ZSL Indonesia Field Programme
The ZSL Indonesia Programme began formally in 2002 under the sponsorship of the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) with the aim of taking a research-based, pragmatic approach to conservation in Indonesia.
Initially focussed specifically on the relationship between oil palm and the tiger on Sumatra, the project is now expanding to tackle a variety of conservation issues with a landscape perspective
Read more about the ZSL Indonesia field programme
Biodiversity and Oil Palm Project
Much like the rest of the world, ZSL hasn't lost its appetite for engaging with the palm oil industry.
Our Biodiversity and Oil Palm Project will use the information we gleaned during the Jambi Tiger Project to go one step further towards reducing the impact this crop has on Indonesia's diverse array of species.
Berbak Carbon Value Initiative
The peat swamp forests of Berbak National Park and its surrounds in eastern Sumatra are tiger and carbon-rich but generate no revenue and are disappearing fast through illegal logging.
Generating carbon credits from avoided deforestation and degradation (REDD) is becoming increasingly popular, presenting an opportunity to harness this money to support sustainable management of the Berbak ecosystem and its tigers.
Berbak Carbon Value Initiative information sheet In photos
Find out more about the work we are doing in these special photostories:
Surveying Berbak National Park
Camera trapping in Berbak National Park
What would YOU do if a tiger were coming into your village and eating your farm animals?
Contact us!
Email us: Indonesia@zsl.org
Visit us: Jl. Burangrang No. 18, Bogor 16151
See our office on Google Earth Conservation in Indonesia
Lying on the equator in South East Asia, Indonesia is one of the most diverse countries in the world, both in terms of the wildlife found there and in terms of the people and cultures that inhabit it.
Such diversity gives Indonesia hugely rich resources and an important global role in the maintenance of our environment as we know it, but it also leads to many challenges; not least how the sometimes conflicting needs of wildlife and people can be resolved.
Dangku Corporate Conservation Complex
Dangku conservation area in South Sumatra plays a crucial role in supporting critically endangered Sumatran tigers.Concerningly, logging and clearance of this habitat means that it is now considered too small to support a viable tiger population in isolation.
Connecting this conservation area to small patches of forest in the surrounding landscape is key to the survival of this species.
Succeeding in achieving this will require the co-operation of the companies that control the large tracts of land which separate these areas of forest. ZSL will work with local industries to maintain connectivity for tigers across this region.
Sumatran Tiger
Much of the ZSL Indonesia Field Programme's activities focus on the Sumatran tiger. Critically endangered and present nowhere else in the world, the Sumatran tiger is one of those species most vulnerable to the changes currently witnessed in Indonesia.
Sumatra, part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, is one of the islands hardest hit by changes to Indonesia’s environment, with some of the highest rates of deforestation and landscape change in the whole archipelago. Within this period of transformation the tiger, as a large ranging species and a long history of conflict with people represents one of the biggest challenges to conservation.
Publications and further reading
Commercial landscapes dominate the unprotected areas in Indonesia, with the oil palm industry – particularly following recent demands for biofuel - the fastest growing sector and a major cause for concern amongst environmentalists.