Sumatran Elephant Habitat Rescued, Ministry Of Transportation Controls 4,000 Hectares Of Forests

The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) together with a joint team managed to regain control of 4,000 hectares (ha) of forest additional areas in the Bentang Alam Seblat area, Bengkulu, which is the habitat of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus).

The Director General (Dirjen) of Forestry Law Enforcement (Gakkum) of the Ministry of Law and Forestry Dwi Januanto Nugroho said that the government would not provide space for additional practices in the country's conservation and forest areas.

"We take firm action against all perpetrators of forest destruction, including those who try to trade in state forest areas. Operation Seblat is proof that forestry law enforcement is serious and sustainable," Januanto said, quoted by Antara, Friday, November 7.

He referred to it as a follow-up to the direction of the Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni and the results of the visit of the Deputy Minister of Forestry Rohmat Marzuki while reviewing the Seblat elephant corridor from the air using helicopters on Tuesday (4/11), a joint team from the Sumatra Forestry Law Enforcement Center (Gakkumhut), the Kerinci Seblat National Park Center (TNKS), the Bengkulu BKSDA, and the Bengkulu Province LHK Service/North Bengkulu KPH, again carried out further operations in Bentang Alam Seblat from November 3, 2025 to Thursday (6/11).

This activity is a continuation of the previous operation carried out on November 2, which is focused on stopping the addition and securing the habitat of Sumatran elephants.

Until November 6, 2025, the team managed to regain the 4.000 hectares of additional land in the Limited Production Forest (HPT) of Lebong Kandis and the Air Rami Production Forest (HP). At that location, signs of control of forest areas have been installed to reinforce the ban on illegal activities.

He said as part of the area's recovery, the destruction of 1,600 ha of palm oil was carried out manually by a joint team, accompanied by the destruction of eight additional cottages used for illegal activities.

The team also destroyed about 100 pieces of processed wood from illegal logging using a chainsaw so that they could not be reused.

During the operation, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Gakkum officers secured three palm oil workers on November 1, 2025 and one owner of an illegal palm oil plantation with the initials SM on November 5, 2025.

From the hands of the perpetrators, officers confiscated a number of evidences in the form of oil palm seeds, plantation equipment, and supporting documents for activities in forest areas. As of November 6, 2025, the Directorate General of Law and Human Rights of Forestry will issue an Investigation Order (Sprindik) for land owners and will be detained.

Based on the results of the preliminary examination, the perpetrator is known to have bought land from local residents, cleared land by burning (land clearing), then planted palm oil and built a work camp.

Currently, investigators are still conducting further investigations to uncover the network of buying and selling forest areas and the main actors behind the addition.

Januanto ensured that in addition to prosecution, the rehabilitation of damaged areas and regional boundary arrangement will soon be carried out with local governments, businesses, and conservation institutions.