OUR APPROACH
We combine expert insight, systemic thinking and boots on the ground understanding to develop practical recommendations and implement solutions for companies, NGOs, financial institutions and governments.
Monitoring land-use change
Sangga Bumi Lestari believes Indonesia’s key land-use actors need to be consistently monitored to ensure compliance with government regulations and industry standards. Sangga Bumi Lestari has a comprehensive dataset of oil palm concessions, industrial forest concessions, selective logging concessions, and mining concessions. These datasets have been enhanced with regularly updated ownership and supply chain information. Regular monitoring of this dataset allows Sangga Bumi Lestari to identify the concessions , and link to key supply chain actors. Analysis of additional key data layers (peat, primary and secondary forest, orangutan habitat, proximity to protected areas) allows us to contextualise land-use change and develop strategies for stakeholder engagement.
Enhancing forest connectivity
Indonesia’s high rate of land-use change has left highly degraded landscapes throughout Kalimantan, with isolated forest patches that offer reduced connectivity for wildlife and are increasingly vulnerable to fires and flooding. Through satellite analysis, spatial planning, biodiversity and vegetation data collection, and stakeholder engagement, Sangga Bumi Lestari identifies areas where intervention could connect forest patches and enhance the viability of wildlife populations. We then collaborate with key actors to develop strategies to conserve remaining forest areas, recover degraded areas, and develop ecological corridors to enhance forest connectivity.
Multi-stakeholder collaboration
Some of the most biodiverse landscapes in Indonesia are dominated by corporate companies operating oil palm, timber, industrial forest, and mining concessions. These concessions are managed according to various industry standards and criteria, and overseen by different government departments at both the regional and national level. These landscapes typically also contain numerous villages, communities of different ethnicities, and remaining forest areas that have been allocated for social forestry or have obtained social forestry permits. Sangga Bumi Lestari believes for remaining forest landscapes to be conserved, multi-stakeholder collaborations are key. Often collaborating with local universities, Sangga Bumi Lestari facilitates workshops and Focus Groups Discussions, bringing all landscape actors (communities, government, private sector, NGOs, academic institutions) together to facilitate discussions and the development and successful implementation of landscape-level conservation projects.
Supporting social forestry take-up
Sangga Bumi Lestari supports the implementation of Indonesia’s social forestry scheme, which seeks to facilitate community management of forests through the issuance of 35 year management permits (as in the Community Forest () scheme) or full ownership rights (as in the Customary Forest () scheme). The process of applying for these social forestry permits is complex, often overwhelmingly complex for communities in rural Indonesia. Sangga Bumi Lestari provides support to villagers in forest areas to apply for social forestry permits and develop the required documents and protocols necessary for permits to be issued.
Sangga Bumi Lestari believes the social forestry policy is the best mechanism for encouraging community management of forest areas. However, once social forestry permits are issued, villagers face challenges in managing social forestry areas and, crucially, struggle to raise the necessary funds to implement forest protection activities. Sangga Bumi Lestari has worked with district governments to establish district-level funding mechanisms and obtain permission for existing government funding mechanisms (for example village budgets ()) to be used for social forestry management. By aligning social forestry management plans with district-level development plans, we have helped communities establish sustainable businesses that provide enhanced incomes, and fostered collaborative relationships between communities and government.
Mitigating environmental impacts
Indonesia suffers from seasonal forest fires, which are exacerbated by increasingly common El Nino weather events. The corresponding increases in La Nina weather events, coupled with Indonesia’s high rate of and urbanisation, has also left many areas prone to flooding. Sangga Bumi Lestari works to mitigate these environmental impacts. Working with corporate companies, communities, and government, we have developed working groups to monitor, prevent, and put out fires, providing training and equipment to community fire-fighting teams. We also work with partners in both rural and urban areas to identify the main causes of flooding and develop suitable mitigation strategies. This includes both small-scale community interventions (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle approaches) and the recommendation of larger scale engineering interventions.
Regenerative agriculture
Many farmers in Indonesia face substantial challenges: lack of supply chain access, pests, declining yields, ageing trees, climate change, and safety issues are just some of the risks. Working predominantly with smallholder famers in Java, Sangga Bumi Lestari supports farmers to increase their resilience to climate change, develop smallholder plots to prevent soil erosion and flooding, trial new crops to provide diversified and consistent incomes, and meet the requirements of international certification schemes. Bringing together farmers with academic experts and the private sector, we have increased inclusion of women and other underrepresented groups in farming sectors and created community support groups to expand the scope of our programmes.
Scientific research
Sangga Bumi Lestari believes building the capacity of the next generation is vital if Indonesia’s key landscapes will be conserved and managed sustainably in the long-term. Universities are also strategic partners in multi-stakeholder landscape conservations, being highly respected and bringing a wealth of research and monitoring and evaluation experience. Through collaborative partnerships with universities, most notably Tanjungpura University in Pontianak, Sangga Bumi Lestari supports students conducting research for their bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and taps into the expertise of university faculty members to provide enhanced opportunities for communities and researchers.