RAINFOREST CONSERVATION
IN INDONESIA
RAINFOREST CONSERVATION
IN INDONESIA
Many species threatened
Indonesia is home to many endangered species, such as the Sumatran tiger, the Sumatran orangutan, forest elephants and tapirs – animals that have already been wiped out in many places. For the Sumatran orangutan, the lowland rainforest provides the only natural habitat due to its stands of fruit trees. Slow lorises are also among the highly endangered animals here. The IUCN even classifies these cute animals as endangered. Trade in them is banned since 2007, but that does not stop their popularity as pets. Yet the small primates are completely unsuitable as pets because they are not only nocturnal but also require a very specialized diet, are difficult to care for and often die from infection, blood loss or improper care.
“SAVE will continue to accompany this project and provide funding, because here we are actively working to preserve the rainforest.”
Lars Gorschlüter, Foundation Founder
Cooperation in Sumatra
Since 2018, SAVE has been working with the Indonesian Hutanriau Foundation under the auspices of Friends of the Orangutans on animal conservation projects in Sumatra. Hutanriau Foundation, an NGO in Sumatra, shares with us the same goals and focuses on education and conservation efforts.
Our joint project supports communities in Riau in developing agroforestry. It will enable local people to become independent of palm oil cultivation in the long term. Steadily increasing demand for palm oil indigenous peoples are driven away from their own farmland by large corporations, and they often see their only chance of survival in working on oil palm plantations. The work of the project partners is about showing the local people alternatives to working on the oil palm plantations. For example, villagers are provided with free seedlings to establish tree nurseries. This enables them to replant degraded forest areas in their vicinity and counteract forest clearings.
Those reforestation measures are accompanied by educational projects that show people ways to develop alternatives to palm oil cultivation through agroforestry projects. The work of SAVE and Hutanriau is particularly focused in Bukit Betabuh. The area was classified as a “protected area” and a “limited production forest” in 1994. An important wildlife corridor is located in this area.
Tree nursery
Not only the fauna but also the flora in this area is threatened. Many of the original plant species have become rare. Yet they can help feed people and serve as a source of income. Many of the original plants used to provide raw materials for the production of medicines. It means that they can be cultivated as a “jungle pharmacy”.
We are therefore actively working in Indonesia in protecting both – flora and fauna. To protect the flora, we have established a nursery to grow seedlings of high-quality local crops to plant an area of 1,200 hectares in the village of Air Buluh in Riu province. Since local farmers have started to grow seedlings and control the area, a welcome side effect is that illegal logging has also decreased. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is currently dormant.
Become now a patron*ess
for the rainforest in Indonesia
Habitats of endangered species of animals and plants
must be preserved and our rainforests
sustainably protected.
Artenschutz ist für uns untrennbar mit Bildungsarbeit und Entwicklungshilfe verbunden. Unser Ansatz Education 4 Conservation (E4C) – Umweltbildung für nachhaltigen Umweltschutz ist ganzheitlich. Er bringt Artenschutz, Community Development und Bildung zusammen. Dies kann nur durch kontinuierliche und nachhaltige Maßnahmen erreicht werden, die in Zusammenarbeit mit den dort lebenden Menschen geplant und durchgeführt werden.
Artenschutz ist für uns untrennbar mit Bildungsarbeit und Entwicklungshilfe verbunden. Unser Ansatz Education 4 Conservation (E4C) – Umweltbildung für nachhaltigen Umweltschutz ist ganzheitlich. Er bringt Artenschutz, Community Development und Bildung zusammen. Dies kann nur durch kontinuierliche und nachhaltige Maßnahmen erreicht werden, die in Zusammenarbeit mit den dort lebenden Menschen geplant und durchgeführt werden.