Banjarbaru (ANTARA) - Indonesia reaffirmed its plan to raise its number of forest rangers to 70,000 to strengthen forest monitoring and protection, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said on Monday.
"As instructed by Mr. President, the number of our forest rangers will rise to 70,000. This certainly is good news for our efforts to safeguard forest areas from various threats," he said.
Speaking at a wildfire suppression operation in Liang Anggang Protected Forest in South Kalimantan, Antoni said Indonesia has only about 4,500 forest rangers despite forest cover spanning tens of millions of hectares.
He said more rangers are needed to strengthen patrols, prevent forest and land fires and curb illegal activities.
To fight fires in several regions, the ministry has deployed about 1,000 rangers to support Manggala Agni, its fire brigade, and Fire Care Community (MPA) groups, he said.
The rangers will keep helping contain fires in three Kalimantan provinces until they are fully under control, he added.
The government will continue strengthening inter-agency coordination on forest protection and wildfire prevention, he said.
Antoni first outlined the expansion in February, with an initial target of about 21,000 rangers.
After talks with President Prabowo Subianto, the government raised the target to 70,000, based on each ranger monitoring about 2,000 hectares of Indonesia's 125 million hectares of national forest, he said.
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Translator: Firman, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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