"The ministry is currently preparing a special location to provide training and education for the forest police academy. It will be located in Sentul," the ministry's director general of law enforcement, Rasio Ridho Sani, stated during the commemoration of the 56th anniversary of the forest police in Jakarta, Wednesday.
Sani noted that 8,643 forest police personnel, under the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, spread across regional governments and several state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were still insufficient to oversee all forest and conservation areas across Indonesia.
However, his side ensured that the number of forest police would be increased through recruitment and increasing their capacity through various forms of education and training.
Sani stated that the ministry has taken several steps to increase the forest police's capacity related to asset recovery for environmental crimes, handling animal and human conflicts, and training for cooperation management with law enforcement.
In addition, the ministry pushes for the formation of technology-based forest police with cyber monitoring and forensics, he added.
"These are steps we must take to increase the capacity of our forest police," he remarked.
On the occasion, Sani also reminded the forest police regarding the potential for the complexity of environmental and forestry cases to increase in future, with the emergence of new modes of crime.
"There is no other choice but to continue to train and improve their skills," he emphasized.
Sani also highlighted the importance of cooperation between ministries and agencies to handle environmental and forestry cases.
To this end, during the commemoration, the ministry's directorate general of law enforcement also inked an agreement with the directorate general of customs and excise of the Ministry of Finance to strengthen collaboration in the prevention and prosecution of environmental and forestry cases.
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Translator: Prisca Triferna V, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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