The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) urged the government and the DPR RI to realize ecological justice by ensuring recognition and respect for the rights of nature, fulfillment of everyone’s right to a good and healthy environment, and intergenerational justice, so that both present and future generations have equal rights to a good and healthy environment.

WALHI said several sectors have been affected by the government and DPR RI’s failure to implement the mandate of MPR Decree No. IX/MPR/2001.

WALHI National Executive Director, Boy Jerry Even Sembiring said that, for example, in the coastal and marine sectors, reclamation, sea-sand mining, various National Strategic Projects, and investment-oriented marine spatial planning continue to threaten the living spaces of coastal communities and fishers.

“The discussion of the Bill on Archipelagic Regions must ensure the protection of small islands and must not create opportunities for the expansion of mining or other extractive activities that run counter to the spirit of protecting coastal areas and small islands,” Boy said on the sidelines of a rally at the main entrance of the DPR RI in Jakarta on Monday, September 21, 2026.

Meanwhile, in the forestry and agrarian sectors, WALHI considers that the Fourth Amendment Bill to the Forestry Law could further expand the use of forest areas for business and investment interests while neglecting the recognition and protection of Indigenous communities, making it inconsistent with the spirit of MPR Decree IX/2001.

“What is needed is not a revision, but a complete overhaul,” he stressed.

He also said that discussions on the Agrarian Reform Regulation Bill must remain grounded in the mandate of genuine agrarian reform to address inequality in land control, accelerate the resolution of agrarian conflicts, and ensure protection of communities’ managed territories.

“The revision of the Food Bill must also move away from an approach focused solely on increasing production and ensure the protection of the rights of farmers, fishers, Indigenous communities, women, as well as ecosystem sustainability as the foundation of food sovereignty,” he said.

Furthermore, WALHI highlighted that various efforts to address the climate crisis have yet to place ecological and social justice at the center of their approach.

“WALHI calls for the Climate Justice Bill to be discussed and followed up immediately, and rejects any weakening of the substance of climate justice through its incorporation into the revision of the Environmental Protection and Management Law,” Boy said.

In addition, the revision of the Disaster Management Law must ensure that the root causes of ecological disasters—including environmental degradation and unjust natural resource governance—become an important part of disaster prevention and management policies.

WALHI also called for strengthening the Human Rights Bill to guarantee the right to a good and healthy environment, protection for environmental defenders, and recognition of the rights of Indigenous communities.

WALHI further emphasized the importance of the government immediately passing the Indigenous Peoples Bill, which has continued to be overlooked to date, as the legislation is important to ensure that the rights of Indigenous communities are guaranteed and fulfilled by the state.

“When forests, customary territories, coastal areas, seas, small islands, and people’s living spaces continue to be sacrificed in the name of investment, the ecological crisis will continue to recur. The state cannot continue responding to crises with new projects without addressing their root causes—namely, inequality in control over natural resources, weak protection of people’s rights, and the absence of ecological justice in development policies,” Boy continued.

Therefore, on the occasion of Ecological Justice Day, WALHI urged the President and the DPR RI to fully and consistently implement MPR Decree No. IX/MPR/2001 as the foundation for all agrarian and natural resource policies.

“This includes conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the Job Creation Law and its implementing regulations, National Strategic Projects, food estates, and various development policies that expand the dispossession of people’s living spaces; ensuring that discussions of the Agrarian Reform Regulation Bill, Human Rights Bill, Climate Justice Bill, Disaster Management Bill, Archipelagic Regions Bill, the revision of the Food Bill, and the revision of the Forestry Law are aligned with the principles of ecological justice; and accelerating the recognition of community-managed territories and customary territories, the resolution of agrarian conflicts, the protection of Indigenous communities, and environmental restoration,” he concluded.