Nature conservation concessions to protect tropical rainforest in Indonesia

The Indonesian government allocates Environment Restoration Concessions (ERCs) to private organisations seeking to restore forest areas that have been used or degraded for commercial logging purposes in the past. The project supports this policy in order to protect the endangered tropical forests in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park (Sumatra) and in Gorontalo (Sulawesi). In this way, it contributes to the conservation of forests as carbon reservoirs, to the protection of biological diversity and to creating habitats for local populations. Close cooperation with local communities is also essential for the management of the ERC project areas to ensure the fair sharing of benefits and avoid conflicts of interest. Parallel to these activities, the project is working with other ERCs and the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forests to further develop this instrument, which was largely untested until a few years ago.

Project data

Countries: Indonesia
IKI funding: 10,100,000.00 €
Duration: 12/2013 till 12/2026
Status: open
Implementing organisation: KfW Entwicklungsbank
Political Partner: Forestry Service of Jambi Province

Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) - Indonesia

State Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS) - Indonesia
Implementing Partner: Burung Indonesia

Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (NABU)

PT Alam Bukit Tigapuluh - Indonesia

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Germany

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Indonesia

Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt von 1858 e.V (ZGF)
Online: https://fzs.org/en/programs/indonesia/

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State of implementation/results

The Gorontalo component was completed in 2021; a term extension until the end of 2026 has been approved for Bukit Tigapuluh.
In Bukit Tigapuluh, orangutan, elephant and tiger were selected as key species for monitoring; populations are stable and monitoring will continue.
A gender specialist has set up a cooperative and a credit and savings association with groups of women farmers from the Muara and Delima areas, and training in environmentally friendly agriculture has also been conducted there.
An area of 282.5 hectares was reforested, successfully achieving the project goal of at least 200 hectares.
The Frankfurt Zoological Society has established a successful cooperation with the Indonesian Natural Resources Agency (BKSDA) to prevent conflicts between humans and elephants.
Business plans for vanilla and forest honey have been established, with local farmers harvesting the forest honey and working in the vanilla demonstration plots. For this purpose, 6.5 hectares were prepared for vanilla cultivation and planted with gamal trees. The gamal trees provide protection from the high levels of sunlight.
In cooperation with the ETALASE Foundation, training cycles for coffee production and marketing are being carried out. The workshops served to deepen knowledge of topics relating to the criteria for quality control and the associated profitable marketing of coffee. The workshops are aimed at deepening knowledge of topics relating to the criteria for quality control and the associated profitable use of the quality control system.

Latest Update:
12/2025