National Police Chief Inspects Tesso Nilo National Park with Titiek: Elephant Conservation Area Secure

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo stated that recovery efforts for the elephant conservation area in Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN), Riau, are progressing smoothly.

This was announced by the police chief following an inspection of the elephant conservation land together with Commission IV Chair of the People’s Consultative Assembly Siti Hediati Hariyadi, known as Titiek Soeharto, on Tuesday 17 March.

He noted this aligns with President Prabowo Subianto’s efforts to restore the Sumatran elephant population in the conservation area.

“The Riau Forestry Service explained that the elephant population, which is now extremely limited, must be given back its habitat and space,” he said during a press conference.

He stated that 81,000 hectares of land in the Tesso Nilo area will eventually be restored to serve as a conservation area for Sumatran elephants.

Furthermore, the National Police Chief said he had instructed all police units to continue protecting the area and take firm action against perpetrators of wildlife crimes and forest destruction.

“Strict action must be taken so that the elephant population, which is now very small, can truly be maintained and preserved, and the conservation area can be managed according to the elephant population so it can flourish,” he stressed.

In the same forum, Titiek encouraged efforts to restore the Tesso Nilo area according to its function as a national park to serve as a conservation area for flora and fauna.

“Because of the high concern from President Prabowo, Tesso Nilo National Park must be returned to its function as a national park, primarily as a habitat for elephants that we must protect,” she explained.

Titiek urged that the relocation of communities already living in the Tesso Nilo area be carried out carefully and without violence. She requested that relocation sites be prepared beforehand before moving residents.

“Don’t forcibly evict them before anything is ready. Let’s jointly preserve the national park while also caring for the communities living within it,” she said.

Additionally, she encouraged the Ministry of Forestry to work together with police headquarters regarding efforts to protect Tesso Nilo National Park. According to her, the ratio of personnel to guard Tesso Nilo is far from adequate.

“The area covers 81,000 hectares whilst there are only 23 forest police here. How can they monitor such a vast area? Perhaps we could ask the National Police Chief to deploy regional police commanders to help monitor and preserve this national park,” she concluded.