Tourism and Indonesia’s Primates: An Introduction

Indonesia is known for its remarkably diverse flora and fauna. One illustration of Indonesia’s biodiversity is the impressive number of nonhuman primate species it houses. Recent reports suggest there may be up to 61 primate species in Indonesia, of which 38 are endemic (Perwitasari 2021). More conservative estimates report 48 known species, though this still renders Indonesia the country with the third largest number of primate species worldwide (Estrada et al. 2018). Furthermore, though Brazil and Madagascar are believed to harbor more primate species overall (102 and 100 species, respectively (Estrada et al. 2018)), Indonesia houses all major primate groups, including prosimians, monkeys, lesser apes, and great apes.

This book is a multi-authored volume on primate tourism in Indonesia with the goal of presenting the most up-to-date research on this topic. In this introduction chapter, we clarify different terminology pertaining to tourism and provide an overview of the themes that will be explored throughout this volume – namely, the ecological, economic, educational, and ethical aspects of primate tourism.