Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan has blamed Indonesia’s system of legally sanctioned forest exploitation for the devastating floods and landslides that struck Aceh and parts of Sumatra on 26 November 2025, arguing that environmental disasters are being driven not only by illegal logging but by state-approved permits.
Speaking at the first national congress of Gerakan Rakyat on 18 January 2026, an organisation formed by his supporters, Anies said the destruction of forests has produced what he described as “ecological injustice”, where profits flow to corporations while ordinary citizens bear the risks.
“When floods come, it is not the homes of company directors downstream that are destroyed,” he told delegates. “It is the houses of farmers and villagers living near forest areas. Those who damage the environment benefit, but they do not pay the price. Those who do nothing wrong are forced to carry the consequences.”
‘The problem is the system’
Anies challenged the widely held assumption that environmental damage is largely caused by illegal activity. Citing forestry data, he said 97% of deforestation in Indonesia takes place legally, backed by official permits and complete documentation.
“This is not illegal logging,” he said. “This is destruction with stamps and signatures.”
According to Anies, 59% of forest loss occurs within corporate concession areas, including logging, timber plantations, mining and oil palm estates, almost all of them operating lawfully. That, he argued, points to a deeper failure of governance.
“If deforestation were mostly illegal, the problem would be law enforcement,” he said. “But if almost all of it is legal, then the problem lies in the laws and regulations themselves.”
He warned that policies designed to accelerate economic growth have allowed environmental harm to be justified in the name of development, opening space for abuse and, potentially, corruption.
“When rules are bent for corporate interests, when regulations are written without considering ecological balance, then the system itself becomes the source of destruction,” Anies said.
A call for ‘regenerative’ development
Rather than treating environmental damage as an afterthought to be repaired later, Anies urged a fundamental shift in economic thinking. He criticised what he called the long-standing approach of “extract first, clean up later, if there is time”, arguing that such a model is no longer viable.
Instead, he promoted the idea of a regenerative economy, one that allows ecosystems to recover and communities to benefit without exhausting natural resources.
“Regenerative does not mean stopping development,” he said. “It means designing growth from the start so nature can restore itself, not be drained and abandoned.”
Anies insisted that this approach is not theoretical, pointing to examples from other countries, and within Indonesia, where mining, forestry and plantation activities have been managed sustainably. He called for clearer regulations that empower local communities to manage forests responsibly and to receive tangible economic benefits.
“If we get this right from the beginning,” he concluded, “Indonesia can gain long-term ecological and economic benefits, without destroying the very environment that sustains us.”
The speech reinforces Anies Baswedan’s positioning as a vocal critic of Indonesia’s extractive development model, placing environmental justice and governance reform at the centre of the national conversation following one of Sumatra’s deadliest natural disasters in recent years.
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