Climatelinks Photo Gallery

“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.

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.

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.

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 Lamokula Village, South Konawe District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, USAID though Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience (Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan – APIK) project brought the community to build their preparedness in facing flood risk. The community members agreed to have Abd Jalil as the leader of disaster preparedness group in the village. Among various capacity building activities that he received, he really likes the use of local wisdom for disaster risk reduction. The communities are already familiar with mosque speaker and cellphones during flood emergency and evacuation. However, electricity and phone signal often become challenges during extreme condition. Learning from this experience, the APIK project encouraged the community to take benefit of kentongan (bamboo slit drum) as a supporting early warning system tool. As manual as it is, kentongan with its loud noise becomes a very reliable communication tool for Jalil and his community. They have used the kentongan to alert people to evacuate during three flood events in 2019. People hit the kentongan from one household to another and created a chain of noises. “It’s simple yet has a huge benefit during an emergency situation,” said Jalil.

July 25, 2019.

In Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, USAID through its Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience (Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan - APIK) project, along with the Local Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and the Education Agency conducted an initial vulnerability assessment on schools. After a field survey, two elementary schools in West Kendari, Elementary School 6 and 8, were identified as being prone to flooding. In response, USAID APIK conducted a series of training activities from April to early May 2017 on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, held workshops on participatory disaster risk assessment, and established Disaster Preparedness Units for the schools. USAID APIK helped formulate standard operating procedures, established evacuation routes, disseminated maps, and installed evacuation route signs, which ensure that all students know what to do before, during, and after disaster strikes. Evacuation drills that included local stakeholders such as the Transportation Agency and the Community Health Center were also conducted at both schools on May 18, 2017. Almost 500 students participated in the evacuation drill.

May 18, 2017.

In Haruku Village, Central Maluku District, Maluku Province of Indonesia, USAID through its Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience (Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan – APIK) project supports the community to enhance their resilience. They are prone to climate impacts, especially tidal waves and coastal erosion that affected the communities who live by the seaside. Through various efforts, the issue of climate and disaster is mainstreamed in the village government work plan, which can be seen in mangrove planting along the coastline to overcome abrasion threat, seawall rehabilitation, and boat moorings making. Paulus Mustamu, better known as Uncle Poly, believes that mangrove is an important part of coastal ecosystem in his village. He is determined to protect his village by restoring a healthy mangrove ecosystem. He hopes that Haruku community is able live in harmony with the nature, but also is resilient in facing the climate impacts. Photo date: October 8, 2016

Water debit and quality of Ake Gaale spring’s retention pond have increased after the infiltration ponds were built. The infiltration ponds construction is one of the key recommendations of the Spring Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan (KKMA) that Ternate city government and USAID IUWASH PLUS has conducted since early 2017. Based on the assessment result, Ternate city government expects to build 1,000 infiltration ponds to restore Ake Gaale water quantity and quality.

USAID Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan (USAID APIK) conducted a participatory climate vulnerability and risk assessment in 2017, noting that tidal wave has occurred repeatedly in Segoro Tambak Village, Sidoarjo District, East Java Province, Indonesia and affected a community that is 80% dependent on fisheries. The wave gushed over embankments and flooded houses and roads in the village, causing livelihood and infrastructure damage.
USAID APIK and community members pursued a collaboration with the Marine and Fisheries Polytechnic of Sidoarjo to apply a silvofishery method. Silvofishery is a sustainable fishery technique that promotes conservation through mangroves cultivation alongside embankments.
"I never realized that mangrove has many advantages. I realized that it will take a couple of years before the tree is fully-grown, but I am sure it will be worth it,” said Kodro, a fish farmer in Segoro Tambak. Mangroves are renowned as an important component of climate adaptation and mitigation due to its carbon storage capacities and ability to protect terrain from sea-level rises. Therefore, silvofishery is a suitable adaptation strategy for Segoro Tambak, as it will help strengthen the community’s resilience by ensuring the sustainability of the village’s livelihood source and environment.

Photo Date: June 6, 2018

In Sumberbrantas Village, Batu City, East Java Province, Indonesia, a group of women farmers organized themselves and named them as Berkah Mandiri Women Farmer Group. Recognizing the group’s potential in improving economic resilience, USAID Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience (Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan - APIK) project collaborates with food security office of Batu City in conducting a series of training on organic farming. The topic of organic farming was selected because the group realizes the health benefits of organic food and also the increasing demand in the local market along with the development of tourism in Batu city.

To Mrs Arik and Mrs Anik, joining the group is beneficial to them. “Our knowledge has definitely improved. We are also very happy to be able to share with other women, to hone our skills in making snacks, as well as to meet household’s demand. For example, we used to buy shallots, now we produce them in the garden. From the group’s business we generate additional income,” they said. By supporting the women farmers group, USAID APIK hopes to strengthen the economic resilience of the community in facing uncertainty.

Photo date: June 5, 2018.

Workmen building house connections to the master meter system. With this system, PDAM (municipal water utility) could serve low income communities in the areas unreachable by the PDAM regular connections, such as informal areas and stage houses above the sea. In the Master Meter system, PDAM is responsible for distributing water supply from the main pipeline connections owned by the PDAM to the Master Meter equipment. The local community is responsible for distributing water from the Master Meter equipment to the respective houses. The master meter system is managed and maintained by community group organization.

Tirta Wiyata Academy (AKATIRTA) students are learning to measure the water quality of Bening River in Magelang district using the Water Quality and Quantity (WQQ) equipment provided by USAID IUWASH PLUS through its Local Sustainability and Innovation Component (LSIC) grant. On April 24, 2018, USAID IUWASH PLUS handed over the equipment to AKATIRTA and trained the students and lecturers on how to use the equipment to collect accurate data on the water quality and quantity. AKATIRTA is an environmental engineering academy in Magelang that has a specialty in the water supply sector.

Turtles in North Maluku Turtles play an important role in ocean ecosystems by maintaining healthy seagrass beds and coral reefs, providing key habitat for other marine life, helping to balance marine food webs and facilitating nutrient cycling from water to land. In partnership with Coral Triangle Center, USAID proudly supports local efforts to conserve and protect turtle populations in key locations across Indonesia.

Neighborhood Tracking Activity in Makassar City A water secure world means having clean neighborhood and healthy behavior. The residents of Lette urban village in Makassar city participating in the neighborhood tracking activity as part of the participatory assessment and triggering activities facilitated by USAID IUWASH PLUS. Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia