On Wednesday last week the Danish and Indonesian government signed an agreement that secures cooperation between the two nations until at least 2018. Along with the agreement came a grant of USD 12,2 million from the Danish government, aimed at restoring the Harapan rainforest in Jambi.
Denmark’s ambassador in Indonesia, Casper Klynge, said “We care about forest restoration in Indonesia”, when he visited the forest.
The money directly supports PT Restorasi Ekosistem (REKI) which is an Indonesian restoration program.
Another issue that Casper Klynge finds important is the protection of the Bathin IX tribe – a tribe that roams the forest. The Danish government will only approve the donation if PT REKI promise to secure a large area for the tribe to live in peace.
The restoration is going to cover roughly 98,000 hectares and will benefit the 104 Bathin IX tribe families, about 25 specimens of the very endangered Sumatran tiger and of course the environment as a whole.
