Jakarta, Sept. 25 -- Indonesia's Deputy Forestry Minister Rohmat Marzuki said on Wednesday that strengthening social forestry, natural resource conservation, and forestry development programs could accelerate the country's transition toward a green economy.

"The government will continue to reinforce social forestry as a national strategy to create jobs, improve welfare, and preserve forests," Marzuki said in a statement released in Jakarta.

He noted that Indonesia's social forestry program has covered around 8.3 million hectares and benefited more than 1.4 million households nationwide.

In Maluku province, authorities have issued 171 social forestry permits spanning some 240 thousand hectares, involving over 33 thousand households.

Th...