The government plans to set aside 30 million hectares of protected forests for habitats for endangered species in order to prevent their extinction.

Forestry Ministry Zulkifli Hasan warned that the shrinking number of rare species, such as the Sumatran tiger, the Javanese rhinoceros and the orangutan was due to habitat infringement by private companies and local communities.

The minister said the government would also allocate 43 million hectares of primary forest for the rare species.

“Primary forests cannot be converted; they should be declared a buffer area,” Zulkifli said as quoted by Antara news network on Monday.

He said that in 2005, the government had established 535 forest and marine conservation areas.

“But, the management of nine of the conservation areas has been handed over to the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry,” he said.
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