Credits and projects · Indonesia

Indonesia approves 238,281 tCO2e of carbon units for Bujang Raba, its first social forestry carbon landscape

Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry has approved the issuance of 238,281 tCO2e of carbon units for the Bujang Raba landscape in Jambi.

The approval covers about 6,634 hectares of a 7,292-hectare protected forest managed by five villages and 1,183 households.

The ministry describes it as the first social forestry landscape to enter carbon trading.

28 Sep 2026Credits and projectsIndonesiaPublished 12 Nov 2026
Paiton coal-fired power plant, East Java (the power sector is Indonesia's first emissions-trading scheme)
Paiton coal-fired power plant, East Java (the power sector is Indonesia's first emissions-trading scheme). Photo: Pinerineks, CC BY-SA 4.0, source. Resized only; no other change.
Report

What happened

In press release SP.563/HKLN/09/2026, dated 28 September 2026, the Ministry of Forestry reported a visit by the minister to the Bujang Raba carbon project in Bungo regency, Jambi province. Bujang Raba lies in the Bukit Panjang Rantau Bayur protection forest and is managed by communities under Indonesia's social forestry scheme, with support from the conservation group KKI Warsi.

The project was approved through Minister of Forestry Decree 551 of 2026, which authorises the issuance of non-SPE carbon units, meaning units certified under an international standard rather than Indonesia's own SPE-GRK certificates. The approved volume is 238,281 tCO2e on about 6,634 hectares. The landscape spans five village forests: Lubuk Beringin, Laman Panjang, Buat, Sungai Telang and Senamat Ulu.

According to the release, carbon activity in the area was halted in 2021 while specific rules were awaited. The approval decree was handed over at the launch of the Indonesia Forestry Carbon Hub in Jakarta on 6 July 2026, and the project documents are now being processed in the national carbon unit registry, SRUK.

The ministry also reported that, as of August 2026, social forestry permits covered about 8.45 million hectares nationally through 11,335 decrees for 1.43 million households.

Context

Background

Forestry carbon trading in Indonesia restarted in 2026 after a new legal base was put in place. Presidential Regulation 110/2025 on carbon economic value instruments was followed by Minister of Forestry Regulation 6/2026, which allows social forestry permit holders to take part in carbon trading with partners.

On 6 July 2026 the ministry launched the Indonesia Forestry Carbon Hub and handed approvals to a first group of forestry projects. Besides Bujang Raba, the release named the Sumatra Merang Peatland Project, the Katingan Peatland Restoration and Conservation Project and The Mayas Project.

The market rules changed in the same week. OJK Regulation 10/2026 took effect on 6 July, requiring exchange-traded units to be recorded in SRUK and allowing trade in foreign units not recorded there. In press release SP 166/OJK/DKPU/IX/2026 of 7 September 2026, OJK reported 159 registered service users on the carbon exchange between its launch on 26 September 2023 and 31 August 2026, with cumulative volume of about 1.98 million tCO2e and cumulative value of IDR 93.90 billion.

Indonesia's first compliance market predates both the exchange and the forestry approvals. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources launched power-sector carbon trading on 22 February 2023, covering 99 coal-fired units in its first year, and reported 7.1 MtCO2e traded among covered plants in 2023. Coverage was widened to 146 units in 2024.

Data

How it compares

Bujang Raba's approved volume against government-published carbon volumes

Source: Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK); Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM); J-Credit Scheme Secretariat. Checked 2026-11-12. Approved issuance is not the same as units issued or traded. The power-sector figure is mostly bilateral trading among plants, not exchange volume.

Table of the same figures
ItemVolumeNote
Bujang Raba non-SPE approval (Indonesia)238,281 tCO2eApproved by Ministry of Forestry decree, 2026
Carbon exchange cumulative volume (Indonesia)1.98 million tCO2e26 Sep 2023 to 31 Aug 2026, reported by OJK
Power-sector carbon trading (Indonesia)7.1 MtCO2e2023, reported by the energy ministry
J-Credit cumulative certified volume (Japan)14.87 Mt-CO2All project types
Ahead

What is next

No further dates are set in the official texts we checked.

Record

Sources

Read next

Related