The Flora
Indonesia lies within the botanical region of Melanesia, covering the Malay peninsula south of the Isthmus of Kra, the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and IrianJaya, with the exception of the Solomon islands. For the most part, this region is covered with the luxuriant growth of the characteristic rain forest vegetation, a type of ever-wet vegetation containing a large number of timber species and harboring various kinds of epiphytes, saprophytes and lianas.
These characteristic features and the high number of species endemic to this region make the flora of Indonesia different from that of neighbouring continental Asia and Australia, as well as from the flora of other tropica areas in the world. The richness of the Melanesian region, of which Indonesia represents a major portion, is reflected in the accommodation of close to 40,000 species of plants, or about 10 to 12% of the estimated number of plant species of the whole world.
Moreover, the flora making up the Indonesian vegetation abounds in timber species. Approximately 6,000 species of Indonesian plants are used by the people as a source of raw material for the making of traditional herbal medicines or as an indispensable part of traditional rituals and ceremonies.

The Fauna
Most famous of the rare fauna of Indonesia are the Komodo dragons, the giant lizards which are found only on Komodo and neighbouring islands, and believed to be the only one of their kind in the world.
The one homed Java rhinoceros is found only on the western tip of Java and under the threat of extinction, but has now grown in number at the Ujung Kulon nature reserve. The Java's Tiger is a very rare species, of which only five remain in easternmost Java. There are also the orangutan Iman of the forst) apes which are found in Kalimantan and Sumatra, the banteng wild ox of Java, the rusa deer, the anoa (dwarf buffalo), babirusa Ismall wild pig with curved tusks) and distinctive civets found in Sulawesi.

In an effort to preserve rare species of the national fauna and flora, numerous reserves and park have been established in all the provinces of Indonesia under the administration of the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, or better known as PHPA.