Prabowo to inaugurate 138-km elephant barrier in Way Kambas
East Lampung, Lampung (ANTARA) - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to inaugurate a 138-km elephant barrier at Way Kambas National Park in Lampung Province in late October 2026, as authorities seek to curb human-elephant conflicts.
"Yes, it is scheduled for the end of the month," Lampung Timur District Head Ela Siti Nuryamah said in a statement that ANTARA quoted here on Thursday.
The elephant fence and embankment are part of a presidential assistance program launched by President Prabowo to address decades of conflict between people and elephants.
The 138-km project in Way Kambas National Park, Lampung Timur District, has been welcomed by communities bordering the forest, she said.
Related news: Forestry Minister affirms forest fire mitigations readiness
Residents of Braja Luhur Village, one of the communities bordering Way Kambas forest, said the embankment meets their expectations.
"Residents are happy to have the elephant embankment in our village," Braja Luhur Village Head Supratikno said.
He believed the embankment would effectively prevent elephants from entering residents’ farmland.
"The embankment’s height and slope meet our expectations and should effectively prevent elephants from crossing it," he said.
Related news: Way Kambas develops AI center to track elephants, monitor forest fires
In Braja Kencana Village, the elephant fence spans three km, with about one km fully installed, the village head Heru Setiawan said.
"Since the fence and embankment were built, elephants have stopped entering farmland in Braja Kencana," Setiawan said.
The government has also built an elephant observation tower in the village, alongside the fence and embankment, creating potential economic benefits for residents. The tower allows visitors to observe wild elephants near the forest.
"The elephant fence, embankment, and observation tower offer opportunities to develop village tourism. The area around the tower is already attracting many visitors," he said.
Related news: Fighting forest fires means protecting Indonesia's wildlife
Translator: Riadi G, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fransiska Ninditya
Copyright © ANTARA 2026
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.