VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Officers from the Monitoring Badak Java cross the Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area (JRSCA) at the Ujung Kulon National Park, Banten. (ANTARAFOTO/Muhammad Adimaja)

VOInews, Jakarta : Indonesia currently has 574 conservation areas, with a total area of 27.14 million hectares dominated by nature reserves, the Forestry Ministry revealed. According to the ministry's Head of the Sub-Directorate of Conservation Area Control, Dian Risdianto, the government has managed the conservation areas based on the three principles of protection, preservation, and utilization.

"Such as in Ujung Kulon National Park, which was designated as a conservation area to protect the Javan rhinoceros, or Bukit Dua Belas National Park to protect the Anak Dalam Tribe," he noted in a statement on Monday.

He explained that several agencies, so far, manage conservation areas in Indonesia. The Forestry Ministry shoulders the maximum responsibility in managing nature reserves, wildlife reserves, national parks, nature tourism parks, and hunting parks.

"All are managed by the central government except the people's forest parks," he remarked.

Meanwhile, in managing marine conservation areas, the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry employs a comprehensive approach using the Ocean Accounting system a tool for assessing the monetary value of marine ecosystems while tracking services and degradation trends.

The Ocean Accounting data can be viewed per year and can be used to adjust regulations in tune with utilization, according to the ministry's Marine Service Business Analyst at the Directorate of Ecosystem and Aquatic Biota Conservation Heri Binarasa Putra.

The Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry is currently managing 117 conservation areas, comprising 11 areas managed by the central government and 106 other areas handled by the provincial government.

The ministry also involves the community in managing marine areas with socio-economic considerations//Antara-VOI