Since July 2017, SY have been involved in an exciting new project aiming to make the protected areas of Sulawesi more effective at reducing their threats. EPASS stands for “Enhancing the Protected Area System in Sulawesi”, a multi-faceted bilateral conservation agreement to protect the region’s unique biodiversity. The project is coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme, financed by the Global Environmental Facility and administered through the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

The project has three main components:
1. Enhanced systemic and institutional capacity
2. Financial sustainability of the Sulawesi Protected Area system
3. Threat reduction and collaborative governance

Two of the three forest sites included in this project, Tangkoko Nature Reserve and Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park, are crucial habitat for the yaki, so along with a wide variety of partners SY are working hard to reduce the threats to these areas through a variety of different approaches.

With a collaborative agreement four years in the making, this project has enabled SY to increase in capacity to achieve many of our ambitious goals. This includes a region-wide monitoring project to survey the yaki populations, development of a sustainable livelihoods strategy and expanded education and outreach efforts across the province. Check our projects to see what we are currently involved in, all activities of which are supported all or in part under the EPASS project. We will aim to keep you updated with project progress and share updates as the project develops, bringing fresh new hope to the conservation of the yaki and many other endangered species across Sulawesi!