In collaboration with the Indonesian Foundation for Wildlife Fund and Development (IWF), BIOTROP convened 24 national park officials, researchers , and private sector representatives for a one-day Focused Group Discussion (FGD) on the Potential of Deer Development in Indonesia for Conservation and Export on 19 November 2015 at its headquarter in Bogor.

The FGD was conceptualized to address the decreasing number of deer population in the wild due to poaching as well as to explore the potential of captive breeding to aid conservation and maximize the high economic value of deer for meat and other by-products for export. Two deer species have been identified to have the potential for captive breeding both for conservation and meat production for export purposes, namely: Cervus timorensis (locally known as rusa timor) and Cervus unicolor (locally known as rusa sambar).

In welcoming the participants, BIOTROP Director Dr Irdika Mansur reminded the participants to put the discussion in the context of conservation for sustainable development taking inspiration from the experiences of New Zealand.

For his keynote speech, Dr. Tachrir Fathoni from the Directorate General of Nature Conservation and Ecosystem of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry expressed his support on the idea to develop commercial breeding of deer in Indonesia for conservation and export. He encouraged the participants to come up with practical and sound recommendations to help decision-making process on this matter at the Ministry.

Among the recommended actions agreed upon by the participants was to form four task forces among themselves on the following aspects (1) Information dissemination of deer breeding policy in Indonesia; (2) Development and maintenance of database on deer population and breeding activities; (3) inventory of deer commercial breeding models; and (4) identification and promotion of best practices in deer commercial breeding and conservation.