The Search for Funds to Save Elephants

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - One month after President Prabowo Subianto met King Charles III in London, four deputy ministers gathered at the State Secretariat complex in Jakarta on February 18, 2026. They were Deputy State Secretary Bambang Eko Suhariyanto, Deputy Forestry Minister Rohmat Marzuki, Deputy Environment Minister Diaz Faisal Malik Hendropriyono, and Deputy Public Works Minister Diana Kusumastuti.Senior officials from nine ministries and government agencies also attended the meeting, which was documented on the social media channel of the Home Affairs Ministry’s Directorate of Urban Areas and National Borders. “The meeting followed up on the President’s directives,” Amran Jamaludin, Director of Urban Areas and National Borders at the Home Affairs Ministry, told Tempo on Thursday, July 23, 2026.The directive Amran referred to was Prabowo’s order for his aides to immediately prepare two new conservation policies. The first was issued in April 2026 as Presidential Decree No. 8/2026 establishing the National Park Management Financing Innovation Task Force (National Park Task Force). Led by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the President’s Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and Prabowo’s younger brother, the task force was assigned to secure new funding sources for conservation, landscape management, and community empowerment in areas surrounding national parks.The second policy focused on rescuing elephant populations and habitats. After being promoted by the government for three months, it was finally issued as Presidential Instruction No. 8/2026. Through the Presidential Instruction on the Protection of Sumatran and Bornean Elephant Populations and Habitats, Prabowo instructed nine ministers, the National Police Chief, and regional leaders across Sumatra and North Kalimantan to protect the populations and habitats of the two elephant species.Read the Complete Story in Tempo English Magazine