Forestry Minister: Barrier Fence for Way Kambas National Park Spanning 138 Kilometres Ready to be Built

Bandarlampung (ANTARA) - Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni stated that the barrier or fence around Way Kambas National Park (TNWK) in Lampung, spanning 138 kilometres, is ready to be built. “This is a mandate given by President Prabowo Subianto to construct a barrier spanning 138 kilometres at Way Kambas National Park. And the construction of this barrier will begin today as we have already conducted a soft launch,” he said in East Lampung on Thursday. He explained that the construction of this barrier is also in response to community aspirations, due to repeated negative interactions with wildlife that have occurred for decades. “Earlier, I asked the community, negative interactions with wildlife have been happening since 1983 and there has been no concrete resolution, therefore today we are starting a mandate and a major task to maximally avoid conflicts with elephants, as the last incident resulted in fatalities,” he said. “With this barrier, the community and wildlife like elephants can live side by side, and this must be done together so that the community prospers and the wildlife also prospers,” he added. The Head of the Advisory Staff Group of Kodam XXI, Brigadier General Sriyanto, discussed the specifications of the fence construction. “For the construction, we have several types; what we see here is steel pipe construction. So with this construction, the main diameter is eight inches, and the sides are six inches. We have tested it, with a load of 8,600 tonnes it is still strong, whereas we only need 5,000 tonnes,” he said. He continued that another construction uses high beams to break the force or strength when an elephant tries to cross the boundary. “After conducting several studies in other countries, this method is more effective and efficient. Because if it’s just one rope, the elephant can pass between them,” he said.