“Mangrove Forest Guardians” help protect the extensive lowland swamp forests and mangrove ecosystems that surround the Keakwa Village in the Mimika District, the southern part of Indonesia’s Papua province. Mimika mangroves are the most biologically diverse in the world and provide a wealth of natural resources, most notably fish and crabs, for local livelihoods. They also harbor up to 4,680 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare—some of the highest stocks found globally. As these mangroves are facing a significant threat of forest and land use conversion, they are rapidly emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. USAID’s LESTARI helps conserve these unique ecosystems and enhance livelihood resilience in the Keakwa Village and nearby communities to develop secure, stable, and sustainable livelihoods. LESTARI supports village clusters to develop co-management agreements to improve forest and mangrove management that include mapping, sustainable management of natural resources, and conservation monitoring activities.
Climatelinks Photo Gallery
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As the largest province in Indonesia by area, Papua is endowed with a wealth of natural resources and incredible ecosystem diversity. USAID supports the Government of Indonesia to reduce greenhouse gasses while preserving livelihoods, including in Papua, that depend on nature and a healthy environment.
People enjoying ecosystem services from Gunung Leuser National Park, Aceh, Indonesia. The Park is one of the richest tropical rain-forests in Southeast Asia. It is the last place on earth where Sumatran orangutans, tigers, elephants, and rhinos and coexist in the wild. Through LESTARI project, USAID supports the Government of Indonesia to strengthen the management effectiveness of this protected areas.
Borneo, an island in Asia shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, has experienced rapid deforestation in recent years. Driven by palm oil plantations, rubber plantations, and logging, many species are at risk of losing their habitats. This series of satellite images taken over the Central Kalamantan region of Indonesia, depict the rapid growth and movement of settlements from 2015 to 2019 and the increasing road network between what is likely a rubber plantation. Deforestation, a leading cause of human CO2 emissions, can lead to an increase in floods, forest fires, droughts and could have negative impacts on fresh water reservoirs and human health in this area. Mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and marine wildlife are all threatened by the increase in deforestation. In this series of photos, natural regeneration can be identified where large areas of deforestation had once occurred. Allowing deforested areas to regrow provides hope that deforestation on the island will slow and larger areas of forests will be protected. USAID plays a large role in helping Central Kalamantan protect their endangered species, especially the Orangutan, through the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF). This initiative has seen the rehabilitation of over 100 orangutans and their release back into this region, all with the support of USAID. USAID is also a partner of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) where climate challenges are tackled through the use of Earth observations and other techniques and informed decisions can be made through careful evaluation. These partnerships will allow for a more sustainable future on the island of Borneo.
In Central Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, USAID through its LESTARI project supports the Government Indonesia to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. USAID supported the implementation of Reduce Impact Logging in timber concession to carefully plan, control implementation of timber harvesting operations, and monitor and evaluate the environmental impacts especially on the residual forest stands and soils.
In Papua, Indonesia, a large opportunity for improving forest management to reduce deforestation and degradation is through the direct involvement and participation of traditional communities living in and around Papua’s forests. USAID facilitated community-based forest protection groups to collaborate on forest management hand-in-hand with official forest managers to provide on-the-ground forest management and protection.