Indonesia’s New Forest Monitoring Platform Empowers Local Communities
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📰 The quick summary: New forest monitoring platform in Indonesia combines on-the-ground data and geolocation tracking to detect environmental violations in real-time, strengthening commodity traceability for EU compliance.
📈 One key stat: The platform will help monitor Indonesia’s forests, which are the world’s third largest tropical rainforests after Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
💬 One key quote: “Through GTID, we gather all field-based documentation and compile it into a unified system,” says Denny Bhatara, senior campaigner at Kaoem Telapak.
1️⃣ The big picture: Indonesia is enhancing its forest monitoring capabilities with Ground Truthed.id (GTID), a new platform designed to meet strict EU deforestation regulations taking effect in December 2025. The platform uniquely combines field-based evidence and geolocation data to detect environmental violations in real-time, offering a bottom-up approach to forest monitoring. Unlike satellite-based systems, GTID emphasizes collaboration with Indigenous peoples and local communities to collect verifiable data directly from the source. This platform complements the government’s traceability dashboard by serving as an independent watchdog to prevent illegally sourced products from entering international supply chains.
2️⃣ Why is this good news: This innovative monitoring system enables faster detection and prevention of illegal deforestation before irreversible damage occurs. The platform’s real-time, ground-level verification process creates legally actionable cases, making enforcement more effective. By incorporating Indigenous peoples and local communities in the monitoring process, the system ensures accurate documentation of violations while empowering local stakeholders. The collaborative approach between civil society, law enforcement, and communities strengthens Indonesia’s ability to protect its valuable forest resources and maintain access to important export markets.
3️⃣ What’s next: The platform will continue gathering field-based documentation across Indonesia through its web and Android apps. A verification team will process incoming reports to build legal cases for relevant authorities. The system will integrate with Indonesia’s national supply chain traceability dashboard launching this year. As the December 2025 EU regulation deadline approaches, the platform will help ensure Indonesian commodities meet international compliance standards.
Read the full story here: Mongabay – Indonesia strengthens forest monitoring with new tool to meet EU deforestation law
