Ten percent of the world's remaining tropical forests are located in Indonesia. However, the deforestation rate in Indonesia is high. For this reason the Federal Environment Ministry is supporting two large-scale forest conservation projects with a total of 8 million euro from the International Climate Initiative through KfW Development Bank.
The first project is located in the Bukit Tigapuluh rain forest area on the island of Sumatra. The area offers refuge to a range of endangered animals such as tigers, elephants, orang utans and tapirs. Only one third of this forest is a national park, the remaining area is not protected although it is home to more tigers, orang utans and elephants than the national park itself. The project which is implemented by the Frankfurt Zoological Society and WWF Germany is geared towards establishing a buffer zone around the national park.
The second project is located on the island of Sulawesi which is also home to endangered plant and animal species. Both the barbirusa and the critically endangered anoa, a small water buffalo species, are only to be found here. Within the framework of the project sustainable land use patterns are to be developed together with local communities. The project area in the north of the island links two protected areas and six protective forests and thus supports a 257,000 hectares forest area network. It is implemented by Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and the Indonesian nature conservation organisation Burung Indonesia.
In both cases "nature conservation concessions" are used for project implementation. These concession contracts for the regeneration of ecosystems are issued by the Indonesian government with a lifetime of 95 years. To help conserve the regenerative capacity of forest areas, sustainable forest use practices are developed together with local communities.