Nestled in the heart of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia lies a landscape of immense natural beauty and ecological significance, characterized by lush canopies, winding rivers, and an intricate tapestry of flora and fauna, including the iconic orangutan. However, the forest cover is fragmenting and this is disrupting critical wildlife corridors in this region. In 2023 WWF and H&M Group started a forest restoration and enrichment partnership project with the aim to support the improvement of forest cover quality across 350 hectares of land to increase biodiversity, wildlife habitats, and livelihoods for communities living in and around the forest area.
The WWF and H&M Group partnership project aims to contribute to reforestation and tree species enrichment across 350 hectares as a contribution to the more than 4,000 ha of land that WWF is already working on in this area. This to increase biodiversity, wildlife habitats, and livelihoods for communities living in and around the forest area.
Rattan as a key to unlocking benefits
Rattan production plays a key role in unlocking the socio-economic benefits for local communities and sustained improvement in the forest cover. Growing, and sustainable harvesting, of rattan within forests creates business opportunities for local communities that incentivizes them to contribute to restoring and protecting the forests. The partnership project will contribute to establishing contiguous forest cover in Katingan and help to strengthen a ‘wildlife corridor’ which enables orangutans and other wildlife to travel freely between different areas of the forest. This will be done by working closely with communities on rattan production through the establishment of planting groups to restore and enhance degraded forest areas.
The support from the WWF and H&M Group partnership enables WWF Indonesia to work closely with the local government Forest Management Unit Number 15,16 and 17. The units refer to specific administrative regions in Indonesia designated for sustainable forest management. Once the planting project is finished, the Forest Management unit will work with the elected representatives of Habangoi village to ensure the regrowth and enrichment of the forest is sustained. Together these forest stakeholders have mapped out which parts of the forest area is degraded and require enrichment planting, where agroforestry projects can replace cleared land as a buffer area for the forest itself, and to secure and grow the seedlings that will be planted out.
Why must we invest in this landscape?
Central Kalimantan is exceptionally biodiverse and host to a variety of different types of ecosystems consisting of mangroves, peat swamps, freshwater swamps, heaths, lowlands, highlands and mountains. WWF-Indonesia has been working in the Central Kalimantan landscape for over two decades. Their efforts in the region together with other actors have focused on various environmental conservation initiatives, including forest management, wildlife conservation, and the promotion of sustainable development practices to balance ecological preservation with community needs.
In Central Kalimantan, there are over 160 mammal species, 500 bird species, 50 amphibians and 200 reptiles. Several of these have been observed in the Habangoi project area and four of the species identified in this area are categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
By working with communities and the government Forest Management Unit WWF believes we can create sustainable livelihood opportunities through developing rattan and other non-timber forest products that grow in healthy forests. This can help reduce the pressures driving deforestation and create the opportunity for people and nature to thrive together.
”We chose this place also because it’s some of the last remaining forest area that connects the peat swamp forest in Central Kalimantan to the forest nestled in the heart of Borneo.”
– Rosenda Chandra Kasih, Head of Forest Wildlife Program for Kalimantan, WWF Indonesia
Planting of agroforestry crops
The pilot planting day for agroforestry crops was completed in February 2024 in a deforested field in the Habangoi village forest area. This comes after more than a year of meticulous relationship building, stakeholder engagement, and joint planning of target planting areas. A total of 190 households joined together in the activity to establish an agroforestry plot based on the co-developed planting plans. Seedlings had been prepared in independent nurseries in respective gardens of the Habangoi community beforehand and acclimatized in the project nursery.
Access to the agroforestry demonstration site is via rivers, and strong river rapids must be passed as the village forest is in an upstream area. All the necessary seedlings and equipment, not to mention the villagers themselves, need to be transported safely and effectively up the river and through tracts of forest.
Some of the planted tree varieties include durian, coffee, guava, coconut, banana, and rattan for economic purposes. For Habitat and conservation purposes have been planting Ironwood trees, Shorea sp, bamboo, and Sungkai (a rattan propagation tree).
“My future wish is that what we planted will be beneficial for all of us in the Tumbang Habangoi community so we can witness the outcomes and serve as a model for other villages. Hopefully, our children and grandchildren can keep benefiting from these outcomes. I hope the entire community can come united and manage this. ”– Idae, Chief of LPHD Tumbang Habangoi
The opportunities ahead
This initiative provides an exciting opportunity to demonstrate how conservation organizations and corporate partners can collaborate and invest in improving forest as a habitat for a flagship species while also building improved supply chains for more sustainable commodities, such as rattan.
”Forest landscape restoration is a long journey that we need to take step by step. We need all hands on deck; national and local government, community, private sector players and partnering with other co-operatives to improve standards. Ultimately, good forest management, sustainable supply chains, and community well-being are all of our responsibility – and rattan farmers need help.”
-Rosenda Chandra Kasih, Head of Forest Wildlife Program for Kalimantan, WWF Indonesia
Supporting local communities in the development of a marketable, sustainable rattan is also a first step towards eventually achieving certification status such as FSC for the rattan, so that brands like H&M Group who require FSC certification can source directly here. Collaboration with local communities, rattan farmers, and government representatives managing the area is central to the project’s success in responsibly managing and monitoring restoration efforts now and in the future.
