Legal Literacy - Currently, the complexity of the existence of oil palm plantations is becoming apoint of view of the arrangement of forest areas which is manifested through a series of raids to control areas that are prohibited from being planted with oil palm, especially oil palm plantations owned by the people.

For farmers whose land is in the Other Allocation Area (APL), they are relatively safe from the reach of the Forest Area Control Task Force (PKH) because there are no rules that are violated. However, oil palm farmers (independent farmers) often ignore the legality of their land. They tend to feel safe and comfortable with the current conditions and only focus on the harvest (TBS transactions). In fact, land legality is a key component in the adage of sustainability and prosperity (sustainability and properity) of oil palm plantations.

Smallholders only rely on Land Certificates (SKT) or Compensation Certificates (SKGR) along with sceets kaart (sketch/garden image) as proof of land ownership. There are also quite a few who only have ordinary sale and purchase deeds between sellers and buyers without state involvement. In fact, gardens without any letters are also commonly found.

The main obstacle to managing land ownership documents is cost. As an illustration, in one village in Riau Province, the SKT or SKGR management fee is charged at Rp. 1-2 million per plot. This amount is not ajeg; according to local policy. The costs are clearly higher if the management becomes a Certificate of Ownership (SHM) which must be carried out at the Regional Office of the National Land Agency (BPN) of the Regency/City with the requirement of a Deed of Sale and Purchase (AJB) document issued by a land deed official (notary or Pak Camat in several locations where there is no notary yet).

Another factor is the requirement for the maximum area of ownership of garden plots/fields to access the government's free land certification program through Complete Systematic Land Registration (PTSL) which also influences independent farmers to manage their land documents. It is not a rumor that many independent farmers own land of up to tens of hectares in one or several stretches (plots/fields). As a result, the smallholder concerned must divide the area into several letters with a rupiah figure for each letter management process!

That rupiah-based complexity often emerges in every conversation with smallholders regarding the legality of their oil palm plantations.

SHM, SKT, SKGR, Girik, and Leter C

The state guarantees land ownership rights for the Indonesian people through the Certificate of Ownership (SHM) which has legal force according to the Basic Agrarian Law (UUPA) No. 5 of 1960 and Government Regulation No. 24 of 1997. The authority to issue it is at the National Land Agency (BPN) at the central level to the district (Regional Office/Kanwil BPN).

SHM is proof of ownership of land rights and is also strong evidence regarding physical data and juridical data contained therein. However, the validity of SHM as legal proof of ownership only applies in the Other Allocation Area (APL). In forest areas controlled by the state, the form of permit is not SHM and is issued by the Ministry of Forestry, not BPN.

At the ground level, many farmers' gardens are only based on Land Certificates (SKT), Compensation Certificates (SKGR) and their attachments (sceets kaart or a map of the land situation), including Girik, Patok, and Letter C which are generally found on the island of Java.

Girik and Letter C are old village administrative documents that record the history of land tenure and tax payments, serving as proof of physical control of the land, not legal ownership. These documents are the basis for managing land certificates, but starting February 2026 they will no longer be legal proof of ownership and will only be supporting evidence.

SKT is a certificate issued by the village head/sub-district regarding physical control of land. At the sub-district level, it is commonly called SKT Camat. Both have the same function, namely providing information regarding the history and status of control of a plot of land. SKT Camat is usually issued for land located outside the owner's village. However, in practice, planters often manage SKTs up to the sub-district level on the grounds that it is more reinforcing.

The Compensation Certificate (SKGR) is a letter of sale and purchase of land known to the village head/sub-district for land that has not been certified. Similar to the SKT, the management of the SKGR in practice extends to the sub-district.

By document definition, Letter C and girik are not the same as SKT (Land Certificate) even though they are both initial proof of customary land ownership. However, based on PP 18/2021, it is no longer an absolute requirement for registration and does not apply as a single piece of ownership evidence.

The three pieces of ownership evidence do have weaknesses, namely registration numbers that are still manual and not archived, making them vulnerable to being lost/replaced. Cases of village heads issuing SKTs or SKGRs on the same land based on police loss reports for resale often occur even though the land is being schooled alias used as bank collateral.

The fact that the registration number is not archived, let alone connected to government administration, clearly opens up loopholes for land disputes. Moreover, in the principle of land cases, the principle of prior tempore potior jure (the older wins) applies. This means that a garden based on SKT or SKGR will lose if there is an older ownership letter in terms of issuance and level.

In urban areas, this mode is often used to take away other people's land rights. No wonder if on marketplace, there are types of old year stamps along with other attributes to litigate land.

Another weakness of the SKT is that it does not contain information regarding the location of the garden in relation to other areas (coordinates) so it is difficult to ensure that the location of the planter's land is clean and clear, in the sense that it is free from dispute problems and has clear boundaries. This is not found in SHM because the manufacturing process uses digital technology and numbering that is archived in a database so there is little conflict of ownership or overlap with other areas.

STDB and Legality of Land

One of the mandatory requirements for planters to participate in the oil palm plantation certification program (ISPO-RSPO), including the right to access oil palm plantation development programs through BPDPKS, is the Cultivation Registration Certificate (STDB) issued by the state through the relevant agency at the district level.

STDB is a form of state service provided to planters as a tool to record and verify plantation cultivation activities, as well as provide legitimacy for planters to obtain various benefits and support from the government. In other words, STDB is state recognition of the profession of independent oil palm planters. Like citizens, STDB is an ID card for planters to access government programs through BPDP, including PSR, infrastructure, scholarships, training, and research. By analogy, without an ID card, a person is not entitled to social assistance!

