Local guides operate eco-friendly “klotok” riverboats for visitors exploring Tanjung Puting National Park. Photo credit: Efan Ekananda
Since 2024, the Global Environment Facility's Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) has moved from launch to full-speed operation with over $288 million in projects approved. GBFF In Focus is a series showcasing how the new biodiversity fund is changing the game for how countries can invest in nature. The latest three projects are in Colombia, Indonesia, and Madagascar. The inclusive, integrated approach of these are examples of how to build a more nature-positive future.
At dawn, the Sekonyer River shimmers like glass as a small wooden klotok boat drifts through the peat-swamp forests of Tanjung Puting National Park. Hornbills sweep above the canopy; a proboscis monkey splashes into the mangroves; and, somewhere deeper in the forest, an orangutan calls. The visitors onboard are not just tourists—they are witnesses to a living landscape where people and wildlife are learning to thrive together.
Across Indonesia’s archipelago, a quiet revolution is unfolding. In five national parks—Tanjung Puting, Way Kambas, Baluran, Alas Purwo, and Wakatobi—communities, rangers, and conservationists are redefining what tourism means. It’s not the extractive, high-volume model that once dominated. This is wildlife ecotourism—a model that puts nature and people at the center, making biodiversity itself the main attraction and the main beneficiary.
The new GBFF project Enhancing co-benefits of conservation area management through an inclusive wildlife-based ecotourism strategy, or WILDLIFE ECOTOURISM, will invest over $6 million to scale up a responsible, low-footprint wildlife ecotourism model, benefiting conservation and park-adjacent communities.
A new way of seeing protected areas
For decades, Indonesia’s protected areas were managed primarily to keep people out—fences, patrols, and restrictions meant to shield fragile ecosystems from human pressure. But this approach often isolated local communities whose lives were intertwined with those very landscapes. The new generation of park managers sees it differently. They believe that conservation must include communities as partners—not as threats to be controlled, but as stewards whose wellbeing depends on the health of forests, grasslands, and reefs. Wildlife ecotourism is their bridge.
In this model, every guide, weaver, and boat operator becomes a guardian of biodiversity. Tourism is not just an income source; it is a social contract that rewards protection, not exploitation. Visitors come to see elephants, banteng, orangutans, and dolphins—but they leave with a deeper understanding that local people are the ones keeping these species alive.
Stories from the wild
In Way Kambas, Lampung’s misty wetlands echo with the trumpets of Sumatran elephants. Once a hotspot for poaching, the park now hosts youth-led guiding groups and community eco-cafés that support patrols and habitat restoration. The elephants themselves have become teachers—ambassadors for coexistence and living symbols of resilience.
Visitors at Way Kambas National Park watch Sumatran elephants tustle. Photo credit: Riri Fitriandi
In Tanjung Puting, klotok boats glide through narrow rivers, offering travelers a chance to see orangutans in their natural habitat. The Dayak community of Sekonyer, once dependent on timber and fishing, now leads the journeys, weaving local stories into conservation experiences. Their traditional crafts—made from forest vines and reeds—carry the texture of the forest into travelers’ hands.
On the eastern edge of Java, Baluran’s savannas open like an African plain. Here, the challenge is restoring grasslands overrun by invasive species. Local guides and herders now help monitor the movement of endangered banteng, proving that shared stewardship can bring back the rhythm of the wild.
In Alas Purwo, ancient temples stand within a forest alive with peacocks and macaques. Ecotourism here blends spirituality and science—pilgrims and birdwatchers share the same trails, discovering that reverence for nature is a form of conservation.
And far to the east, in Wakatobi, a marine wonderland of coral reefs, whales, and sea turtles, fisherwomen organize marine-mammal watching and turtle-release activities. Their work shows that livelihoods and biodiversity can thrive side by side when communities take the lead.
Beyond ecotourism
What sets wildlife ecotourism apart is not luxury lodges or marketing slogans—it’s a new philosophy of protected area management. Rather than treating nature as a backdrop, it treats ecosystems as living economies. Revenue from park visits supports patrols, habitat restoration, and education. Communities share decision-making power. Rangers become interpreters of the wild, and travelers become advocates for conservation.
It’s also a response to a global call. Under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, nations have pledged to live in harmony with nature by 2050. Indonesia’s wildlife ecotourism movement brings that promise to life—showing how biodiversity conservation can generate fair income, empower women, and reinforce cultural pride without depleting what makes these places extraordinary.
In each of the parks, new ways of financing conservation and community engagement will be tested. These might include changing the legal status of the national park to enable them to retain (at least part of) the income they generate, creating new trust funds to support species conservation, building partnerships with private sector to generate new investments to develop ecotourism infrastructure, community-based activities to monitor wildlife population trends, and creating a (niche) market for unique immersive wildlife experiences amongst Indonesia’s urban travelers, especially in younger age groups.
A future where adventure saves the wild
In this story, the real heroes are not just the elephants, orangutans, or dolphins—it’s the people who choose to protect them. A ranger guiding a school group through a mangrove trail, a mother running a small homestay, a young diver recording whale songs—all are part of a growing movement proving that conservation can be both a livelihood and a legacy.
By 2031, these five parks aim to stand as living classrooms—places where visitors learn that adventure and responsibility belong together. Where every trek, dive, and river journey contributes to the same simple idea: that to experience the wild is also to protect it.
To learn more about the project and how to visit these destinations responsibly, visit www.jasling.ksdae.kehutanan.go.id.
