JAKARTA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry on Wednesday said it has set a target to achieve land degradation neutrality across 12.3 million hectares by 2030, trying to balance soil depletion with restoration efforts.
"Indonesia is committed to achieving land degradation neutrality, meaning there is a balance between degraded land and restored land. Our target is to reach around 12.3 million hectares by 2030," Dyah Murtiningsih, the ministry's director general of watershed management and forest rehabilitation, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Achieving that goal requires scaling up extensive forest and land rehabilitation programs, driven by widespread reforestation both within and beyond forest zones, Murtiningsih said.
Also on Wednesday, Indonesian Deputy Minister of Forestry Rohmat Marzuki called for fast-tracking the peatland ecosystem restoration initiative, citing it as a tangible move to restore the ecological functions of degraded lands.
Official data showed that Indonesia had restored more than 2 million hectares of degraded land by 2025. ■
