Hari Konservasi Alam Nasional (National Nature Conservation Day) is celebrated every year on 10 August. HKAN was held to commemorate the importance of nature conservation for Indonesian people. HKAN is also a campaign event that encourages people to care about and participate in efforts to preserve Indonesia’s natural ecosystems. Nature conservation has been practiced since the Dutch East Indies. Since 1937, when the Governor General of the East Indies established a nature conservation unit under the control of the Dutch East Indies colonial administration, environment conservation has existed on Indonesian territory.

To maintain nature conservation in Indonesia, the Indonesian government divides forest functions into conservation functions, protection functions, and production functions under Forestry Law No. 41 of 1999. Conservation forests in Indonesia are classified into several types, according to the Forestry Law. This forest is divided into three sections: nature reserve forest, nature conservation forest, and hunting park, with the goal of preserving flora and fauna ecosystems. The Indonesian government issued Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 22 of 2009 in an effort to promote nature conservation throughout the country. This decree establishes August 10 as Hari Konservasi Alam Nasional.

Nature conservation areas in Indonesia are expanding on a regular basis. As of 2017, the Indonesian government had designated 521 conservation areas, according to Kementrian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (Ministry of Environment and Forestry). The total area of conservation areas in Indonesia is 27,108,486 hectares. This conservation area is nearly twice the size of the Indonesian island of Java. There are 221 nature reserves (4.08 million ha), 75 nature reserves (5.03 million ha), 50 national parks (16.34 million ha), 23 forest parks (0.35 million ha), 115 natural tourism parks (0.75 million ha), and 13 hunting parks within this area (0.22 million ha).

Source: idntimes.com