Indonesia’s Peatland Agency Revival Faces a Land-Use Credibility Test

Jakarta, Indonesia, 29 September 2026 – Indonesia’s plan to establish a national peatland and mangrove management agency could strengthen the country’s response to land fires, but the proposed body faces a harder test than institutional design alone. The government says the agency will coordinate prevention and ecosystem management, including in six peat-rich provinces. Environmental groups have welcomed renewed attention while questioning whether restoration can succeed if conversion of fragile land continues elsewhere in policy and practice.

President Prabowo Subianto announced the plan after a roundtable with 22 researchers and other experts, according to official accounts. The proposed National Peatland and Mangrove Management Agency is intended to give prevention a stronger institutional home. The government has indicated that it should have adequate budget support for work in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan. Those details establish a direction, not yet a funded programme with published targets, staffing and enforcement powers.