Ecosystem Restoration Concessions (ERCs) offer an opportunity for Indonesia to complement its protected area network with conserved areas of high biodiversity value in forests designated for production purposes. Hutan Harapan is the first ERC, pioneering new ways of conserving Sumatra's lowland rainforest and its biodiversity for the long term. Although much of the 98,555 hectare concession has degraded secondary forest due to extensive logging in the past, it is rich in global biodiversity values. A management structure is in place to deliver well-defined conservation outcomes in terms of protecting globally threatened species and conserving key biodiversity areas (KBA) in a defined geographical space. Hutan Harapan's experience opens up the opportunity of being assessed as an 'Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measure' (OECM). Furthermore, the policy framework supporting the establishment of Hutan Harapan ERC has a strong legal basis and has led to the establishment of more ERCs across the country. However, there are many challenges confronting Hutan Harapan ERC such as encroachment, forest fires, illegal logging and financial sustainability, which are similar to those confronting protected areas elsewhere in Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia. The ERC framework provides a means to addressing these threats since it recognises the complexity of the conservation issues. However, it will require a combination of long-term human and financial investments as well as collaboration with a variety of actors across multiple scales to sustain the conservation outcomes. © 2018 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
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