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| HGU Moratorium Exposed Why Indonesia’s ATR BPN Is Reshaping Agrarian Reform for Fair Land Distribution. |
Jakarta – Indonesia’s Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning National Land Agency, widely known as ATR BPN, is carrying out a major overhaul of its Agrarian Reform policy. The goal is clear: to ensure land ownership and management are more fair, balanced, and truly beneficial for the public.
As part of this restructuring, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Head of BPN Nusron Wahid has decided to temporarily halt the approval of new, extended, or renewed Right to Cultivate permits, known as HGU. This pause has been in place for the past year and is intended to give the government time to reorganize and correct existing land governance practices.
Speaking as a keynote speaker at the National Workshop and Consolidation event organized by the Agrarian Reform Consortium in Jakarta on Friday, December 19, 2025, Nusron revealed that none of the HGU applications currently on his desk have been approved.
According to him, there are HGU requests covering a total area of around 1.67 million hectares, including new applications as well as extensions and renewals. However, all of them are on hold.
Nusron explained that the decision was made to ensure Agrarian Reform is implemented based on fairness and equal distribution, not merely administrative procedures. In his view, land reform must address real inequality, not worsen it.
He emphasized that Agrarian Reform should help reduce Indonesia’s income gap, often measured by the Gini ratio. When land ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few, social and economic inequality becomes unavoidable. This is why, for now, the government is taking a cautious approach before approving any new HGU permits.
The minister also linked this policy to the Indonesian Constitution, specifically Article 33 paragraph 3 of the 1945 Constitution. The article states that land, water, and natural resources are controlled by the state and must be used for the greatest prosperity of the people. Based on this principle, the state has a responsibility to ensure land management policies truly serve public interests.
Beyond the HGU moratorium, ATR BPN is also pushing for the resolution of boundary issues between forest areas and non-forest land, commonly referred to as Areas for Other Uses. This effort is being carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Forestry.
Boundary disputes are a major source of agrarian conflict in Indonesia. In many cases, land that communities have cultivated and depended on for decades is suddenly claimed as forest land due to unclear or outdated maps.
To address this, the government has begun gradually clarifying forest and land-use boundaries, starting with provinces that have relatively low levels of conflict. The aim is to resolve disputes step by step while preventing new ones from emerging.
Nusron noted that unclear mapping is one of the main triggers of land conflicts. When boundaries are vague or overlapping, disputes between communities, companies, and the government become almost inevitable.
The policy shift by ATR BPN has received positive responses from civil society groups. During the event, Agrarian Reform Consortium expert council member Iwan Nurdin expressed strong support for the government’s efforts to reorganize Agrarian Reform policies.
He said many stakeholders hope this new approach will accelerate the resolution of long-standing land conflicts. He also welcomed the government’s commitment to forest boundary clarification and the temporary suspension of HGU approvals.
The forum, themed restoring agrarian and ecological balance through collective action on agrarian and forestry reform, was attended by key figures in the agrarian reform movement. Among them were KPA Secretary General Dewi Kartika and other consortium members. Also present as a speaker was Deputy Chair of Indonesia’s House of Representatives Commission II, Zulfikar Arse Sadikin, who highlighted the legislature’s role in supporting fair and sustainable land policies.
Through this comprehensive review, the government hopes Agrarian Reform will no longer be just a slogan. Instead, it is expected to deliver real benefits for communities, reduce land-related conflicts, narrow economic inequality, and ultimately bring Indonesia closer to its constitutional goal of shared prosperity for all.