Environmental Literacy for the President

Deforestation became the most hysterical term at the end of 2025 because it indicated the destruction of the upstream ecosystem, which was said to be the main cause of the flash floods and landslides in northern Sumatra, since November 25, 2025. Unfortunately, in the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), deforestation is only defined narrowly as forest cutting.

The definition is somewhat skewed when compared to the series of campaigns for a Million Trees a Year that has been ongoing for years. This has even been officially stated through Presidential Decree Number 24 of 2008, the existence of which is commemorated every January 10 as Indonesian Tree Planting Day, a national momentum to encourage the community to actively participate in preserving nature.

What does it mean to plant a million trees a year if mass deforestation occurs almost daily in various places? And what does community participation in forest and environmental conservation efforts mean if destructive practices are carried out by government officials who control all regulations, which tend to favor business interests rather than preserving the ecosystem?

It is highly unlikely that the people should continuously shout and resist for the land that has maintained the harmony of their lives for generations, which ultimately can only end in tragedy. Such is the fate of Salim Kancil, who is remembered with the slogan "In Our Land, Life Is Not Worth More Than Mining" for opposing a sand mine that threatened the livelihoods of his family and the residents of Selok Awar-awar Village. Or like Golfrid Siregar, who also met a fatal end due to opposing a logging project in North Sumatra.

Their struggle is a loud signal that "environmentally conscious" literacy has become a nerve center in the souls of some members of society, yet it is always under extreme pressure that oppresses and threatens.

In a briefing speech at the National Development Planning Conference (Musrenbangnas) at the Bappenas Office on November 30, 2024, President Prabowo Subianto stated that Indonesia must increase oil palm plantings. The President said, "Don't be afraid of what they say, dangerous, deforestation, right? It's called oil palm, right, a tree."

On the other hand, during the National Teacher's Day speech at the Indonesia Arena on November 28, 2025, the President urged teachers to incorporate environmental education into the syllabus to enhance students' awareness of the importance of preserving nature.

Both statements are problematic and inconsistent when juxtaposed with the reality of disasters in North Sumatra, Aceh, and West Sumatra in recent times. For years, regions such as Tapanuli, Krueng Peusangan, and Pesisir Selatan have merely witnessed silent deforestation for the singular interests of industry. This includes gold mining, the expansion of palm oil plantations, and infrastructure development that disregards local ecosystems.

In this situation, how can the important lesson of environmental preservation for students be explained, let alone practiced, when the trees, mountains, and forests on their land have already been destroyed by chainsaws, bulldozers, excavators, and social welfare advertisements, which come from the local government, certainly in collaboration with capital owners? Natural disasters are no longer events that need to be explained in terms of how nature works, but rather how officials and business actors are complicit in destroying nature, with the policies, authority, and financial resources they possess.

In this situation, we need to be concerned about the inconsistency of the President, as well as his policy priorities, which seem to favor the interests of the industry over the safety of the people.

The numerous cases of popular resistance to protect their environment that end in acts of violence, such as those involving Salim and Golfrid, affirm that the sense of ownership and environmental concern is fundamentally ingrained in the soul of the people. Especially in communities that have lived for generations with customs and cultures closely tied to local mythology, there is a profound understanding of the need to respect nature as an integral part of their existence.

President Prabowo does not need to hastily add a moral burden on teachers to include environmental lessons in the syllabus merely due to the intense media coverage of the flood disasters in Sumatra, which are perceived as a result of environmental degradation, creating the impression that this country is entirely managed in an emergency situation. On the contrary, the President must understand the most fundamental issue, that the people have always been the victims of what is called national development, of policies accelerating national strategic projects, land use changes, and unilateral concession permits.

Every time their environment is expanded into mining, plantations, or other industrial areas, they lose natural circulation and biodiversity, the most essential system for the needs of living things. The efforts of the One Man One Tree Movement, as stipulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia Number P.20/Menhut-II/2009, should not be used as a solution to deforestation. Because, every old tree that falls on the earth has a long ecological history, as the Malagufuk people have long believed that if you protect nature, nature will protect you later, or how the Minang ancestors have anchored their life teachings on the proverb that nature takes over as a teacher.

So, President Prabowo only needs to prioritize the people's right to live in the long term, not sacrifice it for industrial business.

A’yat Khalili, Author and Postgraduate Student of Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University of Indonesia