January 20, 2026 | 06:39 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta — Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry plans to recruit an additional 21,000 forest police officers to strengthen monitoring and law enforcement in forest areas, amid the continued spread of illegal mining across the country.
Deputy Minister of Forestry Rohmat Marzuki said mining activities within forest zones currently cover 296,807 hectares nationwide. Of that total, only 105,017 hectares hold Forest Area Utilization Permits.
“The remaining 191,790 hectares do not have Forest Area Utilization Permits and are classified as illegal mining areas,” Marzuki told a hearing of House of Representatives Commission IV on Monday, January 19, 2026.
He explained that around 104,692 hectares of illegal mining are located within designated Mining Business License Areas (WIUP), while the remaining 87,097 hectares lie outside licensed zones altogether.
Marzuki said the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (PKH) has so far taken control of and enforced regulations in 8,769 hectares of illegal mining areas. Law enforcement efforts are ongoing and are expected to eventually cover the entire 191,790 hectares of illegal operations.
“We continue to work closely with the PKH Task Force to eradicate and put an end to illegal mining practices in forest areas,” he said.
According to Marzuki, illegal mining poses a serious challenge to forest governance and environmental protection. To strengthen on-the-ground supervision, the ministry has established 35 forestry monitoring coordination centers nationwide.
The government has also expanded the number of Technical Implementation Units (UPT) responsible for law enforcement and forest damage control from 10 to 24 units. However, Marzuki said personnel shortages remain a critical issue.
Indonesia currently has only around 4,800 forest police officers, meaning each officer is responsible for monitoring up to 26,000 hectares of forest.
With the planned addition of 21,000 personnel, the ratio is expected to improve to one officer per 5,000 hectares.
To further enhance oversight, the ministry also plans to deploy drone technology to support monitoring and field operations.
Marzuki said the proposal for additional personnel has been submitted to President Prabowo Subianto and has received a positive response. The ministry is now coordinating with the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform to discuss implementation.
“Of course, this policy will be carried out with careful consideration of the state’s fiscal condition,” he said.
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