Prabowo Donates 20 Thousand Hectare of Forest Land Owned by him in Aceh for Elephant Conservation

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto handed over a concession of 20 thousand hectares of land owned by PT Tusam Hutani Lestari for elephant protection or conservation programs in Aceh Province, as a form of his love for animals.

Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni explained that King Charles III, as one of the founders of the international conservation organization, WWF, asked President Prabowo to donate the 10 thousand hectare concession for the use of forest utilization permits (PBPH) for elephant conservation.

"When meeting with King Charles in London last year or earlier this year, he was asked to donate 10,000 hectares of his PBPH in Tusam Hutani Lestari in Aceh. He then gave 20,000 hectares instead," said Raja Juli when giving a press statement at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Monday, December 15, reported by ANTARA.

Menhut explained in a limited meeting led by President Prabowo at the Hambalang residence, West Java, Sunday (14/12), Prabowo expressed his love for animals.

Prabowo, through the Minister of Finance, revealed that all of his PBPH concessions at PT Tusam Hutani Lestari in Aceh were handed over to create an elephant corridor in collaboration with WWF as the implementing organization.

"All the PBPH concessions were handed over to create the elephant corridor which is now standing together with WWF, we work closely. Again, his love for our forests and wildlife is extraordinary," said Raja Juli.

President Prabowo previously conveyed the handover of forest concession land in Takengon, Aceh, to be used as an elephant protection area.

This was conveyed by Prabowo when giving a speech at the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) Congress at the KH Ahmad Dahlan Edutorium, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta (UMS), Solo, Central Java, Sunday evening.

"One day I was approached, sent an envoy to me by a group of lovers or nature conservation, WWF. WWF is the builder of King Charles III, one of the builders. The envoy came to me. They know me as an entrepreneur. Before I entered politics, I was an entrepreneur, I had HTI, HTI concessions in Aceh, I was entrusted with a large enough 98,000 hectares in the Takengon area, Aceh," said Prabowo when giving a speech at the PSI Congress last July.

Prabowo said the WWF envoy applied for the use of 10 thousand hectares of land from the concession as an elephant protection area.

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The request was not immediately met according to the proposal, but Prabowo instead offered land twice as much as the one he proposed, namely 20 thousand hectares.

"I don't agree. I won't give 10,000 hectares for the elephant area, I will give 20,000 hectares," said the President.

This story then reached King Charles III in England, who is one of the founders of WWF.

President Prabowo said he received a letter of thanks from King Charles III, which was delivered directly by the British Ambassador to Indonesia Dominic Jermey at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

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