Indonesia’s parliament has passed a new agrarian reform law aimed at addressing long-running land conflicts, unequal land ownership and disputes involving communities, businesses and the state.
The Indonesian House of Representatives, or DPR, approved the Agrarian Reform Regulation Bill during a plenary session on Sept. 22, creating a legal framework for tackling land inequality and resolving structural agrarian disputes.
The law provides for a government institution under the president that will oversee agrarian reform, including land planning, monitoring and the resolution of land conflicts. It also establishes a framework for redistributing land and restoring land rights in appropriate cases.
Lawmakers said the legislation is intended to address persistent inequality in the control and ownership of land, as well as abandoned land, poverty and conflicts arising from overlapping claims.
The new framework will also introduce limits on land ownership and control. However, the precise minimum and maximum limits have not yet been established and will be set through implementing regulations, according to Agrarian Affairs Minister Nusron Wahid.
Land disputes in Indonesia can involve overlapping claims over forests, state assets and privately held property, with local communities, companies and state-owned enterprises sometimes involved. The government has previously faced pressure to resolve long-running conflicts involving farmers and Indigenous communities.
The legislation also covers the protection of customary and communal land rights, land redistribution, restoration of land rights, integrated land data, public participation and measures intended to prevent excessive concentration of land ownership.
The government will still need to formulate detailed regulations explaining how the new system will operate, including procedures for identifying priority areas, redistributing land, setting ownership limits and resolving disputes.
That means the law establishes the legal framework, but its practical effect will depend on the regulations, institutions and enforcement mechanisms that follow.
For farmers, Indigenous communities and other groups involved in longstanding land disputes, the legislation could provide a new legal avenue for addressing competing claims and land rights. For large landholders and companies, the forthcoming ownership limits and rules on land control could introduce additional requirements once the implementing regulations are issued.
The legislation marks a significant change in how Indonesia intends to coordinate agrarian reform, but the next phase will determine how the new rules are applied on the ground.
