Prabowo to Establish Task Force for National Park Financing, Led by Hashim Djojohadikusumo
President Prabowo Subianto is preparing special measures to save Indonesia’s increasingly threatened elephant populations. Through high-level policy instruments, the government will issue a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) regarding the conservation of Sumatran and Borneo elephant habitats and populations.
Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni disclosed that alongside the elephant conservation Inpres, the President is preparing a Presidential Decree (Kepres) to establish a special task force for innovative financing in national park management.
“First, the President is preparing one Inpres and one Kepres. The first Inpres concerns the conservation of Sumatran and Borneo elephant populations and habitats. Secondly, a task force for innovative financing in national park management,” said Raja Juli Antoni following his meeting with Prabowo at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Thursday, 12 March 2025.
According to him, these measures have received positive responses from conservation activists, both domestically and internationally, who view the government’s commitment to wildlife and conservation area protection as increasingly strong.
“I have met with many international and Indonesian conservation activists, and they greatly appreciate this. They have stated that President Prabowo Subianto is the president most concerned with conservation of wildlife and Indonesia’s national parks,” he added.
The threat to Indonesia’s elephant populations is becoming increasingly serious. According to scientific records, the number of elephant habitat pockets, which previously reached 42 locations, has shrunk drastically.
“When President Prabowo Subianto first gave me the mandate as Forestry Minister, I checked the elephant pockets that previously numbered 42, and now only 21 remain,” he explained.
This situation is regarded as a serious alarm for the survival of one of Indonesia’s iconic species—the Sumatran and Borneo elephant. Without strong government intervention, habitat degradation is expected to continue and could accelerate the extinction of these species.
“Without serious government intervention, the degradation of these elephant pockets is inevitable, and therefore the elephant population, being one of Indonesia’s protected and iconic species, could potentially become extinct,” concluded Raja Juli.