Britain's King Charles III looking on as Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto greets Marc Palahí, chief nature officer at Lombard Odier, after an audience at St James's Palace in London on Jan 21, 2026. - AFP
JAKARTA: Indonesia has secured a commitment from the United Kingdom (UK) to support the restoration and rehabilitation of 57 national parks nationwide, reinforcing green diplomacy between both countries.
Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said the commitment was conveyed during a courtesy call by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on King Charles III on Wednesday (Jan 21).
Teddy said the support includes conservation efforts that had been implemented and were currently underway in several strategic areas.
"One of the key sites is Way Kambas National Park in Lampung, which is widely known as a centre for Sumatran elephant conservation,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
In addition to Way Kambas, Teddy said conservation would also be undertaken on 90,000 hectares of land in the Peusangan area of Aceh, owned by Prabowo, but handed to the government for environmental conservation.
"Not all of it will be for elephant conservation. It will later be determined by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) which areas are for elephants and which are for other ecosystems,” he said.
Prabowo, who has been on a four-day working visit to the UK since Sunday, also met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and secured strategic cooperation in education and maritime.
Teddy said the President obtained a £4 billion (around RM21.7 billion) maritime investment commitment from the UK, including cooperation in the construction of 1,582 fishing vessels to be produced and assembled in Indonesia.
He said both countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation in education, particularly in the establishment of 10 new universities in Indonesia, focusing on medical and science-based fields in Indonesia.
From the UK, the Indonesian President is heading to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, where he is scheduled to deliver a keynote address later today. - Bernama
