Understanding Conservation Forests: Their Functions, Types, and Examples in the Archipelago

Illustration - elephants in a conservation forest area (Photo: Pixabay/NoloLaminaatti)

YOGYAKARTA - Conservation forests are a type of forest that serves to maintain natural sustainability and ecological balance. Conservation forests are a protection area for flora, fauna, and ecosystems within it.

Conservation forests include protected forest areas. Thus, this type of forest should not be diverted as a source of production for industry.

Well, in this article we will discuss in detail what is a conservation forest, complete with examples. Let's see the explanation!

Conservation Forests Are

Referring to Law Number 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry, conservation forests are defined as forest areas with certain characteristics that have the main function of preserving plant and animal diversity and their ecosystems.

The term "conservation" was first coined by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. He used this term to describe the utilization of natural resources accompanied by "preservation".

In the context of nature conservation, the term conservation has two meanings. First, the term conservation means allocating natural resources to maximize the fulfillment of current needs, without consuming or damaging them.

Second, conservation also means maintaining the balance of nature and ensuring the sustainability of natural resources for future generations.

Types and Functions of Conservation Forests

As explained above, conservation forests are forest areas with certain characteristics that have the main function of preserving plant and animal diversity and their ecosystems.

In Indonesia, the conservation forest area reaches 27 hectares. This area is divided into several types, including:

Nature reserve forestMargawasatwa sanctuary forestNational park forestNational parkNational parkNational parkNational park

Furthermore, conservation forests have several functions, including:

Conservation of biodiversity Maintaining water and air quality Preventing soil erosion Preventing natural disasters Research and education sources Natural tourism Conservation Forest Example

Based on its type, the following are some examples of conservation forests in Indonesia:

Leuser Mountain National Park

Gunung Leuser National Park is a wildlife sanctuary forest, a type of conservation forest that functions to protect wildlife.

This forest area stretches across several districts in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces, such as South Aceh, South Aceh, Gayo Lues, Langkat, and Karo.

Gunung Leuser National Park is a refuge for rare animals, such as tapirs, lutung, beruk, and Sumatran tigers.

Lorentz National Park

Lorentz National Park is a conservation forest area that focuses on the sustainability of the snow layer to the tropical environment, which also includes a very large lowland wetland.

Based on its type, the Lorentz National Park is included in the Natural Conservation Forest (KPA) area. Ecologically, this national park includes various types of forests such as swamp forests, mangrove forests, lowland rain forests, mountain forests, to alpine forests.

Komodo National Park

Komodo National Park is a conservation forest that is functional to protect komodo and its habitat, as well as the terrestrial and marine biodiversity around it. Management of this area prioritizes three pillars: protection, preservation, and sustainable use, which is also the main objective of ecotourism to introduce natural beauty while supporting conservation efforts.

Based on its type, Komodo National Park can be included in the conservation forest of a natural tourist park.

This is information about conservation forests. From the explanation above it can be concluded that conservation forests are a type of forest that is focused on maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. Hopefully the above article can add insight to readers. For other news updates, read on VOI.ID.