Theresia Sufa, Jakarta – Sumatran and Kalimantan elephants are now critically endangered as their habitat areas have been reduced from 42 to 21, Forestry Ministry Raja Juli Antoni told a meeting with various nongovernmental organizations in Jakarta on Thursday.

The government will issue a presidential instruction on rescuing the populations and habitats of Sumatran and Kalimantan elephants.

Raja Juli said the progressive step was taken as a response to the conditions of Sumatran and Kalimantan elephants and their reduced habitat.

The policy is an operational base for interagency work. Currently, the presidential instruction draft is being circulated among ministries.

"The presidential instruction shows a strong commitment from President Prabowo Subianto to save our elephants. Our focus is how to execute those ideas in the field," Raja Juli told representatives of nongovernmental organizations attending the meeting.

"Future governance must provide full orientation to conservation."

One crucial point in the presidential decree is the integration of infrastructure with animal living space.

Raja Juli provided an example that if the Public Works Ministry is building toll roads, then it must consider elephant home range maps, which have been prepared by the Forestry Ministry. Technical solutions such as tunnels or underpasses will be mandatory so elephant herds can still roam their home range without being disrupted by human activities.

The minister also directed that the 21 remaining elephant habitat areas be maintained and their ecosystem quality improved. The main strategy is to build a corridor uniting all fragmented habitats because of illegal activities and changes in land use.

"It is important for us to have accurate data. There must be a clear target to increase the [elephant] population in the Conservation Strategy and Action Plan [SRAK]," he said.

"If there is no increase in population, we must find the problem and solve it."

As part of the long-term solution, Raja Juli also highlighted the handling of the conflict between elephants and humans in Way Kambas, Lampung, which has been ongoing for some 40 years.

He said that Prabowo suggested the construction of an effective barrier to prevent any casualties, both among humans and elephants, while continuing repairing elephants' habitats.

Experts estimated that there were some 2,800 to 4,000 individual Sumatran elephants in the 1980s. The Forestry Ministry estimated in 2007 that the population decreased to between 2,400 and 2,800 individuals and further reduced to between 1,694 and 2,038 individuals in 2017.

Forest encroachment and deforestation for oil palm plantations have caused the Sumatran elephant to be furthered cornered in its habitats.

Rampant deforestation and land conversion for various economic activities such as mining, plantation and energy development, are also believed to have caused natural disasters in northern Sumatra in November 2025. (nvn)

Source: https://asianews.network/elephants-in-indonesia-critically-endangered-with-only-21-habitat-areas