Conservation in Indonesia

The Indonesian archipelago covers an area of 7.7 million km2, 5.8 million km2of which are marine environment. Products obtained from the marine environment include oil, gas and minerals from the seabed, and living resources from the water body. The marine environment also provides open areas of sea for transportation and areas that can be developed to extend human settlements. The sustainability of its capacity to support life and promote development for future generations is of the utmost importance. Conflicts are imminent between present and future needs and between largescale production and local subsistence production by indigenous people. The fate of this environment will depend on the ability of society to mitigate the conflict. Efforts to reserve specific areas for conservation are underway together with economic development plans to ensure current needs and future prosperity. A regional development approach that combines development and conservation, is being applied in developing a National Parks System. This approach is considered appropriate since it aims to improve the well-being of the local subsistence communities and to increase their participation in the protection of the conservation areas. Up to 1986, Indonesia had reserved 12 744 820 hectares of its lands and waters as conservation areas. Nineteen national parks are presently being developed, including seven marine parks. Another 231 sites are being considered for marine reserves, 19 of which have already been confirmed.