What is banned
On 3 December 2025, Bali Governor Wayan Koster issued Governor's Instruction (Ingub) No. 5 of 2025, which bans converting farmland to non-agricultural use.
It covers LP2B (protected food farmland) and LBS (the baseline rice field area). The instruction is addressed to all regents and the mayor of Denpasar and applies until a provincial regulation is enacted.
What regencies must do
Regency heads must reject applications to convert farmland. They must keep LP2B and LBS designations in place and not alter them in spatial planning documents.
Regencies are also told to enforce the law with community involvement and to offer incentives to farmers who keep their land.
Sanctions and background
Under Law No. 41 of 2009, as amended by Law No. 6 of 2023, converting LP2B land is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to Rp 1 billion. This applies to individuals, officials and companies.
A week earlier, Agrarian Minister Nusron Wahid announced a moratorium on farmland conversion in Bali. He said the island lost an average of 1,254 hectares a year and that LP2B made up only 62% of the rice field base in the RTRW plan, against a required 87%.
What came next
Minister Wahid also pledged to return previously converted land to farming and to summon all regency heads to enforce compliance.
In 2026 the province enacted Regulation No. 4/2026 on controlling productive land conversion and banning nominee deals, the document the governor's interim instruction had been waiting for.