Jakarta, Sept. 29 -- The Indonesian government is committed to speeding up the legal recognition of customary forests, with Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni emphasizing that indigenous peoples are among the best guardians of forests.

"In March, a task force was formed to handle this. I have asked that unresolved territorial conflicts be clustered for faster resolution to revive our optimism," Antoni said at the closing of the TERRA for Customary Forest (TERRA-CF) project in Jakarta on Monday.

The ministry will work to resolve challenges in stages, starting with simpler cases while simultaneously improving regulations, he added.

Steps already taken include the creation of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Customary Forest Recogni...