RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) is preparing to refine the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation Number 8 of 2021 regarding the processing and marketing of forest products. This step is taken to accelerate downstream processing, increase the added value of forest resources, and strengthen the competitiveness of the national forest products industry amid the dynamics of global trade.

The refinement of the regulation is a follow-up to the implementation of Government Regulation Number 28 of 2025 and an effort to provide business certainty for forestry industry players. This policy is also expected to strengthen the governance of the forestry sector to be more adaptive, efficient, and sustainable.

The Secretary of the Directorate General of Sustainable Forest Management (PHL), Erwan Sudaryanto, said that Indonesia should not only be known as a country with vast tropical forests but also be able to optimize the potential of forest resources through downstream processing that provides economic benefits to the community.

"Indonesia should not only be known as the country with the largest tropical forests. Indonesia must become a country capable of managing its forest resources sustainably while transforming them into sources of economic growth, job creation, increased investment, and improved community welfare. This is the essence of downstreaming," Erwan said, quoted from the press release, Thursday, July 23, 2026.

According to Erwan, the paradigm of forestry development needs to shift from merely being a provider of raw materials to producing value-added products through innovative, competitive, and sustainable processing industries. He emphasized that forest sustainability is the main foundation for the forestry industry to continue developing.

The Director of Forest Product Processing and Marketing Development, Ade Mukadi, explained that the refinement of regulations is aimed at adjusting to the changes in authority following the issuance of Government Regulation Number 28 of 2025. In addition, the new regulations will strengthen the development of the legal forest product processing industry, enhance the effectiveness of reporting, monitoring, evaluation, and supervision to strengthen the governance of the forestry sector.

"We must implement good forest governance, from upstream to the market, to ensure a steady supply of raw materials and maintain forest sustainability," he conveyed.

Ade also emphasized that what is needed now is collaboration and a shared vision and mission for downstreaming as a modality in strengthening the forest product industry, so that the sunset of the forest product processing industry can be refuted.