STDB is not a certificate for groups like ISPO-RSPO but for planters as individuals, like the ID card analogy above. Therefore, planters can take care of it individually or in groups related to joint responsibility its financing. STDB is indeed free, but the management process still requires independent financing, just like the free school program after all books, uniforms, books are required to buy!

The legal basis for STDB is Minister of Agriculture Regulation Number 98 of 2013 concerning Guidelines for Plantation Business Licensing, as well as other derivative regulations jo Law Number 39 of 2014 concerning Plantations, so it is mandatory for planters with a maximum area of 25 hectares in the APL area. Even though it has been more than 10 years, from the total area of people's oil palm plantations which reaches 6.8 million hectares, there are only 154,366 planters with 215,032 plots/fields covering an area of 603,459.73 hectares equivalent to 0.09% that have been issued or are in the process of being issued STDB. It's a far cry from the fire!

One of the consequences of the absence of STDB is the non-absorption of the People's Oil Palm Replanting (PSR) program by planters. In 2024, President Jokowi's Government targeted 250 thousand hectares of the PSR program, but until the end of his term, only 38-39 thousand were realized. The excuse of BPDP, which is the instrument for implementing PSR when presented at a Hearing Meeting (RDP) with Commission XI, is that most planters do not know the position of their land in relation to forest areas or do not overlap with concessions. This means that the location proposed in the PSR program cannot be traced because it does not have coordinate points from digital mapping.

Gardens based on SKT rights or SKT along with a garden situation map (sceets kaart) which without coordinate points cannot detect the location of the garden in relation to other gardens and also to forest areas or HGU concessions. As a result, it is difficult to ensure that the location clean and clear (is free from dispute problems and has clear boundaries).

On the other hand, planters are constrained by financing to fulfill the completeness of land documents and digital mapping. A tangled web that never meets the end.

STDB as a Complement to Proof of Ownership

As a letter of recognition, STDB has complete information including the coordinate points of the garden along with its area (polygon) and information related to area, number of planted trees, fertilizer, and productivity. Not only that, STDB also has a noble goal, namely as a mediator of government programs and encouraging sustainable plantation governance as the analogy of having an ID card entitled to social assistance above.

By attaching STDB, the position of the SKT becomes stronger than just a land certificate because STDB is connected to BPN (coordinate points) and numbering in the Agricultural Extension Management Information System (SIMLUHTAN) database.

TDB provides identification data and legality of plantation businesses while SIMLUHTAN functions as a database for farmers and extension. The integration of the two helps the government in distributing assistance, guidance, and developing the plantation sector.

As a principle of legality, STDB is indeedalready not permits, let alone proof of legal ownership. However, with the STDB, the principle applies if any, becomes strong; similar presumption of existence in legal terminology.

Constraints

In terms of implementation, the process of obtaining an STDB is not easy. Bottle neckis with the planters concerned regarding the requirements. First, proof of ownership. Land rights in the form of SHM are not a problem because they already meet the formal requirements of state institutions. On the other hand, SKT, SKGR, and other types cannot be used directly in the STDB process due to the absence of coordinate points. For this, a measurement process is needed to digitally map the planters' gardens.

Technically, mapping is currently relatively easier with the existence of mapping applications that are better than the previous era (precision). The problem is the financing to carry out measurements and also processing into data that can be verified digitally along with personal documents.

All financing is charged to the registering farmers even though there are no fees in the issuance of STDB according to the rules. Costs are needed for the operational preparation of documents so that STDB can be issued. From field experience, it takes an average of Rp. 2 million for each STDB sheet from socialization, document filing, mapping to digital data ready atupload and verified by the relevant technical department at the district level. A figure that is not small for planters, most of whom are slightly above the status of their land!

Collaboration and Joint Responsibility

Large-scale plantation companies still need a supply of Palm Oil/Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) from independent oil palm planters. With a total area of 6.9 million hectares according to Kementan 2023 data referenced by BPDP, there is a potential of millions of tons of FFB for local consumption or export. In the oil palm mill (PKS) development plan, the existence of farmers' gardens is also one of the indicators of the feasibility of the processing plant business.

The European Non-Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which has been in effect since December 2025 and June 2026 for independent smallholders (micro and small scale), emphasizes the importance of traceability (treacebility) to ensure that Crude Palm Oil (CPO) to be sold to the European Union is produced from FFB supplies harvested from gardens outside forest areas and clarity of the planter's identity (due diligence and geolocation).

The Business to Business nature of the EUDR, in practice requires government support to facilitate company compliance (business) with EUDR rules. This is where STDB is important as proof of being free from forest areas issued by the Indonesian government. Therefore, plantation companies need STDB for their supplying farmers in order to play in the European market.

Therefore, cooperatealready because factually, the supply of FFB from oil palm plantations that are not traceable (because they do not yet have STDB, not because they are in forest areas) is not to be lamented but is a potential for collaboration.

And for independent smallholder (independent smallholders), joint management (joint liability) is the best way. To ensure success, institutional or individual external involvement is needed to complete documents (filing) and digital maps (SHP File).

Quoting Yuli Swasono, the problem with oil palm is not actually the commodity but how we understand and manage it. Palm oil is too often simplified as a purely environmental issue when in fact it is a complex economic, social and governance system.

Let's take care of STDB so that the legality and legitimacy of planters' land can be optimal to support prosperity and sustainability oil palm and at the same time an answer to the accusation that oil palm destroys forests as in the initial narrative.