Indonesia plans to expand forest ranger force to 70,000 personnel

At a fire-fighting operation in South Kalimantan's Liang Anggang Protected Forest, officials announced a massive increase in Indonesia's forest-ranger workforce. The country currently has only around 4,500 rangers despite managing tens of millions of hectares of forest, prompting a plan to raise the number to 70,000, a figure approved by President Prabowo Subianto. The expansion follows an earlier proposal for 21,000 rangers and is based on each ranger overseeing roughly 2,000 hectares of the nation’s 125 million-hectare forest area.

To date, about 1,000 rangers have been assigned to support the Manggala Agni fire brigade and the Fire Care Community (MPA) in battling fires across three Kalimantan provinces. Authorities said the additional personnel will improve patrols, fire prevention, and the crackdown on illegal activities, while inter-agency coordination will be strengthened to protect forests and curb wildfires.