JAKARTA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni has proposed adding 21,000 forest police officers to strengthen supervision of forest areas across the country, local media reported on Thursday.
The proposal follows recent floods and landslides in Sumatra that are suspected to be linked to deforestation, according to the reports.
Currently, Indonesia has about 4,800 forest police officers. The plan aims to raise the total number to 25,000, based on an ideal ratio of one forest police officer overseeing 5,000 hectares of forest. The additional personnel are expected to improve monitoring of illegal logging, enhance forest security, and better adapt oversight to regional characteristics and population pressures.
The ministry has also proposed expanding the number of Forestry Law Enforcement Units from 10 to 24. The expanded units would be equipped with forest protection functions as well as forest and land fire control capabilities in each province.
Raja Juli emphasized the need for more structured coordination between the central and regional governments. To support this effort, the ministry has proposed establishing 35 Regional Forestry Coordination Centers to serve as policy coordination hubs and facilitate cooperation with local governments and regional leadership coordination forums.
"The establishment of these coordination centers will make the implementation of forestry programs more structured and integrated, from the central level down to the field," Raja Juli was quoted by local media as saying. ■