President Prabowo greenlights addition of 70,000 forest rangers
Speaking to the press in Jakarta on Thursday, Antoni said he had met the president twice to discuss increasing the number of forest rangers. During the discussions, the president called for a more ideal personnel-to-area ratio, going beyond the initial proposal to raise the number of rangers to 21,000.
The minister explained that the previously proposed ratio was one ranger for every 2,500 hectares. President Prabowo opted for a more ambitious target of one ranger per 2,000 hectares.
The revised target would require the recruitment of around 70,000 additional rangers. Antoni noted that implementation will depend on further bureaucratic processes and regulatory adjustments.
“He decided that we should aim for a more ideal ratio of one ranger for every 2,000 hectares,” Antoni said.
He acknowledged that securing 125 million hectares of forest is highly challenging under current human resource and budget constraints. At present, only about 4,800 rangers are assigned nationwide.
With those numbers, a single ranger is responsible for securing an average of 25,000 hectares of forest. In addition to the shortage of personnel, many officers have reached a non-productive age, making the oversight work even heavier.
He cited regional examples to illustrate the gap. In Aceh Province, forest areas cover approximately 3.5 million hectares, while only 63 rangers are available. In Bengkulu Province, production and protected forest areas total around 900,000 hectares, but forest security funding is reported to be limited to about Rp 50 million, or roughly US$2,900.
According to the minister, under the regional autonomy system, forestry is often categorised as a non-mandatory sector. As a result, budget allocations depend on local government priorities and may not reflect actual needs.
In addition to increasing personnel, the government plans to establish a Law Enforcement Centre in each province to improve the speed and effectiveness of forestry law enforcement.
Antoni said the measures are expected to strengthen state oversight in forest protection while maintaining the involvement of local communities as strategic partners.