The 2 anoas of Sulawesi Bubalus depressicornis and B. quarlesi are protected under Indonesian law. They are also listed under Appendix I in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and classified as endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Despite those status, their population were continuously threatened by habitat destruction and hunting.  Basic recommendations for anoa conservation include protecting them from hunting as well as preventing habitat loss and degradation in all key areas by enforcing existing laws. Anoa was reported to occur in various types of habitats, from primary and secondary lowland forest to swamp and mangrove forest, although previous encounters with the animals were always in primary forest habitats. This study concerns on whether protected areas in Sulawesi are able to provide management efforts to achieve those basic conservation recommendations, especially in protecting primary forests as main anoa habitats. Primary and secondary forest cover in all of Sulawesi’s protected areas in 2012 and 2017 were compared.  Conservation management inputs from the 2 years respectively were also compared. The study showed that in Sulawesi protected areas, forest cover was hardly improved in the 5 years of study time regardless of their conservation management. These results have called for a new approach to increase protected areas management effectiveness in Sulawesi so their goal to conserve Sulawesi’s endangered wildlife in their natural habitat, especially the endemic anoas, can be achieved.