Forestry Ministry Discusses Sister Park Cooperation with Japan
Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni held a meeting with representatives from the Japanese government to bolster cooperation in managing conservation areas. According to a press release received on 30 March, the meeting was attended by Shichimeko Shuici, Director of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, and Ikuo Yamada from the International Cooperation Office of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment.
In the discussions, the Forestry Ministry presented an initiative to develop sister park cooperation between Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and several alternative national parks in Indonesia with similar ecosystem characteristics, namely Kerinci Seblat National Park, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, and Gunung Rinjani National Park.
This sister park cooperation is expected to serve as a strategic step in improving the quality of national park management through the exchange of knowledge, experience, and best practices in conservation and ecotourism development. The initiative is also aimed at strengthening the position of Indonesia’s national parks to become increasingly recognised on a global scale.
The Japanese Ministry of the Environment welcomed the proposal and encouraged concrete follow-up through the organisation of a technical workshop to discuss the technical aspects of the cooperation in greater depth. This workshop is expected to become the initial forum for formulating an implementable and sustainable cooperation framework.
Previously, on 28 March 2026, the Forestry Minister had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, on cooperation for the protection and conservation of wildlife, focusing on the Komodo (Varanus komodoensis) breeding loan programme.
The development of sister park cooperation with Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and the Komodo breeding loan MoU are programmes of the Forestry Ministry to help strengthen Indonesia-Japan relations, forming part of the series of state visits by President Prabowo Subianto to Japan.