Harapan Rainforest

On the Indonesian island of Sumatra lies a rainforest under threat. One of the last remaining habitats of its kind, the Harapan Rainforest is a refuge to critically endangered species including majestic Sumatran Tigers and Helmeted Hornbills. But with Harapan at constant risk from deforestation, the RSPB and partners are working hard to protect this biodiversity hotspot for wildlife and local communities.   

The lowland rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia are places of incredible biological diversity – rivalling the Amazon for the vast number of species they support. But these habitats are also particularly vulnerable to deforestation, with pressure coming from a variety of sources including the timber industry, farming, the exotic animal trade and human settlements.  

In 2002, the RSPB and BirdLife International joined forces to protect a large area of this important habitat and Hutan Harapan — or Rainforest of Hope — was born. Spanning almost 100,000 hectares of rainforest, Hutan Harapan is nearly as large as all the UK RSPB reserves combined (160,000 hectares). 

Through our work in Harapan, we spearheaded a new approach to rainforest conservation. Our partnership persuaded the then Indonesian Ministry of Forestry to allow private organisations to take over land once used for timber and manage it for forest protection and restoration. Thanks to this new policy, we gained the rights to manage Harapan as an Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC). There are now 14 other ERCs covering an area of more than 620,000 hectares in Indonesia.

This milestone was marked with the visit to Harapan in 2008 by Prince Charles (now His Majesty King Charles III). 

Despite our progress, Harapan Rainforest continues to face multiple threats. The Omnibus Law of 2021 has changed the role of Ecosystem Restoration Concessions such as Harapan; they will now be treated the same as forest licences that are not intended for conservation. The rainforest also remains at constant risk from human development, poaching, illegal timber harvesting, and land grabbing.  

Difficulties remain, but we believe a sustainable future is possible, for the forest and its biodiversity, as well as the indigenous and local communities. 

Our vision for Harapan is one where biodiversity is protected and local people benefit from their proximity to the forest, in terms of livelihood, wellbeing and climate change resilience. We will achieve this by focusing on three main areas: 

To find out more, visit the Hutan Harapan website.