Jakarta, July 10 -- Indonesia's Minister of Forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, has emphasized that social forestry land and programs represent strategic efforts to support national food security.

He noted that the social forestry program acts as a bridge between environmental conservation and grassroots economic development.

"Of the 8.3 million hectares of social forestry land under official permits, more than 500,000 hectares have the potential to be developed into corn-based agroforestry areas," Antoni said in a statement on Thursday.

He further explained that this land has the potential to enhance the forestry sector's contribution to national food self-sufficiency. He stressed that increased food production through social forestry must al...