The Walmart Foundation has provided the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) a four-year grant that will significantly boost its work in Indonesia. The grant will support a landscape initiative in southern Aceh Province: a key region for forests and biodiversity and for smallholder farming communities.
Aceh is home to the highly biodiverse Leuser Ecosystem, frequently referred to as the “Last Place on Earth.” It is indeed the last place on Earth where orangutans, tigers, elephants, and rhinoceros are found to coexist.
The grant will enable WCS to support the Government of Indonesia in protecting and restoring this valuable forest and peatland landscape and improving the livelihoods of rural communities living at the forest edge.
Aceh Province has 3.5 million hectares of forest, which play a key role for biodiversity and in mitigating climate change but are threatened by the expansion of agricultural and industrial activities. Meanwhile, communities bordering important forest areas often experience poverty and have limited options for sustainable livelihoods.
These challenges play out in southern Aceh where the province’s last remaining intact peatland ecosystem—Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve—meets Gunung Leuser National Park, which makes up part of Southeast Asia’s largest intact rainforest. This area is also the only place where Sumatran elephant, orangutan, tiger, and rhino co-exist in the wild.
“Specifically, the grant will enable WCS to strengthen support for the government and a multi-stakeholder collaboration to translate national and provincial plans and conservation targets to the local level, supporting livelihoods and ecosystem integrity at scale,” said Joe Walston, Executive Vice President for WCS Global. “We are grateful for the Walmart Foundation’s commitment to help advance an inclusive multi-stakeholder platform for the landscape, ensuring the most vulnerable are part of developing sound management plans for the region.”
Field-based ‘SMART’ patrols and conservation area management plans will enhance the protection of key areas, including the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve and other management units that serve as crucial habitat and wildlife corridors for endangered species.
Capacity building with 500 smallholder oil palm farmers will improve on-farm productivity and, along with broader community engagement and support for Forest Farmer Groups, will help to foster improved and more sustainable livelihoods, and reduce encroachment pressures facing the forest.
Related: how palm oil is destroying rainforests
Said Julie Gehrki, VP and Chief Operating Officer, Walmart Foundation: “The rainforests and peatland ecosystems of southern Aceh are critically important for wildlife, people, and palm oil production. These are critical contributors to our global ecosystem and supply chain and we look forward to seeing how this work helps advance a more sustainable and inclusive landscape approach in the region.
“We’ve made a commitment to help protect, restore, or more sustainable manage at least 50 million acres of land by 2030—and the conservation efforts catalyzed by this work can act as an important contributor.”
