Jakarta, Jan. 2 -- The Ministry of Forestry has confirmed that the Gunung Wayang area in Bandung District, West Java, remains a protected forest and is currently managed as a village forest under the Social Forestry program.

Head of the Public Relations and International Cooperation Bureau at the ministry Krisdianto said on Friday that Ministerial Decree No. 10629 of 2025, dated November 11, 2025, does not constitute a new permit but represents an administrative transition from a forestry partnership scheme to village forest management.

In Indonesia, social forestry is a national program aimed at granting local and indigenous communities legal access to manage state-owned forest areas.

"The approval for village forest management does n...