Ministry of Forestry: National Park Closures Conditional on Forest Fire Escalation

The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) has stated that the policy of closing access to national park areas in Indonesia is conditional, adjusted to the escalation of forest and land fire (karhutla) threats.

Director General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation (KSDAE) at Kemenhut, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, told ANTARA at the Angke Nature Tourism Park in Jakarta on Monday that to date there has been no decision to close other national park areas outside the Bromo area.

“There are no closures of other national parks yet. It is highly conditional on the ground. For example, Gunung Gede Pangrango was quickly resolved, Rinjani was also quickly resolved, so there was no closure,” he said.

In addition to patrols, Kemenhut is also intensifying outreach with communities living around forests to prevent the careless use of fire, as well as inspecting canal blocks in peatlands to prevent extreme drought.

A total closure measure is taken, he said, if fire handling requires the effectiveness of massive ground firefighting efforts, as was recently implemented in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) area in East Java.

Head of the TNBTS Centre, Rudijanta Tjahja Nugraha, confirmed the closure of four entrance areas: Cemorolawang in Probolinggo Regency, Wonokitri in Pasuruan Regency, Jemplang and Coban Trisula in Malang Regency, and Senduro in Lumajang Regency, East Java.

The policy of closing all tourist entrances to Mount Bromo is in effect until an unspecified time limit, to ensure visitor safety and accelerate the firefighting process by the joint task force team.