Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry, in collaboration with Vantara and PT Fauna Land Group, announced a major expansion of the country’s wildlife health and in situ conservation efforts at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday, August 24. The programme aims to strengthen veterinary care, expand medical support for wild animals, and enhance professional training for wildlife managers.
Raja Juli Antoni, Indonesia’s Minister of Forestry, made the announcement, saying the partnership would help Indonesia build its own wildlife health and conservation infrastructure. “Wildlife conservation is ultimately our responsibility, and we must ensure that Indonesia has the facilities, expertise and resources to care for our wildlife wherever they need us,” he said. He stressed that all facilities and programmes under the cooperation will be owned, operated and managed by the Government of Indonesia and its relevant authorities.
Partnership details
Vantara, founded by Anant Ambani, Executive Director of Reliance Industries Limited, will provide veterinary expertise, technical support, infrastructure assistance and training as part of the programme. The collaboration also involves PT Fauna Land Group, described as a renowned wildlife organisation in Indonesia.
Vivaan Karani, CEO of Vantara, said the organisation is “grateful to the Government of Indonesia and our partners for the trust and opportunity to contribute to Indonesia’s wildlife conservation efforts.” He added that Vantara has developed deep expertise in wildlife health and conservation and looks forward to sharing that experience while learning from Indonesia’s own conservation knowledge. Danny Gunalen, CEO of Faunaland, also spoke, highlighting Indonesia’s extraordinary wildlife and biodiversity and the need to protect this natural heritage.
Key initiatives
As part of the programme, 10 “Hospitals on Wheels” will be deployed to provide medical care to wild animals in situ across Indonesia. The initiative also includes capacity-building training for elephant caregivers, veterinarians, and other officials involved in wildlife management.
The Way Kambas Elephant Hospital will undergo a major upgrade and be transformed into an Elephant Treatment and Care Centre with advanced equipment, tools, and technologies. Once upgraded, the facility will support 62 Sumatran elephants under human care and nearly 100 wild Sumatran elephants in the surrounding landscape.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of Indonesia and Vantara covers wildlife health, animal welfare, in situ and ex situ conservation, conservation breeding, rehabilitation, rewilding, and capacity building. The announcement follows Vantara’s release of its Five-Year Plan and voluntary commitments to India’s CITES management authority, though the current partnership is focused on Indonesia.