Forestry Ministry Requests Additional Rp6.23 Trillion Budget to Tackle El Nino
The Ministry of Forestry has proposed an additional budget of Rp6.23 trillion for the 2027 fiscal year to prioritise sustainable forest management, community welfare improvement, and preparedness for the four-yearly El Nino cycle. Deputy Minister of Forestry Rohmat Marzuki stated that the proposal was compiled based on forestry development needs, taking into account input from the legislature.
‘The proposed additional budget will prioritise several key areas, one of which is preventing and controlling forest fires. This will be used to rejuvenate facilities and infrastructure, conduct joint patrols with Fire Care Communities, and carry out weather modification operations to anticipate the predicted four-yearly El Nino cycle in 2027,’ he said during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission IV in Jakarta on Thursday, 11 June 2026.
Rohmat explained that another major priority is allocated for strengthening regional institutions. This includes operationalising 35 work units for forest ecosystem development centres and funding the recruitment and salaries of 21,000 additional Forest Police personnel. Regarding the procurement of these tens of thousands of Forest Police positions, the Ministry of Forestry confirmed that finalisation discussions with the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform are still in progress.
Furthermore, to support poverty alleviation programmes, the ministry is committed to increasing community-based spending allocations by distributing productive economic aid tools around forest areas. Governance strengthening will be optimised through the procurement of high-technology aerial monitoring equipment and light aircraft to tighten activity monitoring and periodic land cover surveillance.
The Ministry of Forestry is also proposing additional funds for the management of Way Kambas and Tesson Nilo National Parks, the improvement of natural tourism facilities, and the acceleration of customary forest designation, which is targeted to reach 1.4 million hectares by 2029.