Hutan Harapan

Indonesia: Restoring forests for future needs

Hutan Harapan – the "forest of hope" – with nearly 100,000 hectares, is the last connected secondary lowland rainforest area on mineral soil in Sumatra. The forest represents about one fifth of all remaining lowland forest on the Indonesian island. In the heart of one of the global hotspots of biodiversity, the area is home to several highly endangered species, like Sumatran tiger, Storm’s stork, Sumatran elephant or helmeted hornbill. In addition to its outstanding importance for biodiversity and as a significant carbon stock, the forest is also home of the Batin Sembilan people. The sustainable forest management is helping them secure and improve their livelihood. Hutan Harapan is one of our most precious conservation and restoration programs.

The project is supported by the International Climate Initiative of the German Government (IKI) and the German Development Bank (KfW) and jointly managed by an international consortium of our partners Burung Indonesia, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife International. Our project is based on an Ecosystem Restoration Concession – granted by the Indonesian government in order to protect and restore the forest. Hutan Harapan was the first of its kind.

Main activities of the Hutan Harapan project include

Forest protection and restoration
First and foremost, we protect the remaining forest and its flora and fauna against illegal encroachment, conversion of forest into farmland and poaching. This includes also the prevention of and fight against forest fires. Furthermore, we restore encroached areas in order to achieve a permanent closed forest canopy.

Research
Multiple surveys and studies are conducted on biodiversity and ecosystem services such as carbon uptake and water storage.

Community partnership and empowerment
NABU supports and empowers the Batin Sembilan — an indigenous community that has been inhabiting the forests since the 7th century. We help organizing basic health, education, water supply, electric lighting, and more. The Batin Sembilan play also an active role in helping to protect the forest.

Business Development
The project helps to create and support various sustainable business models such as ecotourism and sustainable use of non timber forest products like honey.

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