Prabowo to Establish Elephant Corridor Preservation Areas to Save Dwindling Populations

Jakarta, Kompas.com – President Prabowo Subianto will establish preservation areas or elephant corridors to save the country’s dwindling elephant populations.

The establishment will be regulated through a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) on the Rescue of Sumatran and Bornean Elephant Populations and Habitats. This instruction will direct relevant ministers to assist the Ministry of Forestry (Menhut) in saving elephant populations, including by establishing preservation areas.

“In areas with land-use rights (HGU) already issued for palm plantations in Sumatra, what we call Preservation Areas will be established. A preservation area is a region that enables elephant corridors between habitat pockets, allowing elephants to move from one pocket to another. This is extremely important,” said Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni, following a limited meeting with President Prabowo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, 12 March 2026.

When he first took office as minister, the number of elephant habitat pockets in Indonesia had dropped to just 21 from a previous total of 42.

This demonstrates that without intervention, elephant habitat pockets will disappear, with dire implications for elephant populations.

“Without serious government intervention, the destruction of these elephant pockets is inevitable. Therefore, elephant populations, being one of Indonesia’s protected species and an iconic species for the country, risk extinction,” said Raja Juli.

This is because the preservation areas within the remaining elephant habitat pockets are already fragmented – not unified but scattered into several small sections.

“We will also create corridors within the habitat pockets to expand their range and improve the welfare of these animals, including preventing inbreeding. When the pockets are broken up, elephants will inevitably mate with their relatives, which is detrimental to elephant populations in both Sumatra and Kalimantan,” he added.

This commitment was reaffirmed during his meeting with King Charles III of the United Kingdom in London in early 2026.

“Initially, King Charles requested 10,000 hectares, but the government allocated 20,000 hectares, and now it has become 90,000 hectares. All of this is dedicated to protecting elephant habitats in Sumatra,” said Raja Juli.