Jakarta, July 13 -- Indonesia's Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni has prepared an 87,000-hectare conservation area in East Kalimantan to strengthen habitat protection for orangutans, one of the country's endemic species.

"The process is already underway. It has taken a long time, but the proposed multi-stakeholder conservation area covers 87,000 hectares," Antoni said in a statement issued in Jakarta on Monday.

He said the ministry would soon issue a letter of support for the orangutan conservation initiative, which has been developed in collaboration with multiple stakeholders. The ministry is also preparing a ministerial decree to establish a Working Group for Integrated Orangutan Conservation in the Keraitan Landscape.

According to...