of Forestry and CIRAD. To date, community access to forest management through Social Forestry has reached 8.33 million hectares, involving 1.4 million decree recipients and the establishment of 16,754 Social Forestry Business Groups (KUPS).

“I hope that together we can establish a joint working group, which we can begin with Social Forestry and conservation,” Minister Antoni said. He added that the formation of a joint working group would foster technical coordination between the two sides.

The minister also expressed hope that cooperation with CIRAD would enrich technical and methodological perspectives. According to him, such cooperation could be realized through training, workshops, and limited-scale pilot activities.

Meanwhile, CIRAD CEO, Elisabeth Claverie de Saint-Martin, conveyed Indonesia’s tropical forests hold high strategic value. “Tropical forests such as those in Indonesia, the Congo Basin in Africa, and the Amazon Basin in the Americas have many values, not only conservation, but also agriculture through agroforestry,” she said.

In addition, Elisabeth added that agroforestry commodities such as cocoa have economic value and can grow under forest canopies. The meeting was also attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Forestry and representatives of the French Embassy in Indonesia, as part of a commitment to strengthening international cooperation in sustainable forestry.