Jakarta. Indonesia plans to recruit up to 70,000 additional forest rangers to strengthen protection across its vast forest estate, as the government moves to address what officials describe as a severe personnel shortage.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said he has held two meetings with President Prabowo Subianto, who agreed in principle to expand the number of forest police officers nationwide.

The discussions focused on improving the ratio of rangers to forest area. Under current conditions, one ranger is responsible for overseeing about 2,500 hectares. President Prabowo has called for a more optimal ratio of one ranger per 2,000 hectares.

“The President decided that we should aim for a more ideal ratio of one officer securing 2,000 hectares,” Raja Juli said in Jakarta on Thursday. “To achieve that, we would need an additional 70,000 forest rangers, and the process is now underway.”

Raja Juli cautioned that implementation would take time, citing bureaucratic procedures and the need for regulatory adjustments.

Indonesia currently has only around 4,800 forest rangers tasked with safeguarding approximately 125 million hectares of forest nationwide — a workload officials say makes effective protection nearly impossible given limited manpower and funding.

Based on current figures, each ranger is effectively responsible for monitoring about 25,000 hectares. The imbalance is particularly stark in Aceh province, where roughly 3.5 million hectares of forest are guarded by just 63 rangers.

According to data released by the Forestry Ministry, based on Landsat satellite imagery provided by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia’s forest cover in 2024 stood at 95.5 million hectares, or 51.1% of the country’s total land area. About 87.8 million hectares, or 91.9% of that forest cover, lie within officially designated forest zones.

Net deforestation in 2024 reached 175,400 hectares, calculated from gross deforestation of 216,200 hectares offset by 40,800 hectares of reforested land. Secondary forests accounted for the bulk of gross deforestation, totaling 200,600 hectares, or 92.8%. Around 69.3% of forest loss occurred within designated forest areas, with the remainder outside. To slow forest loss, the ministry carried out forest and land rehabilitation programs covering 217,900 hectares in 2024.