Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the memorandum of understanding between the UK and Indonesia on sustainable forest management, signed in October 2022, in what way that agreement will help increase protection of customary forest areas and strengthen forest management by customary law communities.

The UK has supported the protection of customary forest areas in Indonesia through the UK-aid funded SETAPAK programme. The programme has supported indigenous peoples' groups to work with government to enhance legal protection of their customary land and to engage in participatory mapping. Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park has been discussing the Indonesia-UK Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning cooperation on Indonesia's Forestry and Other Land Use Net Sink 2030 with the Indonesian Government for several months. This includes how our cooperation can support positive outcomes for all Indonesian people, as well as for the participants and mechanisms set out in on the MoU, including the Joint Consultative Working Group.