Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Prabowo Subianto ordered the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia to take immediate action against illegal mines operating in Indonesian forest areas.The president issued this order after the minister submitted a report evaluating several illegal mining business permits (IUPs) operating in protected and conservation forests.”Some are in protected forests, conservation forests, nature reserves, and several IUPs within forest areas,” Lahadalia said after attending a meeting with the president on Thursday.During a Government Working Meeting on April 8, Prabowo ordered the minister to re-evaluate these permits within one week to address the issue of illegal operations.In an official press release on Friday, the Presidential Secretariat said the government’s firm action marks a new phase in national mining sector reform.The move is aimed at ensuring legal certainty and good governance while balancing resource utilization with environmental protection.”By structuring IUPs more disciplined and measured, the government emphasizes that natural resource management must be in the interests of the nation,” the statement said.The secretariat added that resource management must be sustainable and provide the greatest possible benefit to the Indonesian people.During a Government Working Meeting last week, President Prabowo highlighted hundreds of mining permits suspected of being illegal.”So there are hundreds of them and the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources will immediately evaluate them,” the president stated.He instructed that if the status of a permit is unclear, it should be revoked immediately to protect the national interest.”We have no time for leniency and there is no room for sympathy as we are only defending the national interest,” Prabowo noted during the meeting.