Community Conservation
The fate of Indonesia's forests lies in the
hands of those living alongside these critical ecosystems. Environmental education is a
cornerstone of our programmes, and we educate communities on the importance of
forested natural areas, ensuring that environmental costs of development in
northern Sumatra are decreased as much as
possible. We develop environmental programmes compatible
with local needs and then pass over the management to the communities
themselves. We have established
a network of communities engaged in conservation action, sustainable
livelihoods and forest restoration. Our programmes empower the local
people to become guardians of the forest, equipping them with the tools and motivation
needed to protect Sumatra's orangutans and all
the other species which share their rainforest home.
We implement capacity-building & educational activities in local community areas adjacent to orangutan habitat to increase awareness, ownership, and responsibility towards the environment. Our programmes are targeted on a number of critical communities adjacent to orangutan habitat, currently being run in the Langkat district of North Sumatra, and the Aceh Tenggara district of Aceh. This focused approach in key regions allows us to build stronger relationships with communities, and allows them to develop stronger commitments to conservation action in their local area.
In each village a conservation action plan is formulated and carried out by the people themselves, with support from our team. We hold regular community meetings and train the local people in various conservation skills, such as biodiversity surveys, agroforestry training, natural forest restoration techniques, and participatory community mapping. Village leaders have been working on conservation agreements and individual village action plans that support sustainable livelihoods as well as conservation, such as agroforestry, organic farming, ecotourism, tree nursery management and forest restoration. These activities are complemented by an educational programme, including discussions, lectures and film screenings, so that people can learn to better appreciate the forest ecosystem and all it has to offer - and all that there is to lose